Collits' Inn is an Australian musical play with music by Varney Monk. Its first staging was in December 1932 at the Savoy Theatre in Sydney. The 1933 Melbourne production at the Princess Theatre was the first fully professional production, presented by F. W. Thring and starring Gladys Moncrieff, George Wallace, Claude Flemming and Campbell Copelin. Wallace's role was created especially for him. It is generally considered the first commercially successful Australian musical, and it was praised by the Sydney Morning Herald as "an Australian opera".
Gladys Moncrieff with Claude Flemming performing Collits' Inn in 1933 at the Princess Theatre in Melbourne
Princess Theatre (Melbourne)
The Princess Theatre, originally Princess's Theatre, is a 1452-seat theatre in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Established in 1854 and rebuilt in 1886 to a design by noted Melbourne architect William Pitt, it is the oldest surviving entertainment site on mainland Australia. Built in an elaborate Second Empire style, it reflects the opulence of the "Marvellous Melbourne" boom period, and had a number of innovative features, including state of the art electric stage lighting and the world's first sliding ceiling, which was rolled back on warm nights to give the effect of an open-air theatre.
Spring Street facade
Astley's Amphitheatre, c. 1850s
The Interior of the Princess Theatre, Melbourne, 1865. Samuel Calvert. State Library Victoria
Princess Theatre Melbourne ca. 1894 State Library Victoria