Lights, Camera and Gym Equipment: the final resting places of Bundaberg's theatres.
by Alina Bonaventura
Before the brilliant minds behind iPhones, the Internet, DVDs or television were even born, a common place existed in Bundaberg where people would meet for entertainment. Whether you were singing with Elvis Presley or crying with Bette Davis, theatres were complexes that offered a restful break from the drudgery of long working hours.
In 1888, the plaster-over-brick Queens Theatre was the first entertaining house to be erected in Bundaberg. Rackemann (1992, p. 221) describes how the venue catered for stage productions, balls, public meetings, musical festivals, boxing matches and silent films by 1905. However, with the development of newer cinemas, The Queens Theatre became the home to many new tenants, including a second-hand furniture store, a liquor barn and ‘a branch of the Westpac Banking Corporation' (Ibid, p. 221). Today, as I passed by the majestic lady, I noticed another new inhabitant had come to reside within her. Where once crowds flocked in her foyer, they now gathered in the many retail shops set up inside. Her new title is, ‘Queens Theatre Arcade'. How lucky she is to remain popular, unlike the fate suffered by her younger brother.
The Paramount was the next theatre to follow in big sister Queens' entertainment shoes. Built in 1910 as the Jubilee Skating Ring, ‘Parrie' (as he was known by locals of the time) was purchased by Doug Rattray in 1926 and turned into an open-air theatre (Cullen 2000, p. 2). It took Mr Rattray 20 years to construct Parrie's roof to accommodate talking pictures. My mum recalls visiting Parrie as a child during the mid-1950's to watch the Rock Hudson film, ‘Never say goodbye'. She remembers it as being 'one of Bundaberg's grandest theatres'. Sadly, after 40 years of entertaining the community, The Paramount was completely torn down in 1973. A car sales yard exists where he once proudly stood. His grandeur lives on through pictures.
Parrie's younger sister The Wintergarden has endured a more profitable fate. Opened in 1929, her beautiful Roman interior was ‘based on Sydney's luxurious Capitol Theatre' (Cullen 2000, p. 3). My mum recalls visiting her as a teen in 1962 to watch Elvis Presley in ‘Flaming Star'. Today, The Wintergarden remains a busy girl, still entertaining people in a different way. Her ground floor is the home of Blockbuster Video whilst her first floor acts as a gymnasium.
The baby of the Bundaberg cinema family, The Olympia, was opened in 1955. Today, she has been renamed The Moncrieff Theatre (after Gladys Moncrieff) and she still hosts a variety of floor shows and the latest movies.
Overall, the face of entertainment has changed. While some theatres like Parrie have moved onto greener pastures, the remaining playhouses still draw the crowds in their new communal role.
References
Cullen, EJ 2000, The history of Bundaberg theatres, Edgars Printers and Stationers, Bundaberg.
Rackemann, N 1992, Bundaberg: from pioneers to prosperity, Bundaberg City Council, Bundaberg.
