William Lock lived at 9 Suffolk Road, Surrey Hills. Donation made at time Libby Cavenagh was Secretary of the Surrey Hills Historical Society.Pink-coloured bi-fold paper program. Includes a cast list and synopsis of the three acts."To be /returned" underlined in grey lead pencil across LH side top of front page; "HALL /UNION RD" in grey lead pencil on RH top corner of front page; grey lead pencil marks against characters' names; J Hall signed on back in ink or biro.camberwell town hall, operetta, the quaker girl, tanner and monckton, surrey hills operatic society, j c williamson, scouts, burwood boys' home, rosalinda modes, entertainment, fundraising, musical events and activities, program, ephemera, mrs reid, charles albert, mrs p d clucas, miss iris roderick, miss collins, miss cocking, miss brown, mrs g duncan, mr darby, linda lee, chrissie simpson, marjorie waugh, evelyn crowley, sylvia watson, beryl george, madge toohey, beryl hearne, beryl benn, lance marsden, roy abery, rose roberts, lily kennedy, lilian horn, jean gordon, harry cocking, mervyl clarke, h j brett, r harley, m mcdowall, violet dorian, david noble, oliver danvers, howard denny, marjorie gordon, molly linford, mrs aitken, mrs cerini, mrs duncan, mrs spiller, miss blakie, miss brigdon, miss broderick, miss callaghan, miss cooper, miss clucas, miss colquhoun, miss v cocking, miss s cocking, miss chambers, miss douglas, miss j ebbles, miss harley, miss harden, miss e middleton, miss m middleton, miss g marshall, miss m marshall, miss oliver, miss pearce, miss scott, miss scragg, miss sinclair, miss smith, miss wearne, mr abery, mr brain, mr collins, mr isherwood, mr h miechel, mr rowse, mr rublia, alice thatcher, dot irwin, lorna anderson, una unmack, doris dorian, ronnie o'regan, irma johnston, jess abery, edna scharples, dede taylor, alma tinkler, sylvia dodd, jocelyn hall

Mrs Constance Clucas, a talented musician in the Holy Trinity choir, started 'The Surrey Hills Operatic Society' in 1931. She trained members of the Society to concert standard. Mrs Clucas produced operettas for some ten years. Titles included 'The Arcadian', 'Princess Ju Ju', 'The Quaker Girl', and 'Miss Hook of Holland'. Local musicians formed the orchestra which was extended for the concert presentation by a few guest artists among whom were locals Marion de Saxe, a flautist, and Fred McBeath. Rehearsals were held in the Surrey Hall and a small Canterbury Road Lodge Hall with final staging in the Surrey Hall and Camberwell Town Hall. Scores and costumes were hired from J. C. Williamson.The photo is reflective of the cultural life of Surrey Hills in the 1930s.A sepia coloured photograph of a lady standing in a garden dressed in a peasant looking outfit and holding a (?) feather duster. She is wearing a hat in traditional Dutch-style.(mrs) constance clucas, holy trinity choir, churches, surrey hills, (ms) marion de saxe, (mr) fred mcbeath, the surrey hall, canterbury road lodge hall, (mrs) ethel cerini, camberwell town hall, surrey hills operatic society, 1930-1939

The Box Hill Operatic Society was founded in 1945 and was sponsored by the Box Hill City Council. Past productions listed on the back page of the programme include The Quaker Girl, High Jinks, A Night Out, The Lilac Domino, Wildflower, Gipsy Love, Katinka, and Maid of the Mountains. Arthur Henry Dear was an employee of the City of Kew, acting as Hall Keeper of the Kew Recreation Hall in Wellington Street, and later the new Kew City Hall in Cotham Road. The Arthur Dear Collection contains memorabilia - tickets, programmes, invitations - as well as his identification badge. Items in the collection dates from the 1940s to the 1960s. The Kew Recreation Hall (Wellington Street) and later the Kew City Hall (Cotham Road) were major locations in suburban Melbourne in the postwar period for civic and private events including theatre productions and exhibitions. The Arthur Dear Collection (in conjunction with the scrapbooks compiled by Marion Tilley) provide a comprehensive snapshot of performing arts in Kew during the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. The collection includes valuable data about performances, performers, directors etc., during this period. Theatre programme issued by the Box Hill Operatic Society. The 8-page programme contains a title page, a cast list, details of the management, and a brief history of the Company. The performance was held in the Box Hill Town Hall in 1958. arthur dear collection, theatre memorabilia, performing arts - box hill, box hill town hall

