The Theatre Royal in Sydney is Australia’s oldest theatrical institution dating back to 1833, though the current theatre was built in 1976. It has offered a broad range of entertainment including dramas, comedy and musicals since the 1990s. The theatre has been mothballed since March 2016.

However, times are changing and TE is about to breathe life back into the theatre having signed a binding agreement with the Government of New South Wales to become the new leaseholder and operator.  

The name Theatre Royal had originally been used for a theatre which went into development in 1827 by merchant and theatre director, Barnett Levey. This new playhouse opened in October 1833 and later closed in March 1838. A few days later the Royal Victoria Theatre, a much larger building, was opened by another renowned Sydney theatre owner, Joseph Wyatt.

In 1840, disaster struck and Levey’s Theatre Royal and Wyatt’s Victoria were both consumed by fire and tragically burned to the ground.

Many years later, in 1875, the present Theatre Royal was founded, built for Samuel Lazar in Castlereagh Street on the corner of Rowe Street, opposite the famous Australia Hotel. The theatre was leased by JC Williamson’s from 1882 until 1978. During this time, the interior of the theatre was remodelled by architect Henry Eli White.

Throughout 1971-72 the theatre, along with the Hotel Australia, and much of the block on which it was situated, was demolished to construct the MLC Centre. Public agitation and action by construction unions once it was closed to save it resulted in the developer Lend Lease incorporating a replacement 1,180 seat theatre into the design.

Designed by Harry Seidler, along with the rest of the complex, the current Theatre Royal, opened its doors in 1976. The theatre closed again in March 2016 amid development of the MLC Centre. 

In March 2019, the NSW Government announced it had taken on a 55-year lease of the theatre from the MLC Centre developers, with the intention to re-open the venue with a private operator. The rest they say, is history!