The Royal Lyceum was a small theatre in

York Street, Sydney York Street is a street in the Sydney central business district in New South Wales, Australia. York Street runs in a north to south direction only. Route From its northern terminus at the junction of Grosvenor Street with the Bradfield High ...

founded in 1854, which was redeveloped and renamed many times, finally as the Queen's Theatre, by which name it closed in 1882.

History

In the late 1840s Malcom's Royal Australian Circus (later Amphitheatre) opened on the west side of

between

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

and

Market Market is a term used to describe concepts such as: *Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand *Market economy *Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market *Marketing, the act of sat ...

streets, one door from the latter. The venue specialised in equestrian displays and trick riding, tightrope dancing and "Olympic games". John Malcom was the proprietor. It was refurbished and reopened in October 1854 as the Royal Lyceum Theatre, perhaps named after the

theatre in Edinburgh 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. The performers may communicat ...

, and frequently referred to as "the Lyceum". Its first lessees were the American C. R. Thorne company, who were previously at the Victoria Theatre. Not two years later, the theatre was taken over by W. H. Stephens and H. T. Craven, who refurbished its interior and in July 1856 renamed it and the hotel adjacent as "Our Lyceum". Improvements included a clerestory roof for better ventilation,

box A box (plural: boxes) is a container with rigid sides used for the storage or transportation of its contents. Most boxes have flat, parallel, rectangular sides (typically rectangular prisms). Boxes can be very small (like a matchbox) or v ...

es that gave a better view of the stage, and an enlarged

orchestra pit An orchestra pit is an area in a theatre (usually located in a lowered area in front of the stage) in which musicians perform. The orchestra plays mostly out of sight in the pit, rather than on the stage as for a concert, when providing music fo ...

. There was however a slump in stage productions and the theatre was mostly used for public meetings. Stephens was forced to declare insolvency. In 1866 the Lyceum, or "New Lyceum" with another renovation and new lessee Frank Towers, was reckoned one of three or four good theatres in Sydney (along with the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

Castlereagh Street Castlereagh Street is a major street located in the Sydney central business district in New South Wales, Australia. The street runs north-to-south, in a One-way traffic, one way direction only. Description Castlereagh Street's northern terminu ...

, the Victoria Theatre in

Pitt Street Pitt Street is a major street in the Sydney central business district in New South Wales, Australia. The street runs through the entire city centre from Circular Quay in the north to Waterloo, although today's street is in two disjointed sect ...

and, intermittently, the

Opera House An opera house is a theater building used for performances of opera. Like many theaters, it usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, backstage facilities for costumes and building sets, as well as offices for the institut ...

) but was "seldom open". In 1867 it became the Alexandra Hall, an assembly hall or ''salon de danse''. In 1869 the actor

George Simms George Otto Simms (4 July 1910 – 15 November 1991) was an archbishop in the Church of Ireland, and a scholar. Early life and education George Otto Simms was born on 4 July 1910 in North Dublin in Ireland to parents John Francis A Simms & Ott ...

took over the lease from a John Clark, who was imprisoned that August for killing his wife Susan Martin Clark, reopening it as the Royal Adelphi Theatre on 4 September 1869. The partnership of Harding, Wilson and Habbe took over as managers, renovating and decorating the interior, reopening on 27 November. with

Watts Phillips Watts Phillips (16 November 1825 – 2 December 1874) was an English illustrator, novelist and playwright, known for his play ''The Dead Heart'', which served as a model for Charles Dickens' ''A Tale of Two Cities''. In a memoir, his sister Emm ...

' drama ''The Poor Strollers'' with Rosa Cooper as Lady Camille. Later plays included the Australian premiere of ''The Lancashire Lass'', directed by Cooper. In 1873 it was renovated and renamed the Queen's Theatre, under management of W. B. Gill, after which it became a ''

café chantant A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, Caffè americano, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually ...

'', to '' Punch''s chagrin, then refurbished by

Samuel Lazar Samuel Lazar (1838 – 14 November 1883) was an Australian theatre manager, producer of pantomimes and operas, and occasional actor. History Lazar was a son of theatre manager John Lazar, and as a child frequently appeared on stage in his father ...

and reopened in March 1875, to Mr Punch's evident approval. J. C. Williamson and

Maggie Moore Maggie Moore (April 10, 1851 – March 15, 1926) was an American-Australian actress born as Margaret Virginia Sullivan. Moore met and married theatre impresario J. C. Williamson in the U.S. and became popular as an actress in their productio ...

played ''

Struck Oil ''Struck Oil'' is an 1874 play set during the American Civil War and a 1919 Australian silent film, now considered lost. The play, which introduced Maggie Moore to Australian theatre-goers, was popular with the Australian public and the basis o ...

'' at "The Queen's" in March, 1875. In July 1877 C. Wheatleigh, took over management of the Queen's Theatre and scored several successes in ''Around the World in 80 days'' and ''The Shaughran''. L. M. Bayless followed as manager a few months later, with the Simonsen company and the opera ''

Giroflé-Girofla ''Giroflé-Girofla'' is an opéra bouffe in three acts with music by Charles Lecocq. The French libretto was by Albert Vanloo and Eugène Leterrier. The story, set in 13th century Spain, concerns twin brides, one of whom is abducted by pirates. ...

''. Licensee of the Queen's Hotel adjacent was the boxer

Larry Foley Laurence 'Larry' Foley (12 December 1849 – 12 July 1917) was an Australian middleweight Boxer (boxing), boxer. An exceptional boxing instructor, his students included American champions Peter Jackson (boxer), Peter Jackson, and Tommy Burns ...

. In July 1882 the Queen's Theatre was closed by Government order, as being unsafe. It was used by a commercial interest for some years, then demolished sometime before 1905.

Notes

References

External links

A Short History of the Royal Lyceum Theatre, York St Sydney
includes drawings and maps {{coord missing, New South Wales Former theatres in Sydney Theatres completed in 1854 1854 establishments in Australia 1882 disestablishments in Australia