"Miss Hook of Holland" is a musical comedy (described as a "Dutch Musical Incident") in two acts, with music and lyrics by Paul Rubens and book by Austen Hurgon and Rubens. It opened at the Prince of Wales Theatre, London, on 31 January 1907, and had a successful run of 462 performances. A synopsis of the plot can be found at https://www.guidetomusicaltheatre.com/shows_m/miss_hook_holland.htm This was one of a number of productions of the Surrey Hills Amateur Operatic Society during the 1930s. The society formed in 1931 and its first production was "The Cingalee", followed in 1932 by "The Arcadians". Other productions were "Princess Ju-Ju", "The Quaker Girl", "The Hook of Holland" and "The Country Girl". Apart its cultural and social importance, the aim of the Society was to raise funds for charity. Mrs Constance Clucas was a driving force behind the productions. A comprehensive account of the society's activities is found in 'A history of Surrey Hills' Sporting clubs and Cultural Groups" by Ken James. This and other programs of the Surrey Hills Amateur Operatic Society provide insight into the cultural life of Surrey Hills in the 1930s.Cream-coloured stapled program printed in brown of a musical comedy in 2 acts. Includes a cast list and committee of the Surrey Hills Amateur Operatic Society, a synopsis of the play, a list of the musical items, photos of Mrs P D Clucas and Mr Norman Lee and a number of ads for local and city businesses."J Hall" signed on back in ink or biro; Norman Lee has signed his photo in ink.camberwell town hall, operetta, miss hook of holland, tanner and monckton, surrey hills amateur operatic society, j c williamson ltd, surrey hills baby health centre, alfred hospital, orthopaedic hospital, surrey hills orchestra, anne's pantry, surrey hall, entertainment, fundraising, musical events and activities, miss cook, mr j colquhoun, h e witchell, a h chenu, norman lee, jean gordon, wilfred darby, jeanette mcdowell, ronald isherwood, howard p denny, miss phyllis heitsch, una v blaikie, howard burnett, jack chapman, winifred broderick, gladys marshall, scyla cocking, harold g brett, harry cocking, aubrey pearce, william morrison, muriel middleton, barbara brigdon, jessie collins, ethel cerini, isabel callaghan, florrie doreian, violet ebbels, jessie fethers, margot gordon, jean robinson, gordon lavender, marjory gordon, grace linford, mollie middleton, eileen middleton, muriel marshall, gladys oliver, mary scragg, beryl scragg, nina sinclair, jean wearne, gladys roberts, rose pearse, jean douglass, jessie powys, mabel thomas, violet abery, roy brian, herbert darby, wilfred harley, robert rowse, jack walker, fred williams, george duncan, mrs g d clucas, mrs p d blaikie, miss w h duncan, mrs g d grover, mrs b collins, miss m harley, mr r cocking, mr h colton, ada walton, mrs c colquoun, program, ephemera

Black and white photograph. Dance card. Programme. Rochester Military Ball. Scalloped edges. String. Pencil. 1. Circular Waltz 'waltes from Vienna' 2. Fox trot 'Happiness ahead' 3 Barn Dance 'Soldiers'songs'. 5. one step Selected. 6. Waltz. 'Lonesome for Caroline.' 7. Fox trot 'Don't let it bother you'. 8. Lancers 'The Quaker girl'. 9. Valetta 'Songs of Scotland'. 10. One Step 'Colonel Bogey'. 11. Waltz. 'The merry widow'. Extras. 12. Fox trot 'What a little Moonlight can do'. 13. Barn Dance 'Roll Along Covered Wagon'. 14. One step 'Down Main Street'. 15. Waltz 'Blue Danube'. 16. Fox Trot 'June and January'. 17. Valetta 'Nights og Gladness'. 18. One Step 'Blaze of Glory'. 19. Fox Trot 'College Rhythm'. 20. Waltz 'Yvonne'. 21. Fox Trot 'Sawaraki'. 22. One Step Selected. 23. Medley Selected. Back of photo reads: ELLIS.C (3)ephemera, mementoes, dance programme

