KEY HISTORICAL DATES

 
24 Sept 1874
 

The Foundation Stone is laid by eminent British pianiste, Madame Arabella Goddard.

7 June 1875
 

The Academy of Music opens with La Fille de Madame Angot, presented by W. S. Lyster's Royal Opera Bouffe Company.

1885 - 1891

The Academy's Supper Room is the first home of the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery.

1896
 

The Academy is used by the South Street Society for the first time.

1898
 

The first owner, Sir William Clarke, Bt. dies. The Academy of Music is sold to James Coghlan, Harry Davies & Johann Heinz.

1910

Royal Pictures commences screenings. The theatre continues to be used for live theatre as well.

1920

Her Majesty's is sold to Bendigo theatre owners William and Cornelius Crowley.

1940

Babes in the Wood, the first of the Wavie Williams Pantomimes, is staged at Her Majesty's as a fundraiser for the Red Cross.

1942
 

Ballarat Theatres buys Her Majesty's from William Crowley's executors.

1962
 

Ballarat Light Opera Company stages its first production at Her Majesty's, Oklahoma!, to be followed next year by breakaway company Ballarat Lyric Theatre with The Pirates of Penzance.

1964

The last movie is shown at Her Majesty's, and the Theatre closes down as a cinema.

1965

The Royal South Street Society buys the Theatre. It is renovated and renamed The Memorial Theatre.

12 June 1982
  The Compton Theatre Organ is launched.
1987
 

The Royal South Street Society gives the Theatre to the City of Ballaarat.

Her Majesty's Theatre Today
 
1 Nov 1990

The Theatre reopens after a major renovation funded by State and local governments, local donations and the Hugh Williamson Foundation. It is renamed Her Majesty's Theatre.