This section looks the history of various theatres past and present.
Written by Elisabeth Kumm
Elisabeth is a founding member of the Victoria Theatres Trust. Her series Pets of the Public was a regular feature of On Stage from 1999 to 2005, looking at “forgotten” nineteenth century performers. She continues to contribute articles for the THA website, and from 2018 has been editor of the THA Newsletter. As a theatrical historian and biographer she assisted Viola Tait with her book on pantomime – Dames, Principal Boys…and All That (published by Macmillan in 2001) and also worked with her on her memoirs I Have a Song to Sing (published by THA in 2018). Elisabeth has also undertaken research for the Riley/Hailes Scrapbook and JCW Scene Books projects. Most recently she has been working on the Falk Studios album project including acting as editor of The Falk Studios book (published by THA in 2021).
Written by Elisabeth Kumm
Elisabeth is a founding member of the Victoria Theatres Trust. Her series Pets of the Public was a regular feature of On Stage from 1999 to 2005, looking at “forgotten” nineteenth century performers. She continues to contribute articles for the THA website, and from 2018 has been editor of the THA Newsletter. As a theatrical historian and biographer she assisted Viola Tait with her book on pantomime – Dames, Principal Boys…and All That (published by Macmillan in 2001) and also worked with her on her memoirs I Have a Song to Sing (published by THA in 2018). Elisabeth has also undertaken research for the Riley/Hailes Scrapbook and JCW Scene Books projects. Most recently she has been working on the Falk Studios album project including acting as editor of The Falk Studios book (published by THA in 2021).
Written by Elisabeth Kumm
Elisabeth is a founding member of the Victoria Theatres Trust. Her series Pets of the Public was a regular feature of On Stage from 1999 to 2005, looking at “forgotten” nineteenth century performers. She continues to contribute articles for the THA website, and from 2018 has been editor of the THA Newsletter. As a theatrical historian and biographer she assisted Viola Tait with her book on pantomime – Dames, Principal Boys…and All That (published by Macmillan in 2001) and also worked with her on her memoirs I Have a Song to Sing (published by THA in 2018). Elisabeth has also undertaken research for the Riley/Hailes Scrapbook and JCW Scene Books projects. Most recently she has been working on the Falk Studios album project including acting as editor of The Falk Studios book (published by THA in 2021).
Written by Elisabeth Kumm
Elisabeth is a founding member of the Victoria Theatres Trust. Her series Pets of the Public was a regular feature of On Stage from 1999 to 2005, looking at “forgotten” nineteenth century performers. She continues to contribute articles for the THA website, and from 2018 has been editor of the THA Newsletter. As a theatrical historian and biographer she assisted Viola Tait with her book on pantomime – Dames, Principal Boys…and All That (published by Macmillan in 2001) and also worked with her on her memoirs I Have a Song to Sing (published by THA in 2018). Elisabeth has also undertaken research for the Riley/Hailes Scrapbook and JCW Scene Books projects. Most recently she has been working on the Falk Studios album project including acting as editor of The Falk Studios book (published by THA in 2021).
Written by Robert Taylor
Robert Taylor is a NIDA graduate (Technical Production) who was Playbox Production Manager from 1987–90 and Administrator from 1991–5. His Lighting Design for The Mourning After (1996 Beckett Theatre) toured extensively in 1997. From 1995–2014 he was General Manager of The National Theatre in St. Kilda.
Written by Ralph Marsden
Ralph Marsden graduated with a Diploma of Art from Swinburne Technical College in 1965. A film and theatre buff from an early age, he first worked in the camera and editing departments of a company making television commercials and documentaries; later he worked in film editing for ABC TV. In more recent years he freelanced and became an independent film/video maker.
Ralph has also appeared in a number of small roles in TVs shows starting with Bony (1992) and including Blue Heelers and Neighbours. The most recent is an appearance in MDA in 2003.
Melbourne Stage by Stage began in the mid 1980s as a sketchbook history of existing city theatres, many of which were threatened with demolition at the time. A small grant from the Victorian Ministry for the Arts encouraged further research and as this continued the scope of the project grew to include sites where the city’s earliest theatres had once stood.
