Paris Theatre, Sydney

Located at 205-207 Liverpool Street, on the corner of Wentworth Avenue,^[1] the architect was Walter Burley Griffin^[2][3][4] The theatre was a reinforced concrete building with relief stucco paneling.^[2] It was demolished in 1981.

The Australia Picture Palace, designed by Walter Burley Griffin,^[2] was built in 1915 for Hoyt’s Theatres Ltd^[5] and opened on 7 January 1916.^[6]

In 1935, the venue was renovated and renamed the Tatler Theatre.^[5][6][7] On 5 August 1943, Austral American Productions began showing first-run Warner Brothers films in an exclusive arrangement.^[5] The first movie to be screened was “They Died with their Boots On” featuring Errol Flynn.^[3]

In 1952, Hoyts purchased the theatre and renamed it the Park Theatre.^[6]

After being renovated again in 1954, the venue was renamed the Paris Theatre, and was dedicated to showing "continental" films. Coffee was to be served to patrons during intervals .^[8]

From 21–27 May 1978, 900 people attended Sydney's first gay film festival at the Paris Theatre.^[5] One of the films, Word is Out^[9], inspired Ron Austin, a member of CAMP, with the idea of a street party, which became the first Mardi Gras in June of that year.^[10]

Some notable performances at the theatre included

• 20 November 1977 Rose Tattoo^[11]
• 27 November 1977 Cold Chisel^[11]
• August 1978 Louis Nowra play, Visions, opened.^[5][12]
• 28 November 1979 Boys Own MacBeth^[13]
• 20 December 1980 INXS^[11]

The Paris Company (formally the Paris Theatre Performance Group Limited), formed in March 1978 by Jim Sharman and Rex Cramphorn, staged two new Australian plays at the theatre: Dorothy Hewett's musical play Pandora's Cross, which opened in June 1978, and Louis Nowra's Visions, which opened in August 1978.^[14]