Description of the attraction
The Theater Royal is located in the heart of Hobart. Here you can see musical and dramatic performances, opera and ballet. It is also Australia's oldest operating theater, housed in a building dating from 1834-1937. Several times they wanted to demolish it, but these plans were never implemented. In the 1940s, Laurence Olivier himself performed here, the great English actor, who urged the people of Tasmania not to let this temple of art be destroyed. In 1950, actresses Gwen Friend and Fifi Banward heard about plans to demolish the Royal Theater. They canceled their overseas tour, which they were supposed to embark on in a few days, and came to Hobart, where they rented the theater building. Gwen donated £ 28,000 to renovate the building and set up a production company that produced various shows over the next year and a half. However, after the end of the lease, the building fell into disrepair again.
The building was permanently damaged by a major fire in 1984, which damaged the interiors and the ceiling paintings. It took several years and one million dollars to restore the lost decorations and works of art. But the administration of the theater managed, and today it again receives visitors.
The famous "inhabitant" of the theater is a ghost named Fred - they say that once an actor was killed in the building, and his spirit still wanders somewhere behind the scenes.
