Her Majesty's Theatre

Her Majesty's Theatre

This gorgeous Art Deco venue has a history dating back to the early 19th century
  • Theatre
  • Melbourne
Adena Maier
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Time Out says

In 1839, a gentleman named George Porter purchased a plot of land in Melbourne for £100, or the modern-day equivalent of more than 20,000 Australian dollars. It remained virtually untouched until the 1850s, at which point it became occupied by offices and shopfronts, and it wasn't until 1880 that it became home to some of our city's earliest cultural events. 

After operating as the Hippodrome for a few years, a property developer caught wind of its popularity and decided to turn it into what was at the time the largest theatre in the Southern Hemisphere. It was named the Alexandra Theatre in honour of the then-Princess of Wales, and thanks to the help of several playwrights, theatrical producers and architects, it prospered. 

The theatre was renamed His Majesty's Theatre in 1924, in honour of King George V, and then in 1953, it became Her Majesty's in honour of Elizabeth II. In recent history, it's been home to productions including Hamilton and Disney's Frozen.

Want to snag the best seats in the house? Consult our guide on where to sit in Melbourne's theatres.

Details

Address
219 Exhibition St
Melbourne
3000
Transport:
Nearby stations: Flinders Street; Parliament; Melbourne Central

What’s on

Hadestown

4 out of 5 stars
Snakes have curled their way around mythology for millennia. Present in countless creation stories from Egyptian, Greek and Indian to Norse and First Nations cultures (including the Rainbow Serpent), the loaded symbolism of this coiled creature clasping its tail between its fangs – the ouroboros – evokes eternity.  Sometimes the serpent holds the world together. Other times, it’s a constricting chaos agent. Either way, the fireside nature of myths, oft-shared in storytelling sessions spun under the stars, is inherently unending, melding anew with each retelling. Tackled by everyone from Roman poets Virgil and Ovid to Canadian indie rockers Arcade Fire and Katee Robert’s queered novel, Midnight Ruin, the myth of Eurydice and her Orpheus finds new life in the hands of folk singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell. Her eight Tony Award-winning smash-hit musical Hadestown began life as a sung-through community project before she turned it into a concept album, and then a Broadway smash with help from director Rachel Chavkin. In most Greek tales, Eurydice and her Orpheus are happily married, torn apart by a cruel twist of fate: a viper’s bite (sometimes while pursued by toxic dudebro Aristaeus), not even a malicious god in disguise. As she fades into the Underworld, ruled over by Hades and his niece/abducted wife Persephone (!!!), a desolate Orpheus, son of a musical muse, plays his lyre like her life depends on it. Descending into the abyss and crossing the River Styx, he makes a...
  • Musicals
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