Comedy Theatre, Melbourne
Marriner Group | |
Capacity | 1003 |
---|---|
Opened | 28 April 1928[1][2] |
Website | |
www |
The Comedy Theatre is a 1003-seat theatre in Melbourne's East End Theatre District. It was built in 1928, and was designed in the Spanish style, with a Florentine-style exterior and wrought-iron balconies. It is located at 240 Exhibition Street, and diagonally opposite Her Majesty's Theatre.
It typically hosts commercial seasons of plays and smaller-scale musicals, as well as comedy and other entertainment events.
History
The site at the corner of
Opened on 28 April 1928,[1] the Comedy Theatre was built and operated for fifty years by J. C. Williamson's. Paul Dainty purchased the theatre in 1978 for $800,000.[9] Since 1996 the theatre has been owned and operated by Marriner Group.
Previous productions
Previous notable productions and performers at the Comedy Theatre include:[10]
- 1928: Our Betters
- 1945: Blithe Spirit
- 1946: The Kiwis Revue Company
- 1949: Born Yesterday
- 1950: A Streetcar Named Desire
- 1956: Summer of the Seventeenth Doll
- 1958: The Shifting Heart
- 1960: Phillip Street Revue
- 1961: Irma la Douce, The Sentimental Bloke
- 1963: A Shot in the Dark, Goodnight Mrs. Puffin, Mary, Mary
- 1966: Barry Humphries, The Boys from Syracuse, The Odd Couple
- 1967: Half a Sixpence, There's a Girl in My Soup
- 1968: Man of La Mancha
- 1969: The Boy Friend, Your Own Thing, Plaza Suite, Canterbury Tales
- 1972: Jesus Christ Revolution, Last of the Red Hot Lovers
- 1973: Godspell, A Voyage Round My Father
- 1977: Side by Side by Sondheim
- 1980: Boy's Own McBeth, Piaf, A Star is Torn
- 1981: They're Playing Our Song, The Dresser, Chicago,
- 1982: The Rocky Horror Show, Candide, One Mo' Time
- 1983: Noises Off, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
- 1985: Little Shop of Horrors, Stepping Out
- 1986: Brighton Beach Memoirs
- 1987: Nine, Jerry's Girls
- 1988: The Rocky Horror Show, Seven Little Australians
- 1990: Steaming
- 1992: The New Rocky Horror Show, Return to the Forbidden Planet
- 1993: Aspects of Love, High Society
- 1994: Blood Brothers
- 1995: Shirley Valentine, An Inspector Calls, Ken Hill's Phantom of the Opera
- 1997: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Trainspotting
- 1999: Rent
- 2002: Slava's Snowshow
- 2003: La Bohème, Noises Off
- 2004: XXX,[11] Carmen, The Barber of Seville, The Pirates of Penzance[12]
- 2005: Menopause - the Musical, My Fair Lady, Stuff Happens, La Traviata
- 2006: Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks, The Woman in Black
- 2007: Under Milk Wood, Keating!, Alan Bennett's Talking Heads
- 2008: Boeing-Boeing, The Rocky Horror Show
- 2009: Stephen K. Amos: Find the Funny!,[13] Tripod,[14] Dave Hughes is Handy,[15] Avenue Q
- 2010: Wilful Misconduct,[16] Waiting for Godot,[17] Calendar Girls
- 2011: Rock of Ages
- 2012: Yes, Prime Minister,[18] Driving Miss Daisy, Flowerchildren - The Mamas and Papas Story, Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap
- 2013: Slava's Snow Show, Stomp
- 2014: The Rocky Horror Show; Mother and Son, The Last Confession
- 2015: The Rocky Horror Show
- 2016: Dawn French (Thirty Million Minutes), Little Shop of Horrors, Fawlty Towers
- 2017: The Play That Goes Wrong, Alan Cumming Sings Sappy Songs, Blame it On Bianca Del Rio
- 2018: American Idiot, Madiba the Musical[19]
- 2019: Calamity Jane, 33 Variations,[20] Barnum, Come from Away
- 2021: Come From Away (return season)
- 2022: Girl from the North Country, Jagged Little Pill, Six, Come From Away (return season), A Christmas Carol
- 2023: Tick, Tick... Boom!, The Mousetrap,[21] Once, Midnight: The Cinderella Musical,[22] Winnie the Pooh: The New Musical Adaptation,[23] An Unfunny Evening With Tim Minchin And His Piano,[24] A Christmas Carol (return season)
- 2024: Fantastic Mr Fox, Gaslight
Gallery
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Fresco
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Fresco detail
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Fresco detail
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Windows
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Theatre in December 2012
References
- ^ a b "Comedy Theatre Opening". The Argus. Melbourne. 28 April 1928. p. 26. Retrieved 4 December 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "NEW MELBOURNE THEATRE". The Argus. Melbourne. 27 April 1928. p. 11. Retrieved 4 December 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "New Theatre". The Age. Vol. I, no. 39. Victoria, Australia. 1 December 1854. p. 5. Retrieved 22 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "New Theatre in Lonsdale Street". The Age. Vol. I, no. 156. Victoria, Australia. 19 April 1855. p. 5. Retrieved 22 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Advertising". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 2522. Victoria, Australia. 9 June 1855. p. 8. Retrieved 22 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Coppin's Olympic Theatre". The Argus. Melbourne. 27 July 1855. p. 4. Retrieved 4 December 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Melbourne's Oldest Theatres". The Mercury. Hobart, Tasmania. 21 January 1930. p. 2. Retrieved 4 December 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
- The Australasian. Vol. XLI, no. 1063. Victoria, Australia. 14 August 1886. p. 8. Retrieved 22 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Theatre bought". The Canberra Times. Vol. 52, no. 15, 584. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 23 May 1978. p. 18. Retrieved 28 April 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "AusStage - Comedy Theatre". www.ausstage.edu.au. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
- ^ "AusStage".
- ^ "The Pirates of Penzance - Gilbert and Sullivan, Melbourne City Opera, Comedy Theatre, until Saturday". The Age. 30 November 2004. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
- ^ "AusStage".
- ^ "AusStage".
- ^ "AusStage".
- ^ "AusStage".
- ^ "AusStage".
- ^ "Yes, Prime Minister Cast Announced | Stage Whispers".
- ^ "Madiba the Musical | Stage Whispers".
- ^ "33 Variations (Comedy Theatre)". 12 March 2019.
- ^ https://www.timeout.com/melbourne/theatre/the-mousetrap
- ^ https://www.timeout.com/melbourne/theatre/midnight-the-cinderella-musical
- ^ https://concreteplayground.com/melbourne/event/winnie-the-pooh-the-new-stage-adaptation-melbourne
- ^ https://www.timeout.com/melbourne/comedy/tim-minchin
External links
- Official website
- Comedy Theatre, Melbourne, Victorian Heritage Database