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Lyceum Picture Gardens 659 Beaufort Street, Mount Lawley, WA - 1926

Originally known as The Lyceum, then The State, finally The Astor.

Source - Mirror Newspaper Perth - Sat 6 Nov 1926 Page 7. Note: The brick wall in the upstairs gallery has been recreated because the original newspaper photo suffers from a lack of detail.

The Astor Theatre has not always been known by this name. When it was first opened on 5 November 1919 it was called The Lyceum. Architect and owner-builder, Simon Bremner Alexander claimed it was the coolest building in the state. At the time this was due to the exceptional ventilation but we will reclaim the title for other reasons.

The venue was multi-purpose back then too and on Tuesday and Thursday nights it was hired for dancing. The orchestra also made use of The Lyceum. Next door to the venue was an open-air theatre where silent pictures continued in the gardens even after sound made its way into theatre. -

Note: The Lyceum Picture Gardens were the first Perth suburban Picture Gardens to feature an upstairs gallery.

In 1930 it was reinvented again and named the State Theatre and State Summer Gardens and later in the ’30s it got a facelift and extensive renovations. The gardens were closed in 1970.

Finally in 1941, the venue became known as what it is today, the Astor Theatre. The venue had to loose ‘State’ from its title due to a government decree that no private company could use the term.

Contributed by Greg Lynch -