Melbourne’s Lost Theatres, Parts One & Two

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Resource Text: Article
Title Melbourne’s Lost Theatres, Parts One & Two
Creator Contributors
Abstract/Description Melbourne was not established until almost 50 years after Sydney; Melbourne’s first theatre space was little more than a timber shed of the early 1840s. It was well documented in the 1850s for its idiosyncracies. A brick theatre opened in 1845, with decoration that was described as “grotesque”. A huge the - atre, the Royal, was the next to be built, its size rivalling that of Drury Lane and Covent Garden Theatres in London at the time. In the mid-19th century the forerunner of the Princess was constructed as an amphitheatre (for equine-dramas), as well as a prefabricated iron theatre imported from England. British actor-manager George Coppin settled in Melbourne and was responsible for much of the first wave of Victorian theatres in the city. Then came J. C. Williamson from USA and the British vaudeville entrepreneur Harry Rickards, both setting up Melbourne as headquarters for theatre circuits. The theatres for which they were responsible, but have been demolished, are also described. Notwithstanding, Melbourne has the best collection of 19th century theatres in Australia, even if their auditoria were rebuilt in the 1920's and 1930's.
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Source Theatre Australia, Theatre Publications, New Lambdon Heights, NSW, August 1976
Item URL
Volume 2
Issue 10, 12
Page 16-18, 11-13
Date Issued May 1978
Language English
Citation Ross Thorne, Melbourne’s Lost Theatres, Parts One & Two, Theatre Australia, 2, 10, 12, May 1978, 16-18, 11-13
Data Set AusStage
Resource Identifier 55108