Closing time for the Theatre Royal Melbourne’s Theatre Royal opened 16 July 1855 at 236 Bourke Street, between Swanston and Russell, in the heart of the city’s entertainment district and it was comparable in size to London’s Drury Lane and Covent Garden. It was rebuilt in 1872 following a fire, remodelled in 1904, and demolished in 1933, due in part to the Great Depression, and also to the growing popularity of moving pictures. On the site was erected Manton’s department store, then Coles, Target, and now Kmart. The Quaker Girl, a 1910 Edwardian musical comedy with long running success in London, Paris and Broadway, opened in Melbourne at the Theatre Royal on 22 July 1933. Stars Cyril Ritchard and Madge Elliott were to become husband and wife, their Sydney wedding photograph now an iconic Australian image of that time. The theatre closed 13 November 1933. MCK080 Published: The Age 4 November 1933 Featured in "Newsworthy: Melbourne in photographs 1933-1936" exhibition at East Melbourne Library, October to December 2023. Exhibition caption by project volunteer, Louise McKenzie. THEATRE ROYAL (1933, November 4). The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954), p. 5. Retrieved October 16, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article203364238 Additional research by project volunteer, Fiona Collyer and librarian, Fiona Campbell: The Theatre Royal closed on 13 November 1933. During demolition in December, a worker was pinned by the legs under two tons of collapsing ceiling concrete. Miraculously he escaped with only a broken leg. A commemorative plaque was unveiled in 1937, displayed at the front of Manton's department store. The event was covered in The Age on 20 Dec 1937. It was a beautiful blue enamel and brass with the comedy and tragedy masks, one crying and one laughing, at the top with a timeline of the theatre underneath. Its whereabouts became unknown after the multiple changes with department stores on the site. In 2019 Greg Sampson set out on a mission to find it and in 2021 eventually tracked it down, on a wall behind the door of a staff tea room in Kmart. After much arduous lobbying by Greg it was eventually relocated to the Kmart arcade on the site where the Theatre Royal was originally located. Annette Cooper's history of Manton's and the Bourke Street site described the process of acquisition and demolition of the theatre: "Around 1933, the theatre came on the market – ‘a gift from heaven’ for its enterprising neighbours. Manton’s acquired the theatre and started planning for its demolition to enable the expansion of the store. William Manton and his sons, Jack and Ivor, watched the final production at the theatre, Harold Fraser-Simson’s musical comedy The Maid of the Mountains. 'It was, for the theatre-goers, a nostalgic last appearance, an emotional night, the end of an era. There were those who were mortified at the prospect of a store taking the place of their palace of dreams.' Even Whelan the Wrecker sensed the importance of the occasion and donated four bricks from the theatre to the National Museum of Victoria. They are the oldest bricks in the museum’s collection and form part of its Whelan the Wrecker collection." UNDER BIG FALL OF CONCRETE (1933, December 8). The Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954), p. 1. Retrieved April 14, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article243215969 The Relocation of the Theatre Royal Plaque, Greg Sampson, https://theatreheritage.org.au/on-stage-magazine/news/item/989-the-relocation-of-the-theatre-royal-plaque Photo of theatre interior, Arts Centre Melbourne, https://collections.artscentremelbourne.com.au/#details=ecatalogue.184409 OLD THEATRE ROYAL (1937, December 20). The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954), p. 10. Retrieved March 25, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article205554847 AMATEUR ATHLETICS -- LIFE SAVING DISPLAY MEMORIAL PLAQUE UNVEILED (1937, December 20). The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954), p. 15. Retrieved March 25, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article205554863 It's smart to be thrifty: the story of Manton's department store, Annette Cooper, https://www.slv.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/3%20Annette%20Cooper%20-%20It%E2%80%99s%20smart%20to%20be%20thrifty%2C%20the%20story%20of%20Manton%27s%20department%20store.pdfPhotographer notations on slide: "Theatre Royale 1933 B4". theatres, 1930-1939, fires, musicals, films, department stores, demolished buildings, commemorative plaques, incidents, concrete, whelan the wrecker, bricks, kmart, bourke street melbourne, manton's department store, theatre royal, coles, target