Cremorne Theatre

The Cremorne Theatre was located on the river side of Stanley Street, South Brisbane, between Peel and Melbourne Streets, just to the north of where the Victoria Bridge crossed the Brisbane River from the city ({{coord|-27.4726|153.0188|type:landmark_region:AU-QLD|display=inline, title}}).{{Citation | author1=Archive CD Books Australia | title=Brisbane Directory 1919 (Yates & Jones) | publication-date=2005 | publisher=Archive CD Books Australia | isbn=978-1-921175-23-7 }} The street alignments were changed with the South Bank development in the 1980s, with Stanley Street removed for much of its length from Vulture Street up to today's Stanley Place. The former theatre site is under the current Queensland Art Gallery, not far from the 1985 QPAC theatre complex. QPAC's site on Melbourne Street adjoins the Cultural Centre Tunnel which turns under what would have been that street's intersection with Stanley Street and then follows the old street alignment past the Cremorne Theatre site.Stanley Street, Brisbane

The theatre when it opened in 1911 was originally called the Cremorne Gardens,{{cite web|last1=Djubal|first1=Clay|title=Cremorne Theatre History entry|url=https://ozvta.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/cremorne-theatre-bris-1842014.pdf|website=Australian Variety Theatre Archive Popular Culture Entertainment: 1850–1930|publisher=Have Gravity Will Threaten|accessdate=2 November 2015|date=2011|archive-url=https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20150114225900/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/143747/20150115-0959/ozvta.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/cremorne-theatre-bris-1842014.pdf|archive-date=14 January 2015|url-status=live}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} taking the name from a previous venue at the Stanley Street site. The name connects Brisbane to a riverside "pleasure garden" tradition from the Cremorne Gardens in London (1845–1877) and its Australian equivalents such as Cremorne Gardens, Melbourne (1853–1863); Sydney{{cite web|title=Heritage Leaflet: Cremorne Point|url=http://www.cremornepointmanor.com.au/data/deposit/site.document.9478.documents/history_of_cremorne_point.pdf|website=Cremorne Point Manor|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140802113021/http://www.cremornepointmanor.com.au/data/deposit/site.document.9478.documents/history_of_cremorne_point.pdf|archivedate=2 August 2014|publisher=North Sydney Council|accessdate=2 November 2015|location=North Sydney|date=June 2008}} (1856–1862); Albany{{cite web|title=Cremorne Gardens Albany|url=http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/49634|website=Cinema Database|accessdate=4 November 2015|publisher=Cinema Treasures LLC|archive-date=10 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151010002459/http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/49634|url-status=live}} (1896–1910), Kalgoorlie{{cite web|title=Cremorne Gardens and Theatre, Hannan Street, Kalgoorlie|url=http://inherit.stateheritage.wa.gov.au/Public/Inventory/PrintSingleRecord/ba23097c-14c3-4862-a238-b3f85aef27b7|website=WA Heritage Register|publisher=WA State Heritage Office|accessdate=4 November 2015|date=15 April 1994|location=Kalgoorlie, WA|quote=The description of how this public hotel backyard "Cremorne Gardens" site developed from an open air theatre into a fully built Art Deco theatre and cinema mirrors the story of the Cremorne Theatre in Brisbane|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304081120/http://inherit.stateheritage.wa.gov.au/Public/Inventory/PrintSingleRecord/ba23097c-14c3-4862-a238-b3f85aef27b7|url-status=live}} (1907–current) and Perth{{cite web|last1=Djubal|first1=Clay|title=Cremorne Gardens, Perth, Australia entry|url=https://ozvta.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/cremorne-gardens-perth-1842014.pdf|website=Australian Variety Theatre Archive Popular Culture Entertainment: 1850–1930|publisher=Have Gravity Will Threaten|accessdate=4 November 2015|date=2011|archive-url=https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20150114225900/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/143747/20150115-0959/ozvta.