Princess Theatre

The first theatre on this site from 1854 to 1856 was Astley's Amphitheatre, a corrugated iron structure which seated over 2000 people. Originally an equestrian amphitheatre, the Spring Street site was extended and remodelled in 1857 by Australia’s theatre impresario of the time, George Coppin, and opened as The Princess Theatre and Opera House. That original Princess Theatre was demolished in 1885 and the New Princess Theatre, as it was known, was erected in 1886, and has become one of Melbourne's treasures.

The Ampitheatre was located on the corner of Spring Street and Little Bourke Street, exactly where today's Princess Theatre sits. The Ampitheatre sat behind a single-story building that housed a small coffee-house and the Mazeppa Hotel.

By 1858 the Ampitheatre and its neighbours - the coffee-house and the Mazeppa Hotel - had all been changed, with the first Princess Theatre opening on the night of April 16th 1857. Despite initial commercial success, the building fell into disrepair and closed on 3 January 1885. 

The theatre was removed and nine months later the new (and current) Princess Theatre opened in 18 December 1886, to the design of William Pitt.