The St James Theatre is a historic stage theatre and cinema located on Queen Street in Auckland, New Zealand. Built in 1928 to a design by

Henry Eli White Henry Eli White (21 August 1876 – 3 March 1952), also known as Harry White, was a New Zealand-born architect best known for the many theater (structure), theatres and movie theater, cinemas he designed in New Zealand and Australia in the 1910 ...

, it replaced the older Fuller's Opera House and was originally designed for

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

acts. It shortly started showing films and up until the early 2000s was used for both live performances and film. St James Theatre was damaged following a blaze at the building in 2007. Since 2017 it has been closed. Restoration work was scheduled to begin in 2024. St James Theatre is registered as a category 1 building with

Heritage New Zealand Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (initially the National Historic Places Trust and then, from 1963 to 2014, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust; in ) is a Crown entity that advocates for the protection of Archaeology of New Zealand, ancest ...

Description

The interior of St James Theatre is a mixture of traditional theatre and American cinema design. The interior is in a

Spanish Colonial The Spanish Colonial Revival architecture (), often known simply as Spanish Revival, is a term used to encompass a number of revivalist architectural styles based in both Spanish colonial architecture and Spanish architecture in general. These ...

style and has marble steps and statuettes. The interior has influences from both Victorian and Edwardian theatres and more modern American movie palaces. It has three tiers of seating. The theatre had an entrance on Queen Street with a large

terrazzo Terrazzo is a composite material, poured in place or precast, which is used for floor and wall treatments. It consists of chips of marble, quartz, granite, glass, or other suitable material, poured with a cementitious binder (for chemical bind ...

foyer and an exit onto Lorne Street.

History

St James Theatre was constructed in 1928 to replace the Wellesley Street Fullers' Opera House which had burnt down 2 years prior. It cost £80,000 to construct and took 9 months to complete. It was initially known as the 'New Opera House'. It was designed for

performances which were still popular at the time. In 1929 projection facilities were added and the theatre started to screen films alongside stage performances. Norman Hayward became the manager of the theatre in 1935 and under his management the theatre won the contract for

Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

in Auckland. In 1945 the theatre was purchased by Kerridge Theatres. Kerridge brought back live stage shows and hosted the Bolshoi Ballet Company, New Zealand Ballet Company, and

Royal Variety Performance The ''Royal Variety Performance'' is a televised variety show held annually in the United Kingdom to raise money for the Royal Variety Charity (of which King Charles III is life-patron). It is attended by senior members of the British royal ...

. In 1953, the building's facade and vestibule underwent renovation for

Queen Elizabeth Queen Elizabeth, Queen Elisabeth or Elizabeth the Queen may refer to: Queens regnant * Elizabeth I (1533–1603; ), Queen of England and Ireland * Elizabeth II (1926–2022; ), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms * Queen B ...

and

Prince Philip Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 19219 April 2021), was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he was the consort of the British monarch from h ...

's visit to New Zealand. The monarchs were hosted at St James Theatre during their visit. The Odeon Cinema, Westend Cinema, and Regent Theatre were added onto the building in 1957, 1966, and 1982 respectively. The Odeon cinema was the first public space in New Zealand to have full air conditioning. In 2007 the theatre closed after a fire damaged the building. In 2010 St James Saviours was established as a group to lobby for the restoration of the theatre. In 2014 the ownership of the theatre was transferred to the Auckland Notable Properties Trust. The Trust has put $15 million towards the restoration and Auckland Council matched that in 2015–2016 and in 2023 the New Zealand government also contributed $15 million towards it. Restoration work was scheduled for the middle of 2024.

References

External links

St James Saviours Facebook Page

Haunted Auckland

St James Theatre Historical Photo Gallery
''NZ Herald''
St James Listing in the NZ Historic Places Trust Register

David Hartnell's Bid to Save Iconic St James Theatre
''Fairfax News'' June 2013
Scott Kara : Let's Revive the St James
''NZ Herald'' July 2013
Fate of an Auckland Landmark: Saving the St James
''NZ Herald'' August 2013
Perfect City Venue for Live Shows and Music
''NZ Herald'' August 2013
Campaign Aims to Restore Lost Glory
''NZ Herald'' August 2013
Margot McRae: St James is our Albert Hall - all it needs is a WOF
''NZ Herald'' August 2013

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint James Theatre, Auckland Cinemas in New Zealand Theatres in Auckland Theatres completed in 1928 Heritage New Zealand Category 1 historic places in the Auckland Region 1928 establishments in New Zealand 1920s architecture in New Zealand Auckland CBD