Page 6 - CR-89AA

NEWCASTLE’S VICTORIA THEATRE SAVED

By Les Tod OAM

hen Newcastle’s historic Victoria
WTheatre was recently put up for
auction, many believed it would be sold for
redevelopment and demolished. Left boarded
up for more than a decade after years of use as
a retail outlet, its history as a theatre had all
but been forgotten.

The purchase of the theatre prior to auction by
Sydney based Century Venues is wonderful
news. Century operates the successful
Enmore Theatre in Sydney as well as several
other smaller live venues, and intends to
refurbish and restore the Victoria along
similar lines. The head of Century Venues,
Greg Khoury, is as excited about the purchase
as are the people of Newcastle, the Revive the
Victoria Theatre action group, and the local
media. Newcastle CBD has too long been a
dead centre, made worse by the recent closure
of the railway line, and the restoration of the
Victoria will bring new life to the city. The
Enmore Theatre generates some 240,000
attendances a year and around $24 million in
elective spending. Such spending would give The Victoria Theatre c. 1947
Newcastle CBD a colossal financial boost.
been two such theatres prior. The present cotta, with lemon, silver grey and azure blue
Century plans to begin cleaning up the interior Victoria was built on the site of the second with sun rays worked in gold. The façade was
of the Victoria in January before starting Victoria, which had itself been erected in in typical Victorian style in the manner of
work in earnest on its restoration. 1876. When the present theatre opened in theatres of that era, and is basically unaltered
September 1891, it was a major event in the today.
For many years, local historians and residents development of the city. But in recent times it
have bemoaned the old theatre sitting derelict had become a symbol of the city’s lack of Movies were shown at the Victoria as early as
and decaying with no interest from progress, along with many other buildings just 1905, and came to be an integral part of
government or civic authorities as to its future. sealed up and left (such as the former Lyrique vaudeville shows as the years progressed. The
Australia has an abysmal record in retaining and Kensington Cinemas). Great American Bioscope, Edison’s Popular
its heritage theatres, and although Newcastle Pictures, Baker’s Animated Pictures and the
has the outstanding Civic Theatre, there is A centre panel over the stage featured life size London Bioscope were some of the
room for another major venue within the city figures of Apollo and the Nine Muses against companies which screened there.
itself. a background of gold with sprays of flowers
and the proscenium was rich in stenciled By 1910, theatrical entrepreneur George
The Victoria Theatre, in Perkins Street, was ornamentation in shades of blue, with gilded Marlowe had taken over as lessee and began
not the first Victoria in Newcastle – there had pillars. The boxes were in shades of terra to produce major plays until 1921 when, with
films becoming more
and more popular, the
Victoria was
converted into a
picture theatre. Some
of the ornamentation
was removed from the
interior to modernise
it from its 1891 style.
It reopened on
10 November 1921
under Haymarket
Theatres Ltd, “The
most beautiful in the
whole southern
hemisphere – a
revelation in artistic
genius and
architectural design
… the wonder motion
picture house of the
Commonwealth.”

Crowds queue for a matinee, 1954.

6 CINEMARECORD # 89