The Royal Victoria Theatre, often referred to as the Victoria Theatre or The Old Vic, [1] was a theatre in Sydney, Australia, the first large theatre in the city. It opened in 1838; operas, plays, pantomimes and other events were held, and leading entertainers performed at the theatre. It was destroyed by fire in 1880.
The theatre was built by Joseph Wyatt; formerly a haberdasher, he had been a lessee of the first theatre in Sydney, the Theatre Royal, since 1835, and was sole lessee after 1836. In that year he planned another, larger, theatre. It was designed by Henry Robertson (c. 1802 – 9 September 1881) and the foundation stone was laid on 7 September 1836. [2] [3]
The new theatre, in Pitt Street, between Park and Market streets, opened on 26 March 1838, with a performance of Shakespeare's Othello . The theatre had a three-storey façade of Georgian style, and the front section included a hotel. The interior was of Regency style. There were 1,900 seats. 1,000 were in a large pit extending below the dress circle – the first theatre in Australia to have this arrangement – with upper circle and gallery above. Entry to the dress and upper circle was through the main entrance, and other patrons used a side entrance. The Sydney Monitor reported that the building was "truly elegant. ... From the pit you would suppose that you were in a large provincial theatre in England." In 1841 the theatre was fitted with gas lighting. [2] [4]
Actors associated with the Theatre Royal moved to the Victoria Theatre, including John Lazar, who was manager of the theatre until the early 1840s. The population of Sydney was small in relation to the size of the theatre, so that a proper repertoire could not be built up: there were frequent changes of programme, leading to poorly rehearsed performances. [2]
In March 1841 Wyatt sailed for England to recruit actors, returning in January 1843. While he was away the theatre was managed by William Knight, a hotel owner. The new actors engaged faced opposition from the Sydney actors, and the Sydney Morning Herald commented on 25 January 1843: "Of the twelve brought out by him from England there is not one equal in ability to the leading members, male or female, of the old company". Wyatt eventually sacked some of his actors. [2] [3]
Operas, dramas, burlesques, pantomimes and other amusements were held. George Coppin made his Australian debut in the theatre in 1843. Other performers seen during the theatre's history included Lola Montez, Gustavus Vaughan Brooke, Anna Bishop, George Darrell and William Creswick. [2] The first opera written, composed and produced in Australia, Don John of Austria , premiered there in May 1847. [5]
In 1854 the theatre was purchased by a consortium including Joshua Josephson, and leased by a succession of managers, including Wilson and Habbe 1870–71, when Mary Gladestane had a season, first as Frou-Frou, then in October as Queen Elizabeth, when Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh attended. [6]
On 22 July 1880, the uninsured theatre burned to the ground, also Hardie and Mitchell's steam mill behind the theatre. Three men were killed — buried under the rubble when a wall collapsed. [2] [3] The site, at 199 Pitt Street, was taken over for Harris & Ackman's new auction rooms. [7] In May 1915 the Strand picture theatre opened [8] on the same site. [9] By 1933 the site had been taken by McCathie's, Ltd. [10]
George Musgrove was an English-born Australian theatre producer.
John Lazar was an actor and theatre manager in Australia. He was Mayor of Adelaide from 1855 to 1858.
Her Majesty's Theatre, Sydney, Australia, refers to three theatres of the same name none of which remain standing. They were located in central Sydney on either Pitt Street or Quay Street.
The MacMahon brothers were entrepreneurs in Australian show business. Chief among them were James MacMahon and Charles MacMahon, who together and separately toured a large number of stage shows. Their younger brothers, Joseph and William, were involved in many of those activities.
James Allison was a theatre manager in Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne. He engaged and managed local and overseas opera, drama, circus, minstrel and variety companies throughout the Australasian colonies.
Samuel Lazar was an Australian theatre manager, producer of pantomimes and operas, and occasional actor.
Joseph Wyatt was a theatre owner and manager, in the early years of theatre in Sydney, Australia.
William John Wilson was a British actor and theatre scenery painter, who had a career in Australia that included theatre management.
The Royal Lyceum was a small theatre in York Street, Sydney founded in 1854, which was redeveloped and renamed many times, finally as the Queen's Theatre, by which name it closed in 1882.
Frou-Frou is an English adaptation of a French comedic play of the same name. The title role has been played by many actors, notably Sarah Bernhardt, Madame Modjeska, and Ellen Terry.
Frank Towers (1835–1886) was an English actor, playwright and stage producer.
The Prince of Wales was a theatre in Castlereagh Street, Sydney, New South Wales. It was destroyed by fire and rebuilt twice; the second time as the Theatre Royal.
Edmund Holloway was an Australian actor.
Richard Stewart was an English stage actor who settled in Australia. He is best remembered as the father of Nellie Stewart.
John Rodger Greville was an Irish-born comic actor, singer, songwriter and stage manager who had a long career in Australia.
Alexander Christian Habbe was a Danish-born artist in Australia, known for his scene paintings for major theatres in Sydney and Melbourne.
Henry Richard Harwood was an Australian actor and theatre manager.
William Dind was an hotelier and theatre manager in Sydney, Australia, where he was the longtime lessee of the Royal Victoria, and Prince of Wales theatres. He settled on Sydney's North Shore, where he was active in local government, and he and his son William Forster Dind, aka W. Forster Dind or William Dind jun, ran hotels which were popular with theatrical people.
Mary Gladstane was an Irish-American actress of the 19th-century who had a considerable career in Australia, along with her husband and manager, L. M. Bayless.
Fanny Emily Mary Hooper, known as Minnie Hooper, was an Australian dance instructor and ballet mistress. She has been credited, with Jennie Brenan and Minnie Everett, with maintaining the high standard of Australian dance and ballet in the 1920s, between the reigns of Emilia Pasta and Anna Pavlova. She had a long series of contracts with J. C. Williamson's and conducted classes at her dance studio on Pitt Street, Sydney.
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