Gaiety Theatre
The Gaiety Theatre and Grand Hotel in 2012
Address120 Main Street
Zeehan, Tasmania
Australia
Coordinates41°52′55.25″S 145°20′6.99″E / 41.8820139°S 145.3352750°E / -41.8820139; 145.3352750
OwnerWest Coast Council
DesignationTasmanian Heritage Register[1]
Capacity1,000 (1898)[2]
500 (2006)[3]
Current usecinema, live entertainment
Construction
Opened9 October 1898 (1898-10-09)[4]
Years active1898-1968, 2006-present
ArchitectMr. T. Searell
Website
Official site
Place ID5,659[5]
StatusPermanently Registered

The Gaiety Theatre and Grand Hotel is a historic theatre and hotel in Zeehan, Tasmania, Australia.

History

Draper and hotelier Edward Mulcahy M.H.A[6] built a timber hotel called the Royal Exchange on the site of an abandoned silver and lead mine in 1882. Although it was destroyed by fire in 1884,[7] Mulcahy assembled his own and other capital to enter into a new enterprise for the Gaiety Theatre and Grand Hotel on the same site. The destruction of the Royal Exchange and his personal loss of £5,000 was strong in Mulcahy's mind, so the new building was constructed of brick, the first of which were being made at that time in Zeehan by resident John Connor. Completed in 1898,[8] the Gaiety Theatre and Grand Hotel cost a staggering £7,075.[9] The building is notable for its unusual coupling of a hotel and theatre.

Entrance to the Gaiety Theatre in 2017

Gaiety Theatre

The theatre had a seating capacity for over 1,000 patrons with a large stage measuring 15 by 12 metres (48 ft × 38 ft).[2] The Gaiety was used for regular touring company performances by J.C. Williamson Ltd, as well as live music, bioscopes, films, and sporting events such as wrestling[10] and gymnastics.[11] In 1899, American actor Grattan Riggs collapsed after a performance at the Gaiety and later died at the Strahan Hospital.[12][13] Film director, producer, and exhibitor F. W. Thring honed his skills as an elocutionist and actor at the Gaiety.[14][15] Thring would go on to start Biograph Pictures Co in Tasmania in 1911, before founding Efftee Studios in Melbourne in 1931.[16] Merchant E.J. Miller, who made his fortune on the Zeehan mineral field, witnessed the rising popularity of the first silent films in vaudeville programming at the Gaiety Theatre and nearby Theatre Royal, which would later influence him to build The Strand in Hobart.[17] The Story of the Kelly Gang, the world's first feature-length film, screened during its initial run at the Gaiety in May, 1907.[18][19] In 1910, Corrick Family Entertainers premiered Leonard Corrick's Leonard’s Beautiful Pictures at the Gaiety as part of their travelling program. A newly digitised version by the National Film and Sound Archive was projected at the Gaiety as part of the Ten Days on the Island festival in 2021.[20][21]

The theatre lays to many contentious claims, such as being Australia's largest concert hall at time of construction, as well as whether-or-not tenor Enrico Caruso, Nellie Melba or Houdini performed at the theatre.[6][8][9]

Grand Hotel

The Grand Hotel commanded city hotel rates (ten shillings per day) and offered modern luxuries.[22] The hotel safe was robbed in 1910.[23] The economic downturn in Zeehan following the First World War left many businesses in decline and buildings left to decay. In 1935, the Grand Hotel was able to resume trading after "improvements demanded by the police" were deemed satisfactory.[24]

Decline and restoration

Throughout the 40s and 50s, the theatre hosted dancing lessons and community meetings.[25] In the 1980s, the hotel fell into disuse and the theatre was used for basketball games.[6] In 2000, Carlene Vickers from "Friends of the Gaiety" became a Local Hero finalist in the Tasmanian Australian of the Year Awards when the society managed to raise $120,000 for restoration works.[26] The original theatre seats, dating back to 1910, were being used by the Ulverstone Jehovah's Witness congregation. They were refitted into the Gaiety as part of the theatre's restoration.[27] The Gaiety officially reopened in April 2006.[26]

Contemporary use

Since 2011, a reconstruction of Louise Lovely and Wilton Welch's lost film Jewelled Nights, which was shot near Zeehan, screens daily alongside The Story of the Kelly Gang and The Sign of the Cross.[28] The reconstructed film runs for 17 minutes and consists of original footage, outtakes, production stills from nearby Savage River, as well as animations to reimagine the story.[28][29][30] The theatre can be inspected by people who buy tickets to the West Coast Pioneers Museum Complex. The Gaiety hosted a performance of Madame Butterfly by the Melbourne City Ballet in 2018 to a crowd of 100 patrons.[31] Since 2020, the theatre has been subject to paranormal investigations, lead by tour operator Tasmania’s Most Haunted.[32][33] A $3m figure was floated as a means to completely refurbish the Gaiety in 2021.[6] In 2022, the theatre was utilised as a location for the television series Bay of Fires, starring Marta Dusseldorp.[34]

