Her Majesty's Theatre Fire

Fire was an enemy to many theatres in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Almost all the theatres in Australia had to be rebuilt during that time due to fires caused primarily by gas lighting.

In the early morning hours of 23rd March 1902 another fire occurred in the heart of Sydney.

Her Majesty's Theatre on the corner of Market and Pitt Street went up in flames. The theatre had a hotel attached and almost shared a wall with its other neighbours.

The fire decimated the theatre as can be seen in this photo from the Town and Country Journal





Tragically a young woman was killed when a wall at the back of the theatre collapsed upon her. She was a cleaning lady and was doing the early morning rounds of the theatre when the fire broke out.


Fortunately the fire brigade managed to contain the blaze and it did not spread to other parts of the city.

JC Williamson lost 35000 pounds worth of sets and equipment, but the theatrical community pitched in and helped with a benefit performance for him and for the people who lost their jobs through the destruction of the theatre.

Naturally they rebuilt .

Australian theatre programmes of the 20th century

Australian theatre programmes through the first four decades of the 20th century reflected the economic troubles of the times.

For example during World War 1 programmes were on rough paper, in black and white like this




During the 1920s the programmes reflected the optimism and excitement of the times. They were also in many cases beautiful artistic worksThis is a full colour cover and a booklet printed on glossy paper.

Of course as the depression came, the programmes became less showy.

The Williamson programme above is from 1931. The same cover was used through 1931 only the pictures of the stars on the cover changed. It was a booklet, but in black and white.

As the economy improved so did the programmes. Williamson updated to colour covers, but still kept the same cover through the mid 1930s.

Of course during the Second World War the theatres had to show patriotism by keeping their programmes simple. They went back to brouchure type programmes, many with colour covers like the one below from 1943.


Theatre history is a reflection of cultural and economic history. The above programmes are a fantastic illustration of the relevance of our theatrical history to the wider history of Australia.

William Anderson

Victorian born William Anderson was a gambler, a risk taker and an adventurer. He was also one of Australia's most well known managers/theatre owners in the early 20th Century.

Bill was lucky enough to marry the beautiful and talented Eugenie Duggan (above), who was the leading lady of the Holloway company when they married.

Above are Bill and Eugenie on the cover of a programme. Eugenie soon became the leading lady of Bill's company.

Bill toured a circus around Australia, he built the Kings Theatre in Melbourne and he produced play after play after play after pantomime. But perhaps Bill's biggest folly was Wonderland City in Tamarama near Sydney

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Bill spent 15000 pounds on Wonderland, it had a circus, a helter skelter, rides, amusement halls and other entertainments. At times it had its own vaudeville performances. It also had wowser neighbours who complained about the noise and the obstruction of the beach.

With all these enterprises, it was perhaps inevitable that the freewheeling Bill would get into financial difficulties. After 4 years Wonderland was closed, his productions became scarce and Bill's life became a bit less flamboyant

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Above is an advertisement for one of Bill's productions which took place at the height of his fame.

Bill believed in Australian performers and plays and always supported the local product. He died in 1940, much loved and much missed.

Carrie Moore

The beautiful yet rebellious Carrie Moore was one of Australia's most successful Edwardian actresses. She was born in Geelong Victoria in 1882.

Carrie started as a child star with J C Williamson, she was 13 years old and had a role in a pantomime. She was a leading lady at age 16 and for her 21st birthday, she received a contract with George Edwardes in London.


Above is a picture of Carrie in costume for an Australian production.

So at the age of 21 Carrie went to London to work for George Edwardes, the most famous theatrical manager in England.

She performed in the Cingalee for Edwardes and reportedly argued with him about wearing white make up . "Have you ever seen a white Cingalee?" She asked Below is Carrie in the Cingalee.

Her most famous role in London was as a Sandow Girl in the original London production of the Dairymaids. She gave a very scandalous interview speaking against corsets. As a Sandow girl she wore little more than drapery as you can see below.

She returned to Australia in 1908 and was Australia's first Merry Widow.( picture below.)

She then eloped with an bigamous Englishman, whilst being engaged to another one who was conveniently in England.

Carrie was bold and adventurous and was one of the few stars who performed in legitimate theatre, vaudeville, TV, radio and movies. She had a lovely soprano voice, but it was her charismatic presence that made her a star.

I've long been fascinated by Carrie and wrote a small book about her.

She died in Sydney in 1956 after living an incredible life.

Maud Jeffries

Many English Edwardian actresses married into the aristocracy, but it was unusual for an international actress to marry into an Australian squatter family. Maud Jeffries, an American actress, did so in the early 1900s.

Maud was born in the Southern United States in 1869. She was spotted by the famous actor Wilson Barrett and taken to England to perform in his company.

Here she is with Wilson

In 1897-1898 she came to Australia in a company headed by Barrett. They returned to England and every few years Maud would cross the Atlantic with her brother Norman to visit her family.

In 1904 Maud returned to Australia with a company headed by Julius Knight.

During that tour she met a young man called James Osborne who was the son of a wealthy squatter family. He was smitten with her and somehow joined the company. They acted together, and in 1905 he asked her to marry him. She agreed, finished the tour in 1906 and then retired from the stage.

Above you can see Maud acting as a very domestic Edwardian lady. Although many of the aristocratic marriages in England caused scandal, this marriage in the colonies, wasn't really frowned upon. In fact one of the papers said that James was a very lucky man.

Maud had a son, and lived out her life in the country with James. She made one appearance on stage before her death, a benefit with Julius Knight in 1910. She died in 1946 outliving her husband.

The London Gaiety Burlesque Company

The London Gaiety Burlesque Company toured Australia in 1892-1893. They were performers from the famous Gaiety theatre in London and included E J Lonnen, Marion Hood and Robert Courtneidge. Courtneidge later became a very famous producer/manager in his own right.

They performed two burlesques of opera on the tour, Faust up to date and Carmen up to data. These were,of course, parodies of the originals.

A tour by the Gaiety company was a huge event because they represented the very best in English entertainment, so everything about the production was of high quality, including the souvenirs.

One example was a lovely, "Souvenir of the Gaiety Theatre, George Edwardes" Which included a set of eight sketches by Percy Anderson.

Above is a soldier


This is Carmen and below is Frasquita.

These are beautiful examples of the time and effort that was taken to make visiting the theatre such a special experience in the late 19th Century.

More information about the tour is here

Harry Rickards and the Tivoli Theatre

Harry Rickards was an English music hall performer who became one of Australia's most successful theatre entrepreneurs. Although Rickards isn't very well known, his theatre chain, The Tivoli, is a magic word in Australian Theatre History.

Below is a letter dated 1893 on Harry Rickards' stationery. I'm not sure if it's signed by Rickards or by his brother Jack Leete. The Tivoli circuit was a family affair and Jack managed a lot of the business side.

This is a picture of Harry Rickards from an early 20th Century magazine. It outlines all the theatres he operated in Australia. These included the Tivoli in Sydney, The Opera House in Melbourne, and theatres in Adelaide and Brisbane. As you can see, Rickards had no problem with self promotion.

Finally, below is a 19th Century postcard of the New Opera House in Melbourne. It was later called the Tivoli and was run by Rickards. A shopping mall now stands on the site.

Frank Van Straten's book on the Tivoli called Tivoli, covers everything you want to know about the history of this legendary theatre chain.