Grand Theatre & Opera House

The Grand Theatre opened on Wednesday 20 September 1916, with a seating capacity of 1,300, with 1,000 in the stalls and 300 in the dress circle. It was opened by the Mayor of Perth, Frank Rea, with a charity fund-raising gala for wounded soldiers, which included a performance by a Soldiers Orchestra and the screening of A Yellow Streak, featuring Lionel Barrymore. The Edwardian styled theatre was built for entrepreneur Thomas Coombe, and designed by architect Richard Joseph Dennehy for a cost of £A20,000, equivalent to |1916|r=1}}million|link=yes}} in . The main entrance fronted onto Murray Street, and led to a 15.2 m marble tiled and mirror-lined vestibule with a large marble staircase. In…