See also

List of theatres in Hobart

References

  1. ↑ Tasmanian Heritage Register Datasheet (PDF), Tasmanian Heritage Council, p. 1, retrieved 4 June 2022
  2. 1 2 Howson, Denzil (1996). "Cinema Record Quarterly Journal, Issue 13". p. 17. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  3. ↑ "Gaiety Theatre, Main Street and Dodds Street, Zeehan, TAS 7469". Cinema Treasures. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  4. ↑ "Zeehan - Opening of the Gaiety Theatre". The Daily Telegraph. Launceston. 10 October 1898. p. 2. Retrieved 25 May 2022 – via Trove.
  5. ↑ "Permanent and Provisional Registrations as at 22 Jan 2021" (PDF). Tasmanian Heritage Register. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Lis, Gabrielle (2020). "Boom and Bust in the Gaiety". Island. p. ISSUE 161. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  7. ↑ "Fire at Zeehan". The Mercury. Vol. CI, no. 13, 962. Tasmania, Australia. 2 December 1914. p. 6. Retrieved 24 June 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. 1 2 Van Straten, Frank (1 March 2022). "Walter Kirby: Australia's forgotten Caruso (Part 2)". Theatre Heritage. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  9. 1 2 "Zeehan, TAS - Things to see and do". Aussie Towns. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  10. ↑ Shelford, Michael (22 August 2013). "The forgotten story of… Ted Whiting". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  11. ↑ "Gaiety Theatre". Zeehan and Dundas Herald. Tasmania, Australia. 16 June 1899. p. 3. Retrieved 9 March 2021 – via Trove.
  12. ↑ "Obituary". Zeehan and Dundas Herald. Vol. IX, no. 208. Tasmania, Australia. 16 June 1899. p. 3. Retrieved 9 March 2021 – via Trove.
  13. ↑ "Reflections on the Gordon River". Walkabout. Vol. 37, no. 7. Tasmania, Australia. 8 December 1898. p. 2. Retrieved 25 May 2022 – via Trove.
  14. ↑ "AMATEUR THEATRICALS". North Western Advocate and the Emu Bay Times. Vol. 37, no. 7. Tasmania, Australia. 27 May 1909. p. 3. Retrieved 25 May 2022 – via Trove.
  15. ↑ Peter, Fitzpatrick (2012). The Two Frank Thrings. Clayton, Victoria: Monash University Publishing. p. 32. ISBN 9781921867248.
  16. ↑ "F. W. THRING" (PDF). Australian Variety Theatre Archive. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  17. ↑ Martell, Earl (2018). "Cinema Record Quarterly Journal, Issue 100". p. 36. Retrieved 14 May 2022.
  18. ↑ "THE KELLY GANG". Zeehan and Dundas Herald. Tasmania, Australia. 28 May 1907. p. 4. Retrieved 25 May 2022 – via Trove.
  19. ↑ "Gaiety Theatre - Historic Building in Zeehan". Lonely Planet. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  20. ↑ Mackenzie, Jillian. "The Corricks in Tasmania - Back on the road with the Corricks". National Film and Sound Archive. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  21. ↑ "Ten Days on the Island 2021". Tasmanian Times. 28 January 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  22. ↑ "Lifestyle - Zeehan". The Sydney Morning Herald. 15 September 2008. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  23. ↑ "Safe Robbery at Zeehan". Daily Post. Hobart, Tasmania. 26 May 1910. p. 6. Retrieved 26 May 2022 – via Trove.
  24. ↑ "Zeehan Licensing Court - The Grand Hotel". The Mercury. Hobart, Tasmania. 15 March 1935. p. 2. Retrieved 26 May 2022 – via Trove.
  25. ↑ Purvis, Bronwyn (19 April 2011). "Tassie Two Step: stories of how dance has affected our lives". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  26. 1 2 Wilson, Amber (8 November 2007). "Modest local hero deserves to take a bow". The Advocate. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  27. ↑ "Tip-off aids theatre restoration". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 27 December 2005. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  28. 1 2 Purvis, Bronwyn (19 April 2011). "Gaiety theatre grand gala". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  29. ↑ "Cinema Record Quarterly Journal, Issue 72". 2011. p. 5. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  30. ↑ Bryan, Selina (30 January 2012). "Silent movie finds new voice". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  31. ↑ Hooper, Fred (23 July 2018). "Tasmania's wild west coast welcomes the Melbourne City Ballet to town". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  32. ↑ McCann, Annie (21 September 2021). "Is this Tasmanian theatre haunted? A director and paranormal investigator will find out". The Mercury. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  33. ↑ Powell, Sandy (19 November 2020). "Tasmania's Most Haunted to host ghost tour at Zeehan's Gaiety Theatre Grand Hotel". The Advocate. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  34. ↑ Ross, Selina (12 September 2022). "Bay of Fires drama sparks winter boom on Tasmania's west coast". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
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