Peter has undertaken extensive research into the work of his great great grandfather and Australian's most prolific colonial theatre architect George R. Johnson (1840-1898). He has written entries for the Australian Dictionary of Biography and the Encyclopedia of Australian Architecture. Peter operates an architectural practice in St Kilda and acts as a valuer of architectural documents for the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Content will be provided to this section very soon.
In the meantime you can learn about Melbourne's lost theatres from our old archived VTT web site.
Join Theatre Heritage Australia and...
Be part of the Australian theatre community
Membership gives you:
Note: the join form is currently unavailable until we sort a few things out. In the meantime please consider joining the email list.
We plan to develop this section in the future to give writers of Australian theatre history the opportunity to publish their work and receive a commission.
We also hope to offer out-of-copyright books and other articles on theatre history. However we need to organise a PayPal facility first and this takes time.
Coming in late 2013. Stay tuned!
Much of Australia's important theatre history is in danger of being forgotten. The very theatres themselves, which gave us the framework for this panorama of talent, are endangered. THA has been formed to fight for the preservation of both the history and the fabric of our ongoing theatre heritage.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
The purpose of THA is to promote and encourage the understanding of Australia’s rich performing arts history.
We do this by:
HISTORY
The organisation was founded by Evan Hercules in 1995 and originally called the Victoria Theatres Trust (VTT). To better reflect our national focus, at the 2008 AGM the VTT membership decided to incorporate and to change the name of the organisation to Theatre Heritage Australia Inc. (THA).
RULES
We are bound by a set of rules lodged with Consumer Affairs Victoria.
You can download a full set of our rules here.
FUNDRAISING POLICIES
Theatre Heritage Australia adheres to ethical fundraising practices. You can view our Fundraising Policies and Procedures below:
Fundraising Policy (pdf file, 45KB)
Ethical Fundraising Policy (pdf file, 48KB)
Without the tireless efforts of our volunteers this organisation could not possibly function.
Therefore we would like to acknowledge and thank the following people for their considerable input:
OFFICERS | |
President | Simon Piening |
Vice President | Diana Burleigh |
Secretary | Elisabeth Kumm |
Treasurer | (vacant) |
EVENTS | Diana Burleigh (Chair), Judy Leech, Robert Ray |
Bookings & Event Flyers | Judy Leech |
Images | with grateful assistance of the SLV Pictures Collection team |
FUNDRAISING | Sue-Anne Wallace (chair), Peter Johnson, Simon Piening |
Accountant | (vacant) |
MEMBERSHIP | (to be announced) |
ORAL HISTORY | Jasna Novakovic (chair), Robert Morisson, Cheryl Threadgold, Diana Burleigh |
PUBLICATIONS | Elisabeth Kumm (chair), Judy Leech, Robert Morisson, Cheryl Threadgold |
Newsletter Editor | Elisabeth Kumm |
Layout | Simon Piening |
SPECIAL PROJECTS | Judy Leech (chair), Peter Johnson, Elisabeth Kumm, Robert Morisson, Simon Piening, Jasna Novakovic, Jenny Fewster |
WEB SITE & IT | Simon Piening (chair), Peter Johnson |
Layout & Content | Simon Piening |
Flickr | Peter Johnson |
General Enquiries:
29 Northumberland Street, Collingwood, 3066 e: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Or better still, contact the person concerned below:
President
Simon Piening e: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Vice President
Diana Burleigh e: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Secretary
Elisabeth Kumm e: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Treasurer
Howard Cordner e: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Officeholders and committee members are elected by the membership every year at our AGM in March. If you would like to nominate for the committee or act as an officeholder please complete this nomination form.
A proxy form for use at annual, general and special meetings can be downloaded using this link.
The Committee is elected by the membership every year at our AGM in March. If you would like to join or learn more about what we do, please contact us or simply complete a nomination form and send it to us.
Cheryl's self-published book In the Name of Theatre: the history, culture and voices of amateur theatre in Victoria, based on her award-winning PhD thesis with Swinburne University of Technology, received the 2020 Collaborative Victorian Community History Award.
