Image credit: The Courier image by Justin Whitelock
At the dawn of her era, she was called the Academy of Music, when she sought to protect her reputation against the supposed loose morals of theatre-folk. She has housed an art gallery and a cinema, has endured floods and endless remodelling without ever closing her doors. Shuffled between owning bodies over tumultuous decades she has shucked her purpose for newer things time and again, but always in service of the greatest community need. The grand old dame of Ballarat’s performing arts scene – Her Majesty’s Theatre – named in honour of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, is turning 140.
As the source of Victoria’s golden fortune, the Ballarat of 1875 needed a house of culture to reflect its preeminent status, and the magnificent venue remains the premier performing arts centre for the region. As a result, the long-depleted goldfields have never been richer.
The stage and interior still in use today was originally created by William Pitt (designer of Melbourne’s Princess Theatre and the auditorium of Hobart’s Theatre Royal) in 1898. Since that time domes have been removed and restored, murals applied and obscured; balconies, projector boxes and dressing rooms shuffled around to fulfil whatever purpose the good people of Ballarat required. Perhaps it’s this versatile and flexible spirit that has ensured the legacy of ‘Her Maj’ as one of the longest continuously operating theatres on the Australian mainland.
The Academy of Music was founded in an era of temperance by the noted philanthropic Clarke family in 1875, four years after Ballarat was declared a city. The family did so on behalf of a community determined to host performing arts events worthy of their thriving metropolis, and once known affectionately as the ‘Athens of Australia’. This theatre represents another time in our nation’s cultural history: a time when civic pride was not built on resources, but the use of those resources to engender pride in others. A building as grand and deeply imbued with shared history can’t long be neglected in a city like Ballarat, and even though temperance proved a passing fad, the theatre lives on (and now you can drink champagne there too).
Through rich times and lean, the community has stood behind this beloved icon, a theatre whose boards many townspeople have trod. The theatre is home to not one but two local acting troupes, which only goes to show the engagement and connection people have with this institution. A number of those people who began their careers in her auditorium have gone on to broader fame and fortune, but they’re returning to Her Maj to wish her well for her birthday on June 7.
The celebration concert is set to feature some of Ballarat’s brightest talents, including contemporary opera stars Roger Lemke, Maxine Montgomery, Jason Wasley, Suzanne Ribet (known to the locals as Suzanne Donald) and Zoe Drummond. Joining them in concert is pianist Peter Toohey, the Ballarat Symphony Orchestra, and a very special appearance by stage legend Nancye Hayes.
The theatre’s season plans are booming: bumper-to-bumper shows provide a full selection of live entertainment for a culture-hungry populace. An upcoming refurbishment, scheduled during the theatre’s regular January break in 2016, will include an upgrade of the seating. The loss of the current seats, second-hand 80 years ago when they were first installed, is a bittersweet pleasure. Antiquated features must make way for more modern tastes, as this theatre has always done for her seven score years.
This refurbishment represents one of the continuing commitments the town has made to their theatre. One million dollars have been supplied by the local council to ensure the grand auditorium reflects the pride locals take in the historical building.
She weathered the storm of cinema by welcoming it with open arms. The advent of television, and now the internet have disrupted audiences, but Her Majesty lives on. In the end, the thing that draws people off their couches and among the stalls is the very thing TV and computers can’t provide: a live experience, among people. The transitory, temporary thrill of performance is shared with friends and neighbours in a way no other medium can capture, has been the case since people first entered her doors in 1875. Whether the building they witnessed such delights in is called an Academy or a Theatre, this communal spirit is why Her Majesty’s is still around today.
So many happy returns to this grand old dame: may the next 140 years be as glorious as the last!
