Princess Theatre

The Princess Theatre, originally Princess's Theatre, is a 1452-seat theatre in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Established in 1854 and rebuilt in 1886 to a design by noted Melbourne architect William Pitt, it is the oldest surviving entertainment site on mainland Australia. Built in an elaborate Second Empire style, it reflects the opulence of the "Marvellous Melbourne" boom period, and had a number of innovative features, including state of the art electric stage lighting and the world's first sliding ceiling, which was rolled back on warm nights to give the effect of an open-air theatre. Located on Spring Street in Melbourne's East End Theatre District, it is listed by the National Trust of Australia and is on the Victorian Heritage Register. Astley's Amphitheatre Entertainment on the site of today's Princess Theatre dates back to the gold rush period in 1854, when the Irish-American entrepreneur Tom Mooney constructed a barn-like structure called Astley's Amphitheatre.