Also known as: The Theatre Royal
Location: 145 Gloucester Street, Central Christchurch
Current status: Running
Active as a live music venue: 1908–2011, 2014–present
Capacity: 1,266
History
The Isaac Theatre Royal is the only surviving operational Edwardian theatre in New Zealand, and the third Theatre Royal on Gloucester Street — a lineage stretching back to the Canterbury Music Hall of 1861. The current building was opened in February 1908 with a packed house performance of The Blue Moon, designed by architects Alfred and Sidney Luttrell in the Classical manner after earlier plans were revised with input from architect Samuel Hurst Seager. Construction began in November 1906 on a site opposite the original theatre building, following a trigger that reached all the way to Chicago: the 1903 Iroquois Theatre fire, in which over six hundred people died due to inadequate fire escapes, prompted the Christchurch City Council to survey local theatres and find the existing Theatre Royal wanting. A syndicate of businessmen led by grain merchant George Gatonby Stead oversaw the rebuild.
Its horseshoe dress circle, elaborately decorated plaster walls, and painted dome made it one of the finest theatres in the southern hemisphere. The auditorium ceiling was painted with scenes from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream — a signature of the theatre since 1908. The dress circle could seat 240, a gallery above it accommodated 600, and the stalls another 400, for a total of around 1,300. On either side of the Gloucester Street entrance were shops, and a verandah with iron columns fronted the street. Soon after opening, the theatre was leased to J.C. Williamson Limited, a theatrical company that subleased it to other companies and later purchased it outright.
Louis Armstrong, Roy Orbison, and the Rolling Stones all performed there, alongside opera seasons from 1910, ballet from 1913, and Russian prima ballerina Anna Pavlova during her 1926 Australasian tour. By 1928, a full renovation by J.T. Julian and Son enlarged the foyer, rebuilt the gallery and dress circle on cantilevers (removing the original pillars), and extended the rear stalls — bringing capacity to 1,300. The theatre was also upgraded for cinema, with a projectionist’s box and sound system installed for talkies from June 1929. From 1941, it operated as a full-time picture house under Kerridge-Odeon until 1956, when it returned to live performance.
The decades that followed the return to live performance brought an eclectic mix of programming to the Gloucester Street stage. Among the rock and pop acts to have performed at the Isaac Theatre Royal are Split Enz and Crowded House — two of New Zealand’s most celebrated bands — alongside British acts 10cc and Sonic Youth during their respective touring peaks. The theatre has continued to attract significant New Zealand artists into the twenty-first century, with Lorde, Bic Runga, Marlon Williams, and Aldous Harding all appearing on its stage. This breadth of programming, spanning opera and ballet through to indie rock and contemporary singer-songwriters, reflects the theatre’s enduring role as Christchurch’s premier concert venue.
By 1975, following the decline of J.C. Williamson Limited and competition from the Christchurch Town Hall (opened 1972), the company advertised the theatre for auction. Finding no buyers, it faced demolition — until the Friends of the Theatre Royal trust formed and purchased the building in 1980. Further renovations in 2004, supported financially by Lady Diana Isaac, saw the reconstruction of the fly tower, extension of the foyer, and access to the gallery from the ground floor. The theatre was renamed the Isaac Theatre Royal in her honour. The February 2011 earthquake caused devastating damage to the 1908 auditorium and foyer, closing the theatre for nearly four years. After a $40 million restoration — one of the most technically complex post-earthquake CBD rebuilds — the Isaac Theatre Royal reopened on 17 November 2014. The dome was rebuilt in carbon fibre using the original 1908 mural, restored by Italian conservator Carolina Izzo. It today holds Heritage New Zealand Category 1 status and seats 1,266 across three levels.
The theatre was designated Heritage New Zealand Category 1 in 1989, recognising its exceptional historical and architectural significance. That designation survived the 2011 earthquake and the subsequent restoration, which was undertaken by the Friends of the Isaac Theatre Royal trust with a $40 million budget. The project is widely regarded as one of the most technically demanding heritage rebuilds carried out in post-earthquake Christchurch.
One of the finest theatres in the southern hemisphere.
Heritage New Zealand, on the Isaac Theatre Royal’s Category I listing