The Minerva Theatre was a
theatre
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...
located in Orwell Street in
Kings Cross,
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...
. Originally a live venue, it was converted to the Metro Cinema in 1950, before returning to live shows in 1969. It ceased operating as a theatre in 1979
The Metro Minerva Theatre Action Group(MTAG) formed in 2019 is lobbying for its reinstatement.
History
In 1937, David N Martin, a theatrical publicity and advertising agent, formed a new theatre company named Minerva Centre Ltd to erect two live theatres on opposite sides of Macleay Street, Potts Point. An early design for the Orwell Street site by
Bruce Dellit
Charles Bruce Dellit (7 November 1898 – 21 August 1942) was an Australian architect who pioneered the Art Deco style in Australia. was rejected in favour of a more modest design by cinema specialists Crick & Furse, which opened on 18 May 1939 with a production of Robert Sherwood's ''
Idiot's Delight''.
The site for the other proposed theatre site was acquired by the City of Sydney and is now the Fitzroy Gardens. The site in front of the Minerva facing Macleay Street was developed as the Minerva Cafe and Nightclub, with a vaulted roof.
In May 1941 it was leased by Whitehall Theatrical Productions, an independent production company. They remained in the venue for almost a decade, staging their last show there in April 1950.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...
purchased the building in 1950 and converted to a movie theatre, renaming it the Metro Cinema.
Harry M. Miller
Harry Maurice Miller (6 January 1934 – 4 July 2018) was a New Zealand Australian promoter, publicist and media agent.
Life and career
Born on 6 January 1934 in New Zealand, Miller grew up in the Auckland suburb of Grey Lynn. He moved to A ...
returned the venue to live theatre in 1969 with a production of the musical ''
Hair
Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals.
The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and fi ...
''.
In 1979 the building was converted to a market. It subsequently became offices for the
Kennedy Miller
Kennedy Miller Mitchell (known before 2009 as Kennedy Miller) is an Australian film, television and video game production house in Potts Point, Sydney, that has been producing television and film since 1978. It is responsible for some of Austra ...
film production company.
In 2019, Kennedy Miller sold the building to the Abacus Group, amidst hopes it might again become a live theatre.
Heritage listed by the City of Sydney including the interior, it was nominated by them to the NSW Heritage Register in 2019.
Th
Metro Minerva Theatre Action Group(MTAG) was formed in 2019 to lobby and campaign for the reinstatement of the Minerva to a fully functioning theatre
Design
The
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unit ...
theatre was designed for comfort, with lounge seating and only 1000 seats. The stage had a
proscenium
A proscenium ( grc-gre, προσκήνιον, ) is the metaphorical 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 ...
design and there were two small side stages.
The City of Sydney heritage citation states that :
"The Metro Theatre, although altered, is an exceptional example and represents the apotheosis of the Art Deco Streamline Moderne style in New South Wales. The Metro Theatre has an expertly controlled geometric massing of the exterior form, exhibiting all the trademarks of the Streamline Moderne style. Strongly influenced by Expressionism, the tower is one of the most strikingly successful Streamline Moderne structures ever realised in New South Wales. Although altered internally, the shell of the auditorium remains. Strongly influenced by Expressionism, the auditorium is one of the most striking theatre interiors ever realised in New South Wales."
References
Further reading
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External links
*
Metro Theatre (Part 2)at TheatreHeritage.org.au
Metro Theatre (Part 3)at TheatreHeritage.org.au
{{Theatres in Sydney
1939 establishments in Australia
Former theatres in Sydney
Art Deco architecture in Sydney
Kings Cross, New South Wales
Theatres in Sydney
Cinemas in Sydney
Former cinemas