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His Majesty’s Wellington was
HENRY WHITE: about his sixth theatre commission and with Regent style, but White did one
Ballantyne is the man synonymous
there was to be work in Sydney, first - the Regent Geelong. (See
A MAN FOR ALL Brisbane and Adelaide before he CinemaRecord 51)
SEASONS brought his skill and experience to predicted that His Majesty’s
Soon after its completion White
extensive makeovers of the Princess
(1922) and Athenaeum (1923), both in Wellington would outlast all his
Melbourne. theatres, but he was premature in this
Building magazine was lavish in its assessment.
praise for the St James Sydney (1925), The man who did so much to raise
singling out, amongst many points, the the bar of theatre design would be the
care taken with the ventilation. first to agree that the care now
Planning and liaison for this essential bestowed on some of his surviving
component took more than a year creations proves another design truth -
before actual construction started. improvement is always possible. ★
Henry White ran a large
architectural practice in Sydney.
Australia’s foremost writer on theatre White Survivors
design Ross Thorne, an admirer of
NEW ZEALAND
White’s achievements, has said that in
Wellington: St James
these years anyone who was anyone in
Auckland: St James
the profession seems to have passed
Timaru: Theatre Royal
into his orbit. Guy Crick, who would
Hastings: Municipal
later make his mark with theatres in the
Masterton: Regent
moderne style, started out in White's
(three screens)
office.
Petone: Grand*
White seems to have been close to
Henry Eli White
Charles Bohringer, whose tally of AUSTRALIA
Some individuals by temperament theatre work was to rival his own. The Sydney: State
and training are perfectly matched to two maintained separate practices, but Capitol
their times. Henry Eli White (1876- were commissioned to supervise the Newcastle: Civic
1952) was one such person. A big man assembly of Union Theatre’s three Melbourne: Princess
in every sense of the word, White’s ‘atmospheric’ theatres - White for the Athenaeum
love of theatre and his work to improve Capitol Sydney and Bohringer for the Metro (night club)
the public’s enjoyment of it, is as Ambassadors Perth and State St Kilda Palais
relevant today as when he published his Melbourne. Geelong: Regent*
ideas about theatre design. His In this period of ‘American
influence on the profession can be exhuberant’, some architects, perhaps at * Retail or other use
summed up in Shakespeare's (amended) the insistence of the client, seem to
words - ‘He bestrides the Tasman like have borrowed and swapped ideas.
a colossus’. Acknowledgments
In a Bohringer drawing for a This summary draws on the entry for
Henry White was precociously proposed re-build of the Theatre Royal
confident. With the contract signed for in Melbourne (it didn't happen) there Henry White in Companion to Theatre
in Australia, (Currency Press Sydney)
His Majesty’s, White gave a press are elements reminiscent of White’s edited by Philip Parsons with Victoria
interview in which he stated that he had Palais St Kilda and his State Sydney. Chance and Full Circle The History of
studied the plans of most of the theatres the St James Theatre by David McGill
White shared his birth year with
of note in the world and they were not (Phantom House Books, NZ).
another other great cinema stylist,
much of a guide to him because they
Cedric Ballantyne, and not surprisingly Ross Thorne kindly reviewed the text
were built for special conditions. and provided two images. James
their careers show similarities.
His engineering abilities Barrand supplied most of the interior
Both made first-hand inspections of
complemented his design skills. For the shots and Fred Page some source
American cinemas in the 1920s in the
construction of His Majesty’s, White material.
company of a powerful client - White
designed the electricity supply system,
with Stuart Doyle of Union Theatres, The image of the first His Majesty’s
the cement mixers and the electric (p.6) is from Shadows On the Stage:
Ballantyne with Francis Thring of
cranes to lift the steel beams. Theatre in New Zealand - First 70
Hoyts - both came back with
No detail escaped his attention: commissions to put what they had seen Years, Dundee: John McIndoe Ltd
CATHS members who inspected his into practice, and both saw their theatre 1975.
Theatre Royal in Timaru in 2005 work dry-up with the onset of the
may remember seeing examples of his Depression.
tip-up seats.

CINEMARECORD 2006 9