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240 Exhibition Street
Melbourne, 3000 |
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Built in 1928, the Comedy Theatre is a blend of European flavours. The exterior is a replica of a Florence palace, while inside, the colours and design give it a distinct Spanish style. Famous names to grace the stage over the years include Rex Harrison, Frank Thring, and Vincent Price. |
HISTORY
The Comedy Theatre was built on a very historic site for theatregoers, originally the location of the Hippodrome, which flourished with circuses and horse-and-tank dramas. In its last phase, the old ‘Hippo’ was the headquarters of “King” Cole, who produced blood-and-thunder melodrama.
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| WHAT'S ON AT THE Comedy THEATRE |
Wil Anderson - Wilful Misconduct
Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2010
Host of The Gruen Transfer.
Wil’s 2009 show Wilosophy played to packed houses in Australia, NZ, Montreal, London, Edinburgh and LA and became a best-selling DVD.
“surprisingly heartfelt, regularly courageous and consistently funny…brilliant” - The Age
“superbly crass, irreverent, smart, manic soulful and consistently hilarious” - The Sun-Herald
“the best stand-up I have ever seen” - Broadway Baby (UK)
Wilful Misconduct is Wil’s brand-new show. |
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Good Evening
27-03-2010 to 10-04-2010
Comedy Theatre
Click here to read more about the show/artist |
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Good Evening
Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2010
Good Evening – The sketches of Peter Cook & Dudley Moore starring Shaun Micallef & Stephen Curry. Directed by Tom Healey.
Two of Australia's finest and funniest have joined forces for a very special comedy festival event.
Shaun Micallef and Stephen Curry are breathing new life into the inspired sketches of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. Cook and Moore took their unique mix of musical and sketch comedy off campus and onto the main stages of the West End and Broadway - even making time to come to Australia for a five month tour including a sell out run at the Palais in St Kilda in 1971.
Irreverent, wickedly satirical and completely hilarious - the genius of Cook and Moore inspired Monty Python and the generations that followed them. To mark his unique place in comedy history Peter Cook was invited to launch the inaugural Melbourne Comedy Festival in 1987 and as an even greater honour, the bar at the Town Hall was named after him - comedy has no greater honour to bestow.
Cook, Moore, Curry, Micallef - it is a combination born in comedy heaven - don't miss this unique comedy festival event.
“a great tribute…very funny”
The Australian
“It is a mark of the brilliance of Peter Cook & Dudley Moore’s writing that despite the passing of four decades, their sketches remain both hilarious and relevant” - Daily Telegraph |
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Josh Thomas - Surprise
Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2010
"I don't want to talk about it." - Josh Thomas
Josh is a regular on Talkin' Bout Your Generation and The 7pm Project. He is a semi-regular on Good News Week and appeared on Celebrity Masterchef but his meringue didn't work.
"one of the hottest comedians around" - Daily Telegraph
“seriously funny” The Age |
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Denise Scott - Number 26
Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2010
Directed by: Alan Brough
Music by: Jordie Lane
Scotty’s Comedy Festival smash-hit show is back for TWO NIGHTS ONLY. Don’t miss out on this hilarious, honest and ultimately touching look at how one family handles all that life throws at them.
Eczema! Poverty! Affairs! Alzheimer’s! Number 26 has something for everyone.
“Scott can help us see the funny side of any adversity” - Sunday Herald Sun |
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Charlie Pickering: A Beginners Guide
Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2010
He’s the Gen X team captain on Talkin’ ‘bout Your Generation and the host of The 7pm Project, but Charlie Pickering is also a world-class stand-up comedian. If this is news to you, now’s your chance to see him live. If you were already across it, he’s back with a mix of favourite tales and new stories. |
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Denise Scott - Number 26
Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2010
Directed by: Alan Brough
Music by: Jordie Lane
Scotty’s Comedy Festival smash-hit show is back for TWO NIGHTS ONLY. Don’t miss out on this hilarious, honest and ultimately touching look at how one family handles all that life throws at them.
Eczema! Poverty! Affairs! Alzheimer’s! Number 26 has something for everyone.
“Scott can help us see the funny side of any adversity” - Sunday Herald Sun |
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Bjorn Again: 21st Birthday Concert
Bjorn Again – the world's leading ABBA show, the only one endorsed by ABBA, are celebrating their 21st Birthday with two special live concerts on Saturday 1 May 2010 at 2pm and 8pm. |
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Waiting For Godot
06-05-2010 to 16-05-2010
Comedy Theatre
Click here to read more about the show/artist |
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Waiting For Godot
Starring: Ian McKellen as Estragon and Roger Rees as Vladamir with Matthew Kelly as Pozzo
Directed by: Sean Mathias
Presented by Kay and McLean Productions Pty Ltd, Arnold M Crook, Paul Elliott, Nigel Everett and Duncan C Weldon in association with HVK Productions and Michael Coppel.
Two old friends meet to converse, joke and argue with themselves as they wait through one day and then another for the mysterious Godot... the combination of music hall, poetry and tension redefined what is possible in theatre, so that today Waiting for Godot is accepted as one of the most significant plays of the 20th century.
