Resource |
Text: Article
|
Title |
Phillip Street Theatre |
Creator Contributors |
|
Related Venues |
-
Mercury Theatre, Sydney, NSW
-
Phillip Street Theatre (1954-1961), Sydney, NSW
-
Phillip Street Theatre (1979-1989), Sydney, NSW
-
St James' Hall (1887-1961), Sydney, NSW
-
St James' Hall (1963-1989), Sydney, NSW
|
Source |
Philip Parsons, Victoria Chance, Companion To Theatre In Australia, Currency Press with Cambridge University Press, Sydney, NSW, 1995
|
Page |
441
|
Date Issued |
1995
|
Language |
English
|
Citation |
Ross Thorne, Phillip Street Theatre, Companion To Theatre In Australia, 1995, 441
|
Resource Identifier |
65031
|
Provide feedback on Phillip Street Theatre
Theatre in Phillip Street, Sydney, opened as St James Hall seating 650, 17 December 1903. Architect: Burcham Clamp. Seating reduced to 447 by new stage and proscenium 1916. Called Mercury Theatre 28 February 1952 to 19 December 1953. Redecorated and reopened 7 May 1954 as Phillip Street Theatre, seating 368. Closed 14 January 1961. Demolished and replaced in late 1963 by 15-storey building, including new 300-seat St James Hall, sometimes known as Phillip Street Theatre. Architects: Peddle Thorp and Walker. Closed for renovation of building, 7 October 1989.
The theatre where William Orr presented the acclaimed Phillip Street Revues for nearly seven years was originally the St James Hall, built by Church of England on a site it has owned since the nearby St James Church was built in 1820-24. The three-storey brick building was erected in 1903. Above a semi-basement for church offices were a concert hall and, on the third level, a school. The church hoped to repay large borrowings for the building by frequent letting of the hall, which was praised for good acoustics, harmonious proportion, central location and lack of noise from trams. The gallery, which had an intricate cast-iron balustrade, extended along the side walls. The original bare platform was replaced with a miniature stage in 1912, when the Sydney Stage Society produced Prunella. In 1916 the stage was rebuilt and enlarged, though a new proscenium reduced the seating capacity. The hall then became a popular venue for amateur, semiprofessional and professional theatrical groups, including the Modern Theatre Players and the New Sydney Repertory Society.