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STRAND/ODEON THEATRE, HOBART

by Earl Martell

the very latest at the time, came from
Britain. The theatre had three cloak
rooms, indirect lighting with dimmers
to avoid eye strain and electronic
ticket machines. It was the biggest and
most spacious theatre in Tasmania at
the time seating, 1200 people - 719 in
the stalls and 481 in the dress circle.

The official opening took place on
22 May 1916, with the Lord Mayor of
Hobart stating, “This is undoubtedly
the finest building in Tasmania - in
fact, it is the greatest structure of its
kind in the country!”

Screening silent movies six days a
week, the Strand became very
popular with local cinema goers and,
in 1929, it was taken over by Union
Theatres (later to become ‘Great
Union’), who remodelled the interior
and installed sound equipment. It was
relaunched with a “guests’ only”
screening of the 1929 Marx Bros.
talkie (musical/comedy), The
Cocoanuts.
The original Strand c. 1930.
ack in 1976, I was living in South Hobart spent seven months touring the United States, In 1956, the theatre was again remodelled,
Band working in the city, walking to work visiting every major city to study the latest leaving little trace of the original Strand and
each day. My walk took me past what was then theatre designs. He decided the
called the ABC Odeon, home of the Strand in New York (demolished in
Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. While 1987) was the one to emulate and he
realising it was a former picture theatre, at the had plans drawn up for an exact copy.
time I never knew that six decades earlier it
was the Strand picture theatre, back then the However, the finished product, at
grandest in Tasmania (though given the north- 145 Liverpool St. Hobart (on the
south rivalry in Tassie, I’m sure the residents opposite side of the road from His
of Launceston would never have agreed with Majesty’s Theatre) was not an exact
that!) So, what were the origins of the Strand? replica of its New York namesake,
but it did have a number of
In around 1913, Tasmanian merchant, E.J. similarities, whilst being uniquely
Miller, who had made his fortune from silver Tasmanian. The seating was made in The Strand Usherettes in their striking uniforms.
and lead mining in the west coast Tasmanian the Hobart suburb of Glenorchy, and
town of Zeehan, wanted to create a world class the staircase to the dress circle was made of like a lot of other Greater Union Theatres in the
picture theatre for the people of Tasmania and Tasmanian blackwood. The film projectors, 1950s (Liberty Melbourne, Britannia
Ballarat), it was renamed the Odeon. The latest
in projector technology, along with a
Cinemascope screen was installed. The “new”
Odeon opened with the British film Reach for
the Sky (the story of Britain’s WW 2 Spitfire
pilot, Douglas Bader). The first screening was
accompanied by a guard of honour from the
local branch of the RAAF Air Cadets marching
down Liverpool Street.

The Odeon was called ‘The Theatre of
Tomorrow’, but tomorrow came too quickly
for Greater Union, with the introduction of
television in Hobart drying up cinema
audiences and forcing the closure of the
Odeon as a picture theatre in 1970.

In September 1971, the ABC had a trial run
with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra in
the old theatre. This proved successful and,
after alterations to the interior (again), it was
renamed the ABC Odeon, the home of the
Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, for concerts,

36 CINEMARECORD # 100