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Palace
Palace

of Wonders
of Wonders

By Frank Van Straten

Imagine this: take the Athenaeum
Theatre and Reading Room, add in
the Victoria Hotel and move it all north
one block. This was the scale of the
Palace Hotel and its two theatres in
Bourke Street of 1890, the era of
‘Marvellous Melbourne.’ The standard
of accommodation, which included
four-room suites, choice in dining
rooms, choice in orchestras and other
entertainments – 22 billiard tables and
two theatres – would not be seen again
in one location until the Crown
Entertainment Complex, nearly a
century later. By one account the
Palace was ‘one of the most complete
hotels in the world.’ (1)
The Palace and its theatres occupied
most of a block bounded by Bourke
Street, Russell Place, Little Collins
Street and Royal Lane. The north-south
spine of the complex was the Victoria
Arcade, which gave access to the east
and west sections of the hotel and the
stalls of the Gaiety theatre. The
entrance to the Bijou theatre was one
Top: Bourke Street c.1890, looking east. The tower and rooms of the Palace Hotel are
floor up.
the tallest building.
The Bijou, the better of the two
Above: The Victoria Arcade. The Gaiety will be built behind the two shops west of the
theatres, originated as the Academy of
Arcade. Across Royal Lane (far right) is the building which will become the Paramount
Music (1876). The entrance was
theatre.
reached from a handsome marble
Next page: Plan of the front three storeys of the Palace Hotel. The Gaiety theatre will
staircase on Bourke street, along an
replace the Dining and Banqueting Hall. The Bijou is already part of the Victoria Arcade.
enclosed promenade, and up another
short flight of stairs to the theatre foyer. Re-named the Bijou four years appointed theatres in Melbourne - it is a
The stage wall faced Little Collins later, it burned down in 1889. The re- beautiful place,’ (2) but to The Age the
Street. built Bijou had a three-level interior. interior was ‘one of comfort and
The interior was unconventional in The seating capacity quoted in accounts brightness rather than splendour or
its seating, an early example of of the theatre seems a bit of a guess: magnificence.’ (3)
‘stadium-style’. The dress circle was 1,500 – 1,700, but it was certainly larger Central lights in the dome and
raised a mere four feet above the stalls, than before. bunches of lights in the form of poppies
and above this was a tier, the front The Bijou seems to have been a were displayed at angles in the ceiling.
section of which was called the family theatre of its time with no outstanding Three stage boxes were on either side of
circle, and the rear section the gallery. feature to lift it to a theatre for all times. the proscenium. The front curtain was
The total capacity was only 1,000. In one account it is ‘one of the best terracotta–coloured velvet.

12 2005 CINEMARECORD