East End Theatre District

The East End Theatre District is a precinct within the Melbourne central business district, and is bounded by Spring Street, Flinders Street, Swanston Street and Lonsdale Street. The district is home to six of Melbourne's major theatres, including the Princess Theatre, Her Majesty's Theatre and the Regent Theatre.[1] These theatres mostly house commercial productions of musicals, plays and other events, in contrast with the Southbank Arts Precinct over the Yarra River which focuses on publicly funded companies.

Forum Theatre

History

The East End of Melbourne was effectively formed by the Hoddle Grid, with Elizabeth Street the dividing line between east and west. The Hoddle Grid was laid out in 1837, following the founding of the Melbourne settlement in 1835.

Melbourne's first theatre, the Pavilion, was constructed adjacent to the Eagle Tavern on Bourke Street in 1842.[2] The second theatre, the Queen's, was also constructed as part of a pub, however it was, and remains, the only major theatre in Melbourne's CBD built west of Elizabeth Street.[2]

East End theatres

Six surviving theatres exist within the East End:

Other major entertainment venues in the East End Theatre District include live music venues 170 Russell and Max Watt's House of Music, and the Capitol Theatre, Hoyts Melbourne Central, Palace Kino, Chinatown and ACMI cinemas.

Current and upcoming productions
  • If no show is currently running, the play listed is the next show planned (dates marked with an *).
  • If the next show planned is not announced, the applicable columns are left blank.
Theatre Owner Address Capacity Production Type Opened Closing Image
Athenaeum TheatreAT Management188 Collins Street880Comedy and theatre venueVarious––
Comedy TheatreMarriner GroupCnr Exhibition & Lonsdale Streets1003Theatre venueVarious--
Forum MelbourneMarriner GroupCnr Flinders & Russell Streets2000Concert and comedy venueVarious––
Her Majesty's TheatreHayden Attractions219 Exhibition Street1700Frozen (musical)Musical25 June 2021-
Princess TheatreMarriner Group163 Spring Street1452Harry Potter and the Cursed ChildPlay18 January 2019Open-ended
Regent TheatreMarriner Group191 Collins Street2141Moulin Rouge (musical)Musical13 August 2021-

Former theatres

The East End has been home to over 25 different theatres since 1841. Some of the major former theatres are listed below.

TheatreAddressYear OpenedYear ClosedYear RebuiltYear Closed
PavilionCnr Swanston & Bourke Streets18411845--
Queen's*Cnr Queen & Little Bourke Streets18451856--
Theatre Royal232 Bourke Street1855187218721933
Olympic (the "Iron Pot")Cnr Exhibition & Lonsdale Streets18551860--
Haymarket133 Bourke Street18621871--
Prince of Wales Opera House249 Bourke Street18721898--
Bijou225 Bourke Street1876188918901934
Gaiety 217 Bourke Street 1890 1934
Tivoli249 Bourke Street19011966--
King's131 Russell Street19081976--
Palace20 Bourke Street19122014--
Auditorium171 Collins Street19131934--
Total 170 Russell Street 1965 1978
Playbox 55 Exhibition Street 1969 1984 - -
Russell Street 19-25 Russell Street 1955 1994
  • The Queen's Theatre is the only theatre to be built in Melbourne's CBD outside of the East End.

Economic impact

In July 2016, the East End Theatre District was reported to have made an economic contribution of $692 million, and an economic impact of $226 million, to the state of Victoria.[3]

See also

References
  1. "Melbourne celebrates the newly named East End Theatre District". Theatre People. Archived from the original on 21 January 2015. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  2. "Theatre - Entry - eMelbourne - The Encyclopedia of Melbourne Online". Emelbourne.net.au. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  3. "State earns $226 million from musicals boom? | ArtsHub Australia". www.artshub.com.au. Archived from the original on 2016-07-12.
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