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/cremorne-gardens-perth-1842014.pdf|archive-date=14 January 2015|url-status=live}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} (1895–1914) WA;{{cite web|last1=Djubal|first1=Clay|title=Theatre Venues, Western Australia entry|url=http://ozvta.com/theatres-wa/|website=Australian Variety Theatre Archive Popular Culture Entertainment: 1850–1930|publisher=Have Gravity Will Threaten|accessdate=4 November 2015|date=2011|archive-url=https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20150114225900/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/143747/20150115-0959/ozvta.com/theatres-wa/index.html|archive-date=14 January 2015|url-status=live}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} and in Queensland: Rockhampton{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article51556038 |title=Advertising. THE WHITE HORSE INN, ON MOORE'S CREEK GARDENS, IS NOW OPEN. |newspaper=Rockhampton Bulletin and Central Queensland Advertiser |date=6 September 1862 |accessdate=1 September 2015 |page=1 |via=National Library of Australia |archive-date=14 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220714015515/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/51556038 |url-status=live }} Bernard Pene adopted the name Cremorne Gardens for this facility by the following June. (1863{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article51558431 |title=Advertising. The White-Horse Inn, and CREMORNE GARDENS, NORTH ROCKHAMPTON. |newspaper=Rockhampton Bulletin and Central Queensland Advertiser |date=24 June 1863 |accessdate=2 September 2015 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia |archive-date=14 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220714015516/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/51558431 |url-status=live }} – 1886{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4485887 |title=COUNTRY MAILS. Rockhampton News [From our correspondent] May 28. Story on Cremorne Hotel burning down. |newspaper=The Brisbane Courier |date=1 June 1886 |accessdate=1 September 2015 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia |archive-date=14 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220714015514/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/4485887 |url-status=live }} Note that Cremorne Gardens continued as a sports ground into the 1890s, but this seems to be the end of the facility as a professionally run pleasure garden.), Mackay{{cite web|title=Cremorne|url=http://www.mackayregionalbotanicgardens.com.au/what_can_i_see/history_of_the_lagoons/cremorne|website=Mackay Regional Botanic Gardens|publisher=Mackay Regional Council|accessdate=7 November 2015|date=9 September 2015|quote=Cremorne was already a popular venue for weekend entertainment when in 1884, Barnes erected a two-storey hotel which featured a promenade roof. Attractions for children were provided and fundraising fetes and concerts held in Cremorne Gardens, which were possibly based on Cremorne Gardens in Melbourne, rather than those in London.|others=Mackay's Botanic Gardens commemorates Cremorne Gardens, but at a different site. The suggested dates relate to the Cremorne Hotel licence in Mackay until it finally burned down in 1958, but botanic garden activities both preceded from 1865, and followed these dates, continuing today. The actual period that Cremorne Gardens Mackay operated as a pleasure garden is unclear.|archive-date=29 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160229093754/http://www.mackayregionalbotanicgardens.com.au/what_can_i_see/history_of_the_lagoons/cremorne|url-status=live}} (1886–1958) and Charters Towers (1902{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article173978446 |title=Advertising. Opening of Cremorne Gardens |newspaper=The Telegraph |location=Brisbane |date=7 April 1902 |accessdate=1 September 2015 |page=1 |via=National Library of Australia |archive-date=14 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220714015516/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/173978446 |url-status=live }} – 1910?{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article80359114 |title=Advertising. Event advertised for Cremorne Gardens. |newspaper=The Northern Miner |location=Charters Towers, Qld. |date=14 September 1911 |accessdate=1 September 2015 |page=1 |via=National Library of Australia |archive-date=14 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220714015517/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/80359114 |url-status=live }} There is no definitive mention of the Cremorne Gardens on Trove in The Northern Miner after this date.). The current South Bank development itself can be seen as a modern equivalent to the Cremorne Gardens concept, at a scale much closer to the originals in London and Melbourne.

