Her Majesty's Theatre

His Imperial Majesty’s Opera House was the largest live theatre built in Brisbane. It had seating in stalls and dress circle and upper circle. It was opened on 2nd April 1888. It was designed in an Italian Renaissance style by Italian architect Andrea Stombuco & son. In 1901 it was renamed His Majesty’s Theatre and architect William Pitt designed a sliding roof to allow for a change of air in the warm climate that Brisbane has. In 1929 it was modernised to the plans of architects Cedric Ballantyne & George McLeish when the upper circle was removed.

The theatre was operated by the J.C. Williamson Theatres Ltd. chain on an 80-years lease. In the late-1940’s and into the 1950’s it was sub-leased to the Hoyts Theatres chain and was in use as a cinema. His Majesty’s Theatre changed name to Her Majesty’s Theatre during the mid-1950’s. In its final form, the theatre could accommodate 1,387-seats: 865-seats in the stalls and the remainder in the single dress circle. The stage, which still had a small rake of 1' in36' [.36m in 10'97m], was 12.8m deep, with a proscenium opening of 9.8m wide. The site was purchased from its original owners, the Hart family, by the AMP Society in 1973, with the promise of including a new theatre when the site was redeveloped. It was sold by AMP to another developer in 1980 and the final show at Her Majesty’s Theatre was “Evita” in 1983. Her Majesty’s Theatre was closed on 16th October 1983 with a Lord Mayor’s Command Performance. There were hopes that its facade would be saved, but it was completely demolished as part of the Wintergarden re-development immediately on 23rd October 1983.

A Hilton Hotel and the Wintergarden Shopping Centre were built on the site.

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