Honorary theatre writer/review coordinator for the Melbourne Observer newspaper since 2005, for over six years she presented the local theatre report on 3AW. Convenor of the Bayside U3A Writers Group, Cheryl directs radio plays for broadcast on 88.3 Southern FM. She has written short plays and full-length productions including the award-winning The Jewel by the Sea at historic Black Rock House. Cheryl worked behind the scenes in ABC Television for 29 years, and is currently Vice President of the ABC Reunion Club.
Officeholders and committee members are elected by the membership every year at our AGM in March. If you would like to nominate for the committee or act as an officeholder please complete this nomination form.
A proxy form for use at annual, general and special meetings can be downloaded using this link.
This document lists all the past issues that were produced in print from 1999-2012. Click in the 'file' column to download. Once downloaded these files are text searchable individually.
Also the Prahran Mechanics Institute has kindly indexed this series. To do a global search, go to advanced search in their catalogue. Add 'On Stage' in the Title field and then in the Other field add your search term. You will then be able to search across all issues.
Volume | Season | File | Volume | Season | File | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Summer | 1999-1 | 8 | Summer | 2007-1 | |
Autumn | 2000-2 | Autumn | 2007-2 | |||
Winter | 2000-3 | Winter | 2007-3 | |||
Spring | 2000-4 | Spring | 2007-4 | |||
2 | Summer | 2001-1 | 9 | Summer | 2008-1 | |
Autumn | 2001-2 | Autumn | 2008-2 | |||
Winter | 2001-3 | Winter | 2008-3 | |||
Spring | 2001-4 | Spring | 2008-4 | |||
3 | Summer | 2002-1 | 10 | Summer | 2009-1 | |
Autumn | 2002-2 | Autumn | 2009-2 | |||
Winter | 2002-3 | Winter | 2009-3 | |||
Spring | 2002-4 | Spring | 2009-4 | |||
4 | Summer | 2003-1 | 11 | Summer | 2010-1 | |
Autumn | 2003-2 | Autumn | 2010-2 | |||
Winter | 2003-3 | Winter | 2010-3 | |||
Spring | 2003-4 | Spring | 2010-4 | |||
5 | Summer | 2004-1 | 12 | Summer | 2011-1 | |
Autumn | Autumn | 2011-2 | ||||
Winter | 2004-3 | Winter | 2011-3 | |||
Spring | 2004-4 | Spring | ||||
6 | Summer | 2005-1 | 13 | Summer | 2012-1 | |
Autumn | 2005-2 | Autumn | 2012-2 | |||
Winter | 2005-3 | Winter | 2012-3 | |||
Spring | 2005-4 | Spring | 2012-4 | |||
7 | Summer | 2006-1 | ||||
Autumn | 2006-2 | |||||
Winter | 2006-3 | |||||
Spring | 2006-4 |
BIJOU THEATRE "BETSY."
reprinted from the Argus, Monday 22 April 1889, p.6
(The theatre was destroyed by fire on the evening of 22 April, 1889)
The Bijou Theatre was crowded in every part on Saturday night to welcome the return of Mr. Brough and Mr. Boucicault with their comedy company. The piece chosen for the occasion was Burnand's comedy "Betsy," which was first introduced to the Melbourne public by the late Mr. F. Marshall, when he assumed the management of the old Princess's Theatre. His reproduction was exceedingly well received and the appearance of each and every member of the company was greeted with hearty applause, special receptions being accorded to Mr and Mrs. Brough, Mr. Boucicault, and Mr. Titheradge.
THE BURNING OF THE BIJOU THEATRE.
- reprinted form the Argus 24.04.1889, p.5.
LATEST PARTICULARS. AN INSPECTION OF THE RUINS. INTENTIONS OF THE PROPRIETOR AND LESSEE.
The main topic of conversation yesterday was the burning or the Bijou Theatre, and all day long crowds visited the scene of the disaster. Barriers were erected in Little Collins street on either side of the theatre, the condition of the south gable wall being considered too dangerous to allow any traffic to pass.
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