These pre-1911 Brisbane Cremorne Gardens, were likely, given the site size, much more modest than their antecedents. The first mention of them is being advertised as a concert venue for a pantomime company and a violin concert in 1902.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article173978446 |title=Advertising. "PRELIMINARY ANNOUNCEMENT! CREMORNE GARDENS : O'CONNOR'S GARDENS, Over Victoria Bridge." |newspaper=The Telegraph |location=Brisbane |date=7 April 1902 |accessdate=1 September 2015 |page=1 |via=National Library of Australia |archive-date=14 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220714015516/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/173978446 |url-status=live }} The venue is also referred to in the Advertisement as O'Connor's Gardens. J.D. O'Connor was the publican of O'Connor's Hotel in Stanley Street in 1902. J.D. O'Connor's father-in-law, John Graham, had owned land in South Brisbane since 1842, and had run hotels in the vicinity from 1866 to 1896. In 1888 John Graham established Graham's Family Hotel in Stanley Street, South Brisbane and held the licence until 1896 when it was transferred to his son-in-law, who changed the name to O'Connor's Hotel. File:StateLibQld 1 114264 Graham's Hotel during the floods, Brisbane, 1893.jpg There is a report{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article173446881 |title=Hotel Improvements. |newspaper=The Telegraph |location=Brisbane |date=11 September 1903 |accessdate=1 September 2015 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia |archive-date=14 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220714015516/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/173446881 |url-status=live }} in 1903 of O'Connor's Hotel having gardens on an extensive site and including a theatre called the Cremorne Gardens:

"There is a great area of ground, and every part of it is judiciously utilised. Between the frontages in Stanley and Grey streets are carpets of green grass and a wealth of tropical foliage, amidst which are scattered rustic seats and gas jets. ... There is even a theatre, known as Cremorne Gardens, used occasionally for public entertainments, and frequently for social gatherings."

Despite this report of a "theatre" existing in 1903, the historical sources cited in the next section all agree that the theatre was built in 1911. However, it is clear that a venue called Cremorne Gardens which included garden features was used for public performances for some years prior to 1911.

File:StateLibQld 1 158303 Cremorne residence on Hamilton Hill, Brisbane, ca. 1906.jpg

In 1905, J.D. O'Connor built a home, Cremorne, Hamilton, which appears to have been named after this part of his business. The house survives today as a heritage-listed villa at 34 Mullens Street, Hamilton, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

The Cremorne Gardens at O'Connor's Hotel continued as a concert and light theatre venue until 1909{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article174860048 |title=Advertising. "A Grand and Polite Vaudeville by the Royal Entertainers" |newspaper=The Telegraph |location=Brisbane |date=9 February 1909 |accessdate=1 September 2015 |page=5 |edition=Second |via=National Library of Australia |archive-date=14 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220714015516/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/174860048 |url-status=live }} when J.D. O'Connor retired and sold his business.

Brisbane's Cremorne Theatre (originally known as the Cremorne Gardens) was built in 1911 by variety entrepreneur Edward Branscombe as part of an Australia-wide circuit of open-air theatres designed especially for his Dandies costume comedy companies. Originally an open-air structure with seating for about 1,800, the Cremorne Theatre opened on 5 August 1911 with a light program of music and sketches under the title "The Dandies." The newspaper, The Brisbane Courier, reported:

"...the goodly number of patrons present noted with satisfaction this well arranged auditorium, the whole place, upon which the title of 'Cremorne' has been bestowed, wearing an air of neatness, brightness and comfort."This quote was cited from Smith, Christopher. Treading the Boards: A survey of theatre buildings in Brisbane 1847–1998, Public Programs Unit, Queensland Performing Arts Trust, 1999, p. 43.

Eight months later, a company, The Dandies Limited, was floated to buy the "Cremorne Gardens" site, which had an 88-foot frontage to Stanley Street, and also the theatrical business. The Prospectus claimed that £5,000 of improvements had been made to the property.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article175232141 |title=Advertising. Prospectus, The Dandies Limited |newspaper=The Telegraph |location=Brisbane |date=28 May 1912 |accessdate=1 September 2015 |page=8 |edition=SECOND |via=National Library of Australia |archive-date=14 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220714015517/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/175232141 |url-status=live }}

Brisbane's subtropical climate meant that the theatre's use was frequently interrupted by rainfall and it was closed temporarily in 1917 while weatherproof awnings were erected.

The theatre was at first managed, and then after its sale in 1916 by Branscombe's company, owned and operated, by John Neil McCallum,https://ozvta.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/cremorne-theatre-bris-1842014.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180304055012/https://ozvta.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/cremorne-theatre-bris-1842014.pdf |date=4 March 2018 }} | Cremorne Theatre History entry Australian Variety Theatre Archive Popular Culture Entertainment: 1850–1930 Clay Djubal 2011 the father of Australian actor and producer, John McCallum. During the first ten years it was used mostly for vaudeville and variety shows, and for occasional drama productions with limited success. By 1919 MacCallum's company (The Dandies [Queensland] Limited) had improved and expanded the venue to a 3,000 seat capacity.

File:"Cremorne", a residence on Flinders Parade, Sandate built by John Neil McCallum.tiff

McCallum, like O'Connor before him, built a house which he called Cremorne after his theatre. The name can still be seen above its entrance gatewayhttps://www.google.com.au/maps/@-27.3146412,153.0697215,3a,75y,240.47h,92.27t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s1PQnjZR-n8zp42Aq5vgB-g!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220714015514/https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-27.3146412,153.0697215,3a,75y,240.47h,92.27t/data=%213m6%211e1%213m4%211s1PQnjZR-n8zp42Aq5vgB-g%212e0%217i13312%218i6656?hl=en |date=14 July 2022 }} Google Maps Image 152 Flinders Parade, Sandgate, Qld at 152 Flinders Parade, Sandgate.Broadhurst, Sandgate {{Citation | author1=Unidentified | title=Sandgate residence Cremorne, on Flinders Parade | publication-date=2004-11-10 | publisher=John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland | url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/36894535 | accessdate=1 September 2015 | archive-date=14 July 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220714015516/https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/36894535 | url-status=live }}

In 1926, the theatre was leased by McCallum to Greater Brisbane Amusements and a new ceiling and seating was installed in July of that year. It continued to prosper on and off; but by 1929 it was closed, being used only for meetings and the occasional amateur theatre production. During the early 1930s, the Brisbane Arts Theatre, the Brisbane Comic Opera and the Brisbane Repertory Theatre Society used it either as rehearsal space or for the staging of their productions.

File:StateLibQld 1 126251 Children inside the Cremorne Theatre, Brisbane, 1938.jpg

In 1934 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer converted the building into a cinema by installing a new proscenium, a screen, a new sound system, and by reducing the size of the auditorium down to 1,300. This use continued until 1940.

File:StateLibQld 2 104960 Chorus dancer at the old Cremorne Theatre in Brisbane in 1942.jpg

At the beginning of World War II, the theatre returned to the presentation of vaudeville, becoming the regular venue for Brisbane appearances by artists touring Australia for Tivoli Circuit, a national entertainment entrepreneur. The Cremorne Ballet, a female dance group who presented a slightly 'naughty' act, commanded a good following both with local and visiting men.{{Cite web |url=http://www.bonzle.com/pictures-over-time/pictures-taken-in-1940/page-1/australian-localities/picture-lr3lu6a4/size-4/south-brisbane/ballet-girls-posing-in-their-dressing-room-at-the-cremorne-theatre-brisbane-1940 |title=Picture of cast Bonzle Accessed 12 August 2015 |access-date=12 August 2015 |archive-date=23 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923225536/http://www.bonzle.com/pictures-over-time/pictures-taken-in-1940/page-1/australian-localities/picture-lr3lu6a4/size-4/south-brisbane/ballet-girls-posing-in-their-dressing-room-at-the-cremorne-theatre-brisbane-1940 |url-status=live }}

