East End Theatre District
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The East End Theatre District is a precinct within the Melbourne central business district, and is bounded by
Spring Street Spring Street may refer to: * Spring Street (Los Angeles), USA * Spring Street (Manhattan), New York City, USA * Spring Street, Melbourne, Australia * Spring Street, Singapore * Spring St (website), a US based lifestyle website Subway and trolle ...
, Flinders Street, Swanston Street and
Lonsdale Street Lonsdale Street is a main street and thoroughfare in the city centre of Melbourne, Australia. It runs roughly east–west and was laid out in 1837 as one of Melbourne's original boundaries within the Hoddle Grid. The street extends from Sp ...
. The district is home to seven major theatres, including the Princess Theatre, Her Majesty's Theatre and the Regent Theatre. These theatres mostly house commercial productions of musicals, plays and other events, in contrast with the Southbank Arts Precinct over the Yarra River which focuses on publicly funded companies.


History

The East End of Melbourne was effectively formed by the Hoddle Grid, with Elizabeth Street the dividing line between east and west. The Hoddle Grid was laid out in 1837, following the founding of the Melbourne settlement in 1835. Melbourne's first theatre, the Pavilion, was constructed adjacent to the Eagle Tavern on Bourke Street in 1842. The second theatre, the Queen's, was also constructed as part of a pub, however it was, and remains, the only major theatre in Melbourne's CBD built west of Elizabeth Street.


East End theatres

Seven surviving theatres exist within the East End. Other major entertainment venues in the East End Theatre District include live music venues
170 Russell Total House is a heritage-listed Brutalist commercial building at 170-190 Russell Street, Melbourne, Australia. It consists of retail premises at street level, a seven-level car park, four storeys of offices atop the car park, and a basement theat ...
and Max Watt's House of Music, Hoyts Melbourne Central, Palace Kino, Chinatown and ACMI cinemas.


Former theatres

The East End has been home to over 25 different theatres since 1841. Some of the major former theatres are listed below.


Economic impact

In July 2016, the East End Theatre District was reported to have made an economic contribution of $692 million, and an economic impact of $226 million, to the state of Victoria.


See also

*
List of theatres in Melbourne This is a list of theatres in Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. Melbourne City Centre The Melbourne City Centre has two distinct areas with concentrations of theatres: the East End,Geography of Melbourne Theatre in Melbourne Melbourne City Centre