microphone

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/

In the 1940s Brisbane was just a big country town and the thousands of Australian and American servicemen who suddenly poured into the camps and bases around the city and the other major centres provided an audience for mass entertainment and gave the experience a new intensity, whether it was ballroom dancing at Cloudland, cutting a rug at the Trocadero or enjoying vaudeville at the Cremorne. Source: www.ww2places.qld.gov.au/homefront/entertainment

Moncrieff made highly successful gramophone recordings in Australia for the Columbia Graphophone Co. between 12 October 1928 and 4 June 1935. She was a regular visitor to the company studios at Homebush, Sydney, making eighty-four titles that were released on either Regal, Regal-Zonophone or Columbia labels as ten-inch discs. These well-known musical comedy favorites sold far better than similar material by many famous overseas artists. Most of these recordings were reissued by EMI Records Australia and enjoyed healthy sales. Gladys Moncrieff had a powerful, wide-ranging, rich soprano voice, and excellent diction. Undemonstrative in behavior, she approached her singing like a craft, meticulously and unostentatiously. She dressed simply and did not shun menial tasks. Her large, informal parties were memorable for her superb cooking, especially for her pie with seventy dozen oysters. Perhaps it was also her sense of fun and tender-heartedness that attracted her large following of 'gallery girls', women who queued for standing room and followed her movements with flowers and mail. She became a legend in Australia in her lifetime, respected by her professional colleagues, and loved by her devoted public. Her autobiography, My Life of Song (Adelaide, 1971), was ghosted by Lillian Palmer. Source: adb.anu.edu.au/biography/moncrieff-gladys-lillian-7621