David Marriner is a property developer and theatre owner, 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. His career began in the 1980s with property investments and developments, including the Cumberland Centre in the seaside town of Lorne. In 1986, he purchased the historic but languishing Princess Theatre in Spring Street, restoring and upgrading it to be suitable for the large scale musicals then gaining popularity overseas. The theatre reopened on 9 December 1989 with the musical ''

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'', followed by ''

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''. Through the 1990s Marriner was involved in various high profile developments in the Melbourne central city, notably complex deals with the State Government and the City of Melbourne involving the

Queen Victoria Hospital The Queen Victoria Hospital (QVH), located in East Grinstead, West Sussex, England is the specialist reconstructive surgery centre for the south east of England, and also provides services at clinics across the region. It has become world-famo ...

site, and the redevelopment of the

City Square A town square (or public square, urban square, city square or simply square), also called a plaza or piazza, is an open public space commonly found in the heart of a traditional town or city, and which is used for community gatherings. Rel ...

. The latter project saw his development company build the

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and apartments on half the old Square site, and restore and then manage the adjacent Regent Theatre, which had been abandoned for 20 years. The theatre became another venue for large scale musicals, opening in 1996. In 1995 he bought the historic Forum cinema nearby, and in 1996 the historic

Comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

theatre, owning four out of the six historic theatres known as Melbourne's East End theatre district. Since at least 2017, David's son Jason Marriner has been the CEO of the Marriner Group, which manages the theatres. The company was greatly affected by the Covid lockdowns. David Marriner has also invested in Queensland resorts. He has frequently been in the news for his deals, proposals, and court cases.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marriner, David Australian theatre owners Year of birth missing (living people) Living people