Written by Elisabeth Kumm
Elisabeth is a founding member of the Victoria Theatres Trust. Her series Pets of the Public was a regular feature of On Stage from 1999 to 2005, looking at “forgotten” nineteenth century performers. She continues to contribute articles for the THA website, and from 2018 has been editor of the THA Newsletter. As a theatrical historian and biographer she assisted Viola Tait with her book on pantomime – Dames, Principal Boys…and All That (published by Macmillan in 2001) and also worked with her on her memoirs I Have a Song to Sing (published by THA in 2018). Elisabeth has also undertaken research for the Riley/Hailes Scrapbook and JCW Scene Books projects. Most recently she has been working on the Falk Studios album project including acting as editor of The Falk Studios book (published by THA in 2021).
Written by John Stephen Clark
John Stephen Clark is a Sydney-based theatre historian, live theatre and movie buff. He collects historic theatre and cinema programs for pleasure and research. In fact, he collects movie fan magazines and anything to do with classic movies and theatre. John is a member of two committees seeking the full restoration of two of Sydney’s iconic theatres: the Metro Minerva in Potts Point and the Roxy Theatre in Parramatta.
Written by Elisabeth Kumm
Elisabeth is a founding member of the Victoria Theatres Trust. Her series Pets of the Public was a regular feature of On Stage from 1999 to 2005, looking at “forgotten” nineteenth century performers. She continues to contribute articles for the THA website, and from 2018 has been editor of the THA Newsletter. As a theatrical historian and biographer she assisted Viola Tait with her book on pantomime – Dames, Principal Boys…and All That (published by Macmillan in 2001) and also worked with her on her memoirs I Have a Song to Sing (published by THA in 2018). Elisabeth has also undertaken research for the Riley/Hailes Scrapbook and JCW Scene Books projects. Most recently she has been working on the Falk Studios album project including acting as editor of The Falk Studios book (published by THA in 2021).
Written by Ralph Marsden
Ralph Marsden graduated with a Diploma of Art from Swinburne Technical College in 1965. A film and theatre buff from an early age, he first worked in the camera and editing departments of a company making television commercials and documentaries; later he worked in film editing for ABC TV. In more recent years he freelanced and became an independent film/video maker.
Ralph has also appeared in a number of small roles in TVs shows starting with Bony (1992) and including Blue Heelers and Neighbours. The most recent is an appearance in MDA in 2003.
Melbourne Stage by Stage began in the mid 1980s as a sketchbook history of existing city theatres, many of which were threatened with demolition at the time. A small grant from the Victorian Ministry for the Arts encouraged further research and as this continued the scope of the project grew to include sites where the city’s earliest theatres had once stood.
Written by Elisabeth Kumm
Elisabeth is a founding member of the Victoria Theatres Trust. Her series Pets of the Public was a regular feature of On Stage from 1999 to 2005, looking at “forgotten” nineteenth century performers. She continues to contribute articles for the THA website, and from 2018 has been editor of the THA Newsletter. As a theatrical historian and biographer she assisted Viola Tait with her book on pantomime – Dames, Principal Boys…and All That (published by Macmillan in 2001) and also worked with her on her memoirs I Have a Song to Sing (published by THA in 2018). Elisabeth has also undertaken research for the Riley/Hailes Scrapbook and JCW Scene Books projects. Most recently she has been working on the Falk Studios album project including acting as editor of The Falk Studios book (published by THA in 2021).
Written by Elisabeth Kumm
Elisabeth is a founding member of the Victoria Theatres Trust. Her series Pets of the Public was a regular feature of On Stage from 1999 to 2005, looking at “forgotten” nineteenth century performers. She continues to contribute articles for the THA website, and from 2018 has been editor of the THA Newsletter. As a theatrical historian and biographer she assisted Viola Tait with her book on pantomime – Dames, Principal Boys…and All That (published by Macmillan in 2001) and also worked with her on her memoirs I Have a Song to Sing (published by THA in 2018). Elisabeth has also undertaken research for the Riley/Hailes Scrapbook and JCW Scene Books projects. Most recently she has been working on the Falk Studios album project including acting as editor of The Falk Studios book (published by THA in 2021).
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