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Uploaded on: June 24, 2026

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Photo - 1933 via the National Library of Australia

Originally opened as a live theatre in 1917, the venue underwent a major reconstruction in 1926-27 under acclaimed theatre architect Henry Eli White, whose portfolio included some of Australia’s most celebrated entertainment venues during the golden age of cinema.

White’s designs include Sydney’s State Theatre and Capitol Theatre, and Melbourne’s Palais Theatre and the interiors of the Princess Theatre and Athenaeum Theatre, which places the Lithgow property in exalted circles.

Over the decades, the building has evolved alongside changing audience tastes, including serving as a boxing venue in the early 1920s, a cinema in the ’40s and a nightclub in the ’90s. Over the years it was also a “nitespot” and an a la carte restaurant – as attested by signage painted on its brick exterior.

Timber floors and stage lighting are shown in a large space. The Theatre Royal’s theatrical past is still very much preserved. The privately owned venue, which last changed hands in 2022, is understood to have ceased operation in 2013 and has remained dormant since.

Contributed by Greg Lynch -