Paris Theatre, Sydney
 Paris Theatre, 1965 | |
 Interactive map of Paris Theatre | |
Former names | Australian Picture Palace, Tatler Theatre, Park Theatre |
|---|---|
| Address | 205-207 Liverpool Street, Sydney on the corner of Wentworth Avenue Sydney Australia |
| Coordinates | 33°52′37″S 151°12′43″E / 33.8769681°S 151.2119533°E |
| Designation | Demolished |
Current use | Site occupied by apartments |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1916 |
| Closed | 1981 |
| Architects | Walter Burley Griffin, Burcham Clamp, C. Bruce Dellit |
The Paris Theatre was a cinema and theatre located on the corner of Wentworth Avenue and Liverpool Street in Sydney that was a venue for movies, vaudeville, cabaret and plays. The theatre changed names several times, beginning as the Australia Picture Palace (1915-1935), and later the Tatler Theatre (1935-1950), Park Theatre (1952-1954) and Paris Theatre, (1954-1981) before being demolished in 1981.
In May 1978, the theatre hosted a film festival that inspired the first Sydney Gay Mardi Gras. The theatre was also the home of the Sydney-based Paris Theatre Company, a Sydney based theatre company.
Building
[edit]Located at 205-207 Liverpool Street, on the corner of Wentworth Avenue,[1] the architect was Walter Burley Griffin[2][3][4] The theatre was a reinforced concrete building with relief stucco paneling.[2] It was demolished in 1981.
History
[edit]Australian Picture Palace (1915-1935)
[edit]The Australia Picture Palace, designed by Walter Burley Griffin,[2] was built in 1915 for Hoyt’s Theatres Ltd[5] and opened on 7 January 1916.[6]
Tatler Theatre (1935-1950)
[edit]In 1935, the venue was renovated and renamed the Tatler Theatre.[5][6][7] On 5 August 1943, Austral American Productions began showing first-run Warner Brothers films in an exclusive arrangement.[5] The first movie to be screened was “They Died with their Boots On” featuring Errol Flynn.[3]
Park Theatre (1952-1954)
[edit]In 1952, Hoyts purchased the theatre and renamed it the Park Theatre.[6]
Paris Theatre (1954-1981)
[edit]After being renovated again in 1954, the venue was renamed the Paris Theatre, and was dedicated to showing "continental" films. Coffee was to be served to patrons during intervals .[8]
From 21–27 May 1978, 900 people attended Sydney's first gay film festival at the Paris Theatre.[5] One of the films, Word is Out[9], inspired Ron Austin, a member of CAMP, with the idea of a street party, which became the first Mardi Gras in June of that year.[10]
Some notable performances at the theatre included
- 20 November 1977 Rose Tattoo[11]
- 27 November 1977 Cold Chisel[11]
- August 1978 Louis Nowra play, Visions, opened.[5][12]
- 28 November 1979 Boys Own MacBeth[13]
- 20 December 1980 INXS[11]
Paris Theatre Company
[edit]The Paris Company (formally the Paris Theatre Performance Group Limited), formed in March 1978 by Jim Sharman and Rex Cramphorn, staged two new Australian plays at the theatre: Dorothy Hewett's musical play Pandora's Cross, which opened in June 1978, and Louis Nowra's Visions, which opened in August 1978.[14]
References
[edit]- ↑ "Australian Picture Palace". The Sydney Morning Herald. New South Wales, Australia. 2 June 1917. p. 8. Retrieved 8 February 2020 – via Trove.
- 1 2 3 "Walter Burley Griffin Society - Sydney other". www.griffinsociety.org. Retrieved 8 February 2020.[permanent dead link]
- 1 2 "Paris Theatre in Sydney, AU - Cinema Treasures". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
- ↑ Hamann, Conrad. The Mystic Stonewright: Walter Burley Griffin [Book Review]. Meanjin, Vol. 36, No. 3, Oct 1977: 354-362.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Paris Theatre". dictionaryofsydney.org. 2008. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
- 1 2 3 "AusStage". www.ausstage.edu.au. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
- ↑ "Tatler Theatre". The Sun. New South Wales, Australia. 11 November 1935. p. 3. Retrieved 8 February 2020 – via Trove.
- ↑ "New Role For Park Theatre". The Sydney Morning Herald. New South Wales, Australia. 31 July 1954. p. 9. Retrieved 9 February 2020 – via Trove.
- ↑ "Queer Screen | Past Festivals". 15 June 2016. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
- ↑ Chetcuti, Joseph (2018), Sydney's first gay Mardi Gras : what brought it on and how it changed us, Lygon Street Legal Services, ISBN 978-0-648-22530-0
- 1 2 3 "Paris Theatre, Sydney. NSW | Australian Music Database". www.australianmusicdatabase.com. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
- ↑ "Theatre program,'Visions' by Louis Nowra, designed by Martin Sharp, paper, Paris Theatre Company, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 1978". collection.maas.museum. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
- ↑ "AusStage". www.ausstage.edu.au. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
- ↑ "Paris Theatre Performance Group Limited records, 1978". State Library of New South Wales.