opera

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/

Wikipedia had an interesting write up. Some of the other photos, showing more profile views, remind me of Barbara Streisand.

For more on the fad for Pierrot or Pierrette dolls, see

swanq Thank you.

Delia Reinhardt en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delia_Reinhardt_(soprano) with a player piano. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Player_piano "A player piano (also known as a pianola) is a self-playing piano, containing a pneumatic or electro-mechanical mechanism that operates the piano action via programmed music recorded on perforated paper, or in rare instances, metallic rolls, with more modern implementations using MIDI. The rise of the player piano grew with the rise of the mass-produced piano for the home in the late 19th and early 20th century. Sales peaked in 1924, then declined as the improvement in phonograph recordings due to electrical recording methods developed in the mid-1920s." This is a Knabe player piano. See www.gentilepiano.com/player.html for some pictures of one before and after restoration.

swanq, thanks for identifying the woman as well as the piano. We'll add that information to our catalog records.

Earlier Bain photo: