The building was demolished in 2008 to make way for an apartment building. The arcade was reconfigured as a furniture store by the 1950s and later served as an outlet of the Fletcher Jones clothing company. By the early 1900s it also housed theatrical agencies, costumiers and rehearsals rooms. During its early years the arcade included a wide variety of business, ranging from booksellers and hairdressers to newsagents and pie shops and even a dance hall. Source: State Library of Victoria.ĮASTERN ARCADE Located between Russell and Exhibition streets and extending from Little Collins Street to Bourke Street, the Eastern Arcade was a two-level building erected on the site adjacent to the Eastern Market (originally a fruit and vegetable market that by the late 1800s had become the heart of Melbourne’s Saturday nightlife).

It is presently unclear when the hall was last used for entertainments. It was also occupied by the Sportsman’s Club between 18. Sometimes referred to as the “Temple of Amusements,” it was briefly renamed the Bijou in 1867 and Kitts Music Hall (1880-81).

Kate and James Kelly were “exhibited” at the Apollo on the evening of the day Ned Kelly was hanged. Variety troupes to play the Apollo included Carroll and Wallace Minstrels (1873), Quintuto Minstrels (1874), the Empsons (1875, 1877), California Minstrels (1875), US Minstrels (1875-77), La Feuillade and Buckley’s Minstrels (1876), Hudson and Holly Comedy Co (1879), Georgia Minstrels (1879), Weston’s US Minstrels (1879) and Buckley and Gardner’s Minstrels (1881). It was converted into an athletics hall in 1887 and later served as a venue for boxing. Opened on Boxing Day 1872 by Harry Rickards the hall seated up to 1,000 people and was used for theatrical entertainments, concerts, exhibitions, public meetings, lectures, primary industry shows and sporting events etc. (1872-) Eastern Arcade, 131-135 Bourke Street.Īfter fire destroyed the Haymarket Theatre and Apollo Music Hall in 1871, the Eastern Arcade complex, including a new Apollo Hall, was built in its place. It was replaced by a second Bijou Theatre and a smaller, purpose-built vaudeville house called the Gaiety.ĪLHAMBRA PALACE OF VARIETIES: See Opera House ĪMERICAN HIPPODROME: See Prince of Wales Theatre ĪPOLLO MUSIC HALL : See Haymarket TheatreĪPOLLO THEATRE: See National AmphitheatreĪka Bijou Theatre / Kitts Music Hall / Sportsman’s Club The theatre was perhaps most associated with the Brough and Boucicault Comedy Company which used it as a home base for several years. Situated beside the Victoria Arcade, the 1500-seat Academy of Music opened in 1876 but was renamed the Bijou Theatre in 1880 by lessee Eduardo Majeroni.

Bijou theatre on tv