Page 26 - CINEMARECORD-96

by Earl Martell

Hoyts Prince of Wales Theatre, c. 1971
obart’s Prince of Wales theatre, once one Originally called the Grand Empire Theatre, In 1925, it was renamed the Prince of Wales
Hof the most technically advanced cinemas it was opened by the English Amusement Theatre by the new owner, E.H. Webster,
in Australia, sadly died a slow death over two Company to a full house on Saturday night, after a major refurbishment, which included
decades. Firstly, its upstairs section was closed 31 December 1910, at 85 Macquarie St. It was the rebuilding of the auditorium (designed by
off for safety reasons in the early 1970s, then a silent movie house seating 1610, with a bio architect George Hughes), the addition of a
it was taken over to replace the Theatre Royal, box at the back of the circle. By the early “proper” stage and fly tower, new dressing
which had been badly fire damaged in 1984 as 1920s, 50 staff were employed at the theatre, rooms and a new dress circle, for which
a live theatre and was finally unceremoniously including the orchestra members and ushers. 20 tons of steel girders were used, replacing
demolished in 1987, with the site converted into the poles which had previously held up the
a car park and office building. circle area and obscured the view of the stage
by patrons in the stalls. The back portion of the
roof was lifted and air vents installed, along
with fans to draw out hot air (not that there’s
too much of that in Hobart!). New curtains,
made at short notice by G.P. Fitzgerald’s,
Tasmania’s biggest department store chain,
were installed at the front of the stage. (In the
1970s, Fitzgeralds, now Harris Scarfe, used
Hobart’s old King’s Hall theatre as its
warehouse). On 26 December 1925, the
Prince of Wales reopened as a live theatre,
with a mainland theatre company performing
the play The Glad Eye.
The Theatre Royal, Australia’s oldest live
theatre, was just around the corner and it was
found Hobart could not support two live
Theatre Royal, Hobart 2012 theatres, so the Prince of Wales went back to

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