Theatrical traditions: stage and screen in Bendigo

Vincent Kelly
Australia
active 1904 – 1958
Grand opening of the
Lyric Theatre, Charing
Cross
1913
Reproduced from the
Bendigo Advertiser
Courtesy Darren
Wright
Despite competing with several other
picture theatres in town, the business
fared well and a new site just a few
blocks down Pall Mall at Charing
Cross was procured to build a brand
new purpose-built theatre for screening
films. The first of its kind in Bendigo
the new Lyric Theatre, operated by
Lyric Photo Plays Ltd, opened on
Monday 24 February 1913, with a
screening of The Midnight Wedding. 31
Well-known Bendigo family, the
Favaloro’s, operated a concession stand
on the ground floor, which was also
the box office. 32
Designed by local architects Keogh
and Austen, upon opening, the Lyric
was considered the most modern and
spacious regional theatre in the State.
With both Charing Cross and Bath
Lane frontage, it seated 1600 people
and even though its interior was not
as lavish as other theatres in town,
it showed excellent films, ensuring
it quickly became an audience
favourite.
NEW TECHNOLOGIES
The Lyric continued to screen a steady
stream of silent films with musical
accompaniment until the introduction
of sound on film in 1929. Embracing
the new ‘talkies’, in 1930, a state-ofthe-art,
Western Electric sound system
was installed and the first ‘talkie’, Song
of My Heart starring John McCormick,
screened at the Lyric.
A couple of months earlier, on Easter
Saturday, the first ‘talkies’ opened at
the Princess Theatre with the film The
Desert Song. At this stage, sound was not
embedded in the film stock, but was
played from a record on an attachment
at the back of the projector. If a piece
of film needed to be removed due to
fault or burn, a piece of blank film had
to be inserted in order for the sound
and vision to remain in sync. 33
The introduction of sound on film
triggered a re-evaluation of cinema
design and acoustics became a
fundamental consideration. Due to
its dated design for cinema use, the
Princess Theatre was closed for remodeling
in October 1936. The
architectural firm employed to rethink
its design was Cowper, Murphy
and Appleford who chose to replace
the existing decorative interior with
the clean lines and simplified surfaces
of Art Deco. The new-look Princess
opened on 4 December 1936 with a
screening of Front Page Woman.
Keeping up with the competition,
designed by Melbourne architects
Taylor, Soilleux and Overend, in
1934 extensive alterations also took
place at the Lyric converting it into a
13