Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne

Her Majesty's Theatre

Alexandra Theatre His Majesty's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre, 2003
Address	219 Exhibition Street Melbourne Australia
Owner	Mr Mike Walsh, OBE
Designation	Victorian Heritage Register
Capacity	1,700
Current use	Musicals, opera
Construction
Opened	1886
Architect	Nahum Barnet
Website
www.hmt.com.au

Her Majesty's Theatre is a 1,700 seat theatre in Melbourne's East End Theatre District, Australia. Built in 1886, it is located at 219 Exhibition Street, Melbourne. It is classified by the National Trust of Australia and is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register.

Purchased in 2000 by Mike Walsh, the theatre was restored and refitted to accommodate larger productions.

The gold rush of the 1850s brought both increased prosperity and population to the new colony of Victoria. Melbourne thrived and businesses flourished. The first recorded use of the area near the corner of Stephen (later to become Exhibition) Street and Little Bourke Street as a venue for entertainment was in 1880, when tiered seating was constructed and an openair venue for circuses and equestrian shows established.

The Hippodrome lasted four years before the French born entrepreneur, Jules François de Sales Joubert, secured a 30-year lease on the site and commissioned architect Nahum Barnet to design a theatre, business and accommodation complex.

In 1886, construction began on the Eiffel Tower in Paris; in New York, the Statue of Liberty was dedicated and in Melbourne, work on Joubert’s project was completed. On 1 October, the Alexandra Theatre opened. Named after the then Princess of Wales, wife of the future King Edward VII, the theatre was the largest in the Southern Hemisphere, boasting a capacity of 2,800. The very first show staged was the comedy, Bad Lads. Also in the first year, the Australian classic, For the Term of His Natural Life, was performed, as was Saturday afternoon wrestling and a season of Italian opera.