The Opera House is a

proscenium A proscenium (, ) is the virtual vertical plane of space in a theatre, usually surrounded on the top and sides by a physical proscenium arch (whether or not truly "arched") and on the bottom by the stage floor itself, which serves as the frame ...

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

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, located on Manners Street opposite Te Aro Park.

History

The present Opera House replaced earlier buildings on Manners Street. The Imperial Opera House opened in 1878, but burnt down a year later. The Opera House is awaiting the masses

Construction work on the present building began in 1911. It was named ''The Grand Opera House'' in May 1913 with a plan to open early on Boxing Night that year. The principal architect William Pitt was based in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Australia, and much of the work was overseen by Wellington architect Albert Liddy. The opera house finally opened on Easter Saturday of 12 April 1914 to an evening performance by the American Burlesque Company, with a full seating capacity of 2141 in three levels of stalls, dress circle and gallery, including 50 box seats. The original seating upholstery was made and installed by the Wellington company Kirkcaldie & Stains, and the interior features fine plaster mouldings and an ornate dome. The building was designed with brick masonry outer walls with wooden floors and a timber-framed roof. It is registered by

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 ...

as a Category 1 Historic Place. A photo hanging in the dress circle foyer alcove is of Phyllis Porter a dancer in the J.C. Williamson Peep Show Company in 1923 who died in Wellington Hospital after her costume caught fire. In 1977 it was restored with funding from the New Zealand insurance company State Insurance, and for many years it was known as the ''State Opera House''. In the 1990s and early 2000s the building was operated by the St James Theatre Trust, which ran the nearby St James Theatre. In July 2011 Positively Wellington Venues, an integration between the Wellington Convention Centre and the St James Theatre Trust, began managing the theatre under the new name of ''The Opera House'' along with five other venues in the capital city. In October 2012 it was announced that the Opera House was an earthquake risk and would possibly have to close. By the end of 2016, funding from Wellington City Council and the Performing Arts Foundation of Wellington enabled the building to be strengthened and restored to sufficient code to continue to be open to the public. The refit also included an award-winning restoration of its original interior features, by a local architect and 14 painters and artists. The Opera House was used for the theatre scenes in

Peter Jackson Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand filmmaker. He is best known as the director, writer, and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy (2012–2014), both of which ar ...

's 2005 film ''

King Kong King Kong, also referred to simply as Kong, is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. The character has since become an international pop culture icon,Erb, Cynthia, 1998, ''Tracking Kin ...

''.

References

* Kernohoran, David, ''Wellington's Old Buildings'', Victoria University Press, 1994, (page 131) *

External links

* {{authority control Theatres in Wellington City Theatres completed in 1914 Heritage New Zealand Category 1 historic places in the Wellington Region Opera houses in New Zealand 1910s architecture in New Zealand