CAARP
Cinema and Audience Research Project

Venue: Other Information

Opened by John Blach on 6/7/1855 with 3,000 seat capacity. Bought by George Cappin in 1856 and sold again in 1858 to G. V. Brook for the purpose of staging Shakespearian dramas. The Theatre Royal was destroyed by fire in 1872 but reopened 8 months late by Cappin and associates and was now shows light opera.
The building had a 2-story Bourke St. frontage and reached 313 ft. back to Lt. Bourke St. After the fire it was rebuilt with a 4-tiered auditorium.
The auditorium was redesigned in 1904.
During the Depression the theatre was converted into a cinema and was closed in 1933, eventually become a department store.
-(Bertrand, I Cinema file: 232 Bourke St. (unpublished research)).

References
1937 'GAY ERA IS RECALLED.', The Argus, 20 December, p. 4, viewed 11 November, 2011, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11134309
Porter, H, Stars of Australian Stage and Screen, p.145.
Partial screenings from 1906, collected from the Argus in Bertrand, I Cinema file: 232 Bourke St (unpublished research).
Herald, 15/10/1934.