When Samuel Beckett's play exploded on to the stage 50 years ago, it shocked as many people as it delighted. There had never been a play like it; indeed it was said that: "(Beckett) has achieved a theoretical impossibility-a play in which nothing happens, that yet keeps audiences glued to their seats."
Following record breaking season at the Theatre Royal Haymarket Waiting for Godot comes to The Comedy Theatre for 13 performances only.
"McKellen's Estragon is wonderfully entertaining. I could have watched him forever." - Independent on Sunday
"The theatrical event of the year" - Daily Express |
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Calendar Girls
17-06-2010 to 01-07-2010
Comedy Theatre
Click here to read more about the show/artist |
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Calendar Girls
CALENDAR GIRLS is based on the very successful film of the same name starring Helen Mirren and Julie Walters, which in turn was based on an uplifting and inspiring true story that is quirky, poignant and hilarious.
A group of extraordinary middle-aged women, members of a very ordinary Yorkshire Women's Institute, spark a global phenomenon by persuading one another to pose for a charity calendar with a difference! As interest snowballs, the Calendar Girls find themselves revealing more than they'd ever planned!
With a number of special guest stars still to be announced, CALENDAR GIRLS is thrilled to have secured Lorraine Bayly, Rhonda Burchmore, Cornelia Frances and Amanda Muggleton to play four of these magnificent women. |
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| COMEDY THEATRE Capacities |
Theatre/Concert |
Banquet |
Cocktail |
Dinner Dance |
Conference/
Presentation |
boardroom |
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| Venue
Description |
| Built in 1928, the Comedy Theatre is a blend of European flavours. The exterior is a replica of a Florence palace, while inside, the colours and design give it a distinct Spanish style. Famous names to grace the stage over the years include Rex Harrison, Frank Thring, and Vincent Price. |
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Punchlane Wine Bar Restaurant - 43 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne
Ph: 9639 4944
Website - Click Here
Oyster Little Bourke - 35 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne VIC 3000
Ph: (03) 9650 0988
Website - Click Here
Kappo Okita - 17 Liverpool st, Melbourne, VIC 3000
Ph: (03) 9662 2206
Gingerboy
27-29 Crossley Street, Melbourne, Vic 3000.
Tel: (03) 9662 4200
Website: Click Here
Offers pre theatre, bar food and a la carte options. |
Bennetts Lane Jazz Club - 25 Bennetts La Melbourne VIC 3000
Ph: (03) 9663 2856
Website - Click Here
European Bier Cafe - 120 Exhibition St Melbourne VIC 3000
Ph: (03) 9663 1222
Website - Click Here
Fad Gallery Bar - 14 Corrs Lane, Chinatown Melbourne VIC 3000
Ph: (03) 9639 2700
Website - Click Here |
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PUBLIC TRANSPORT
Tram: Any tram via Latrobe or Bourke Streets.
Bus: Any bus via Exhibition Street.
Train: Parliament Train Station, 1 block East of theatre. |
59 Lonsdale Street
Open: Mon-Thurs 6.30am-12 midnight
Friday: 6.30am-3.00am
Sat: 9.00am-3.00am
Sun: 9.30am-9.00pm
511 Bays
Disabled Bays and Wheelchair Access available
Maximum Vehicle Height: 1.9 metres
Validate your parking ticket at the venue to avail of preferred car parking rates for Marriner Theatres clients and patrons. |
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Closest accessible parking bay is in Lonsdale Street
(near corner of Cohen Place).
PHYSICAL ACCESS
At
the doors facing on to Exhibition Street there is a small
step, which, as you move away from Lonsdale Street is
reduced to a small lip. Doors are usually propped open
during performances. The entrance opens directly into
the foyer, which is small and can become quite congested.
The box office and refreshments bar are located to the
left.
Entrance
For wheelchair users it is possible to negotiate the step
into the front of the building, however, don’t take
it too fast, as there is little area between the steps
and the doors. Alternately the Comedy can provide a step
ramp into a side entrance off Lonsdale Street. Notify
the Princess Theatre box office on Ph: 9299 9800, when
buying a ticket or at least 24 hours prior to the performance
you are attending, if you wish to use this entrance.
AUDITORIUM
Only Stalls can be accessed without steps and can be
accessed directly from the foyer. Seating is mildly raked.
Two central aisles and two side aisles provide plenty
of aisle seats. Side aisle seating is irregularly numbered.
Although the aisles themselves are raked, the back seating
rows have a slight step, providing a level footing surface
for the audience. Access to the Circle is via a large
staircase with handrails. Circle seating is quite steeply
tiered. There is a bar that can be accessed from the Circle
area.
FACILITIES FOR WHEELCHAIR USERS
It is advisable to book wheelchair seating direct with
the Princess Theatre Box Office.
FACILITIES FOR PEOPLE WITH MOBILITY
IMPAIREMENTS
Patrons with difficulty negotiating
steps are advised to book seating in Stalls area, as there
are several large sets of staircases leading to the Dress
Circle.
FACILITIES FOR PEOPLE WITH
SIGHT IMPAIRMENTS
Seats close to the stage can be requested when booking
tickets for the Comedy Theatre. (Phone bookings only)
The entire main room (ballroom) is covered by an audio
loop. Advise staff when booking tickets. |
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