File:Cremorne Theatre WWII Poster 1944.jpg

Then in 1943, the management was taken over by Will Mahoney{{Citation |last=Radbourne |first=Jennifer |title=William James (Will) Mahoney (1894–1967) |work=Australian Dictionary of Biography |url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/mahoney-william-james-will-11038/text19635 |access-date=2024-03-06 |publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University |language=en}} and his wife, American entertainer Evie Hayes,{{Citation |last=Straten |first=F. Van |title=Vina Evelyn (Evie) Hayes (1912–1988) |work=Australian Dictionary of Biography |url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/hayes-vina-evelyn-evie-12610 |access-date=2024-03-06 |publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University |language=en}}https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/233205 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151004180736/http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/233205 |date=4 October 2015 }} | AusStage Database together with American businessman Bob Geraghty.https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/230966 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141027142856/http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/230966 |date=27 October 2014 }} | AusStage Database During World War II, the Cremorne became a popular entertainment venue for Australian and American servicemen on leave. Mahoney and Hayes appeared on stage regularly along with leading artists like comedian Roy Rene,AusStage Database [http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/233291 Rene, Roy (Mo) (1891–1954)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923190838/http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/233291 |date=23 September 2015 }}. Accessed 16 August 2015. actor and comedian George Wallace,Note that George Leonard Wallace German version (1918–1968), George's son, and also a well known performer, was in the Army during World War II in Concert Party service and so is unlikely to have performed at the Cremorne, and is certainly not listed on AusStage as having done so. AusStage Database [http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/235141 Wallace, | George Stevensen (1895–1960). ] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923190848/http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/235141 |date=23 September 2015 }}. 16 August 2015. actor, stuntman and circus performer Jim Gerald,. [http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/229033 Gerald, James (Jim) (1891–1971) Ausstage Database ] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923190753/http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/229033 |date=23 September 2015 }}. Accessed 16 August 2015. singer Olga Vernon, comedian Buster Fiddess,[http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/462460 Ausstage Database entry on Buster Fiddess, comedian] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923203817/http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/462460 |date=23 September 2015 }}, . National Library of Australia vaudevillian Peggy Mortimer,http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/235150 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923190850/http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/235150 |date=23 September 2015 }} | AusStage Database actor and entertainer Morry Barling,https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/237379 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151004182717/http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/237379 |date=4 October 2015 }} | AusStage Database Ronhttps://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/246086 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150711072429/https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/246086 |date=11 July 2015 }} | AusStage Database and Iris Shand – both were actors and versatile stage performers, and chatting cartoonist "Inky" Williams.https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/473606 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151004165936/http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/473606 |date=4 October 2015 }} | AusStage Database Peggy Mortimer also appeared under her married name, Peggy Toppano, and was invited to perform at the Cremorne Theatre by Bob Geraghty.(13 December 2003). [http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/12/12/1071125654717.html?from=storyrhs Peggy sang her own sweet tune] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110828220817/http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/12/12/1071125654717.html?from=storyrhs |date=28 August 2011 }}. The Sydney Morning Herald.

File:Chorus line the Soubrettes at the Cremorne Theatre South Brisbane ca 1944.tif

After the war, the Cremorne's role faded despite occasional professional use under strong competition from cinemas and a general decline in demand for live entertainment. From 1949 onwards, local groups used it for productions. In particular, The Brisbane Opera Society and the Theatre Guild of Queensland appeared there regularly.

It was in fact with the Brisbane Opera Society, under the musical direction of George English, that arguably Australia's most famous operatic tenor Donald Smith (tenor), sang his first operas. Some of these operas included "Merry England" by Edward German, "The Bohemian Girl" by Michael William Balfe, "Maritana" by William Vincent Wallace, Gunoud's "Faust" and Ruggero Leoncavallo opera "Pagliacci".

John McCallum leased the theatre to Universal International Pictures in 1951 and by mid-1952 the building had been converted for use as offices and storage facilities for film distribution. The last recorded program is for a production by the Musical & Theatre Guild of Queensland of "The Desert Song" on 3 May 1952.{{cite web|title=Cremorne Theatre Programs Catalogue|url=https://www.library.uq.edu.au/fryer-library/ms/ftpf8.pdf|website=Fryer Library|publisher=University of Queensland|accessdate=2 November 2015|location=Brisbane|date=2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304062031/https://www.library.uq.edu.au/fryer-library/ms/ftpf8.pdf|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}} The Theatre burnt down in 1954 and was never rebuilt.[http://www.qpac.com.au/qpac_partners/about_qpac/ About QPAC] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060204164207/http://www.qpac.com.au/qpac_partners/about_qpac/ |date=4 February 2006 }}.

