dancers

We have seen Fred and Adele Astaire, brother and sister, before in the Bain stream.

The heritage-listed Princess Theatre is the only remaining 19th-century theatre in Brisbane. It was built during the economic and building boom of the 1880s at a time when live entertainment was popular and ornate theatres were the norm. The theatre was designed by Brisbane architect John Beauchamp Nicholson who also designed other heritage-listed buildings including the Taylor-Heaslop Building and Norman Hotel in Woolloongabba. In 1892 it was renamed the Boggo Road Theatre. In 1893 John Hardgrave bought it from his son and called it the Princess Theatre. In 1899 it was bought by draper John Finney who turned it into a clothing factory. From 1912 to the 1920s it was a silent movie theatre, with Charlie Chaplin films drawing big crowds. From 1942 to 1945 the theatre was used as the administrative and rehearsal centre for the United States Entertainment Unit. It continued to be used by other public theatre and dance groups as well as for boxing matches and public meetings. Due to declining attendances, the theatre was closed to the public from 1949 – 1985 and was rented to a variety of small business enterprises including a secondhand dealer, paper wholesaler, and an engineering firm. From 1948-to 1979 the stage and backstage area were leased to a printing firm. In 1985 the REMM group purchased the building and carried out extensive external restoration. The Twelfth Night Theatre Group accepted a ten-year lease and carried out internal refurbishments. Unfortunately, due to financial difficulties, their last performance was in 1991. In 2001 it was leased by the Metro Central Community Church (now Lifecity Church) and bought by them in 2003. Church services and other events are held in the former theatre and the venue is hired out theatre performances, events and weddings. Original interior features such as the plaster ceilings and architraves, plush velvet curtains, polished floors are intact. Source: kangaroopointhistory.com.au/places/theatres/

Gloria Dawn Evans was born in Port Melbourne on 26 February 1929. In 1939 she toured with other talented youngsters in the Tivoli Gang. In 1941, when she was 12, her mother launched her at the Tivoli as an adult soubrette. In 1949 Dawn made her musical comedy debut in Little Nellie Kelly and Sunny for Will Mahoney at the Cremorne. In 1959 Garnet H. Carroll gave Gloria Dawn the coveted Carol Burnett role in his production of the musical Once Upon a Mattress at the Princess in Melbourne. The ‘unactressy’ actress ‘Gloria Dawn was brought up in variety as part of the razzamatazz of the Tivoli era,’ wrote Katharine Brisbane, ‘and in her later years, she brought that same vitality, roughness, and single-minded professionalism to the legitimate theatre – sometimes to its consternation. She was in the business because she was born to it and knew nothing else.’ For more very interesting info about this beautiful women check the website: liveperformance.com.au/hof-profile/gloria-dawn-1929-1978/