Fifteen years after the Cremorne Theatre's demise, in the late 1960s, proposals were put forward for a theatre complex for the city, but these did not progress until the impending loss of Her Majesty's Theatre in 1974.[http://www.qpac.com.au/Explore_and_Learn/QPAC/history QPAC History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906044736/http://www.qpac.com.au/Explore_and_Learn/QPAC/history |date=6 September 2015 }}. The Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) was the result and was completed in 1985 on a site just around the corner from the old Cremorne Theatre.

The QPAC management makes claim to be continuing the heritage of the Cremorne Theatre as part of a "cultural precinct".[http://www.qpac.com.au/Explore_and_Learn/QPAC/history QPAC History - Cultural Precinct] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906044736/http://www.qpac.com.au/Explore_and_Learn/QPAC/history |date=6 September 2015 }}. There is a new Cremorne Theatrehttp://www.thefotofanatic.com/Photography/Forums/Your-Brisbane-Past-and-Present/brisproj-362/810347363_bBKrx-X2.jpg{{Dead link|date=December 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Photo of Theatre, Trevor Newman, Date unknown within the QPAC complex,[http://www.qpac.com.au/Explore_and_Learn/QPAC/venues QPAC Venues] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906060211/http://www.qpac.com.au/Explore_and_Learn/QPAC/venues |date=6 September 2015 }}. although it is the smallest theatre within the complex at 312 seats. The four QPAC theatres – the Concert Hall, Lyric Theatre, Playhouse and Cremorne Theatre combined have a seat capacity at 4,950 which is about two third's higher again than that of the original Cremorne Theatre at its height.

The current building includes, at ground level, a Gallery used for theatre exhibitions, for example, in 2016 "Theatres of War"{{cite web|title=Theatres of War|url=http://collections.artscentremelbourne.com.au/paminter/imu.php?request=browse&irn=4171|website=Arts Centre Melbourne|accessdate=25 July 2016|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160328215303/http://collections.artscentremelbourne.com.au/paminter/imu.php?request=browse&irn=4171|date=18 April 2015|archivedate=28 March 2016}} which included a poster from the original Cremorne Theatre's own wartime service in World War II.

Cremorne Theatre Brisbane.jpg|Cremorne Theatre side of the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) theatre complex on the Brisbane River, South Bank, Brisbane.

Cremorne Theatre Entrance 2016.jpg|Entrance to Cremorne Theatre and Gallery. CBD high rise buildings directly opposite across the Brisbane River, are reflected in the Theatre's glass doors.

Cremorne Theatre Billboards.jpg|Cremorne Theatre and Gallery Billboards at April 2016 showing the then current "Theatres of War" exhibition in the Gallery and the upcoming dance work "When Time Stops" in the Theatre.

{{Reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20101017141424/http://www.qpac.com.au/venues/cremorne_theatre/ Queensland Performing Arts Centre website]
• {{cite web|last=Blogger user: the foto fanatic|title=Cremorne Theatre|url=http://www.yourbrisbanepastandpresent.com/2010/04/cremorne-theatre.html|work=Your Brisbane: Past and Present|publisher=Blogger}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20160304062031/https://www.library.uq.edu.au/fryer-library/ms/ftpf8.pdf Cremorne Theatre Programs Catalogue 28 November 1920 to 3 May 1952; Fryer Library, University of Queensland, 2011]
• [http://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/A119203 Austlit Sources for Cremorne Theatre] AustLit is an authoritative database about Australian literature and storytelling, with biographical and bibliographical information, full text, exhibitions and online content.
• [https://onesearch.slq.qld.gov.au/permalink/61SLQ_INST/tqqf2h/alma99183695521102061 Cremone Theatre Motion Picture 1928] 16mm film of an unidentified performance inside the original Cremone Theatre. Held by State Library of Queensland

Category:Theatres in Brisbane

Category:1911 establishments in Australia

Category:Theatres completed in 1911

Category:Theatres completed in 1926

Category:South Brisbane, Queensland