The Queensland Performing Arts Centre encourages creative potential and enriches
our cultural life.
QPAC has two main functions — as a venue for hire and as a producer of cultural
product.
As a venue, QPAC hosts an array of performances by local, national and international
companies and artists and has an unrivalled reputation for providing the right mix
of location, space and service.
Operating under a unique curatorial framework, QPAC also plays an important role
in enriching Queensland's cultural life by partnering with companies and artists
to bring their work to Brisbane, as well as fully producing a range of works across
a variety of art forms.
The Centre
QPAC is a world-class facility and a 'second home' to some of the state's leading
performing arts companies including Queensland Theatre Company, Queensland Ballet,
The Queensland Orchestra and Opera Queensland. QPAC also hosts many international
entrepreneurs and independent producers.
Performance spaces, restaurants, galleries, parklands, an historic casino building
and the vibrant city heart create an exciting precinct. The beautiful Brisbane River
links the South Bank to the City.
The Centre comprises four major venues: the stunning 2000 seat Lyric Theatre; the
1800 seat Concert Hall; the 850 seat Playhouse; and the 312 seat Cremorne Theatre.
In addition, there are numerous spaces for banquets, receptions, conferences, product
launches and exhibitions.
Management
QPAC is administered by the Queensland Performing Arts Trust, which was established
by the Queensland Government in 1977. It is a Statutory Authority representing the
Crown in Right of the State, and with its responsibilities set out in the Queensland
Performing Arts Trust Act 1977, the Trust receives substantial funding from the
State Government to undertake its functions and operations. The Honourable The Minister
for the Arts is the responsible Minister for QPAC.
The major functions encompass venue management, presentation of theatrical productions
and the development of the performing arts in Queensland. A significant part of
the Centre's operation is the hiring of the four auditoria and ancillary areas.
In recent years, QPAC has established itself as a major Australian producer of large
entrepreneurial ventures, educational activities and community programs. A high
priority is placed on developing audiences from a very young age, to ensure the
continued growth of the performing arts in the years ahead.
History
The Queensland Cultural Centre (incorporating QPAC) stands on the site where one
of Brisbane's most remarkable theatres once operated - the Cremorne. Its popularity
and contribution to Brisbane's theatrical history is remembered through the naming
of the Cremorne Theatre at QPAC.
Opening in 1911, on the corner of Melbourne Street and Stanley Quay, the Cremorne
was first owned by John Neil McCallum, the father of noted Australian actor, John
McCallum. He remembers it initially as an open-air theatre named the Cremorne Gardens,
where the most famous vaudeville stars of the day played.
Looking back even earlier than the Cremorne, in 1853 we find Lots 9 and 10, bordering
the river flats which were then the hub of shipping on the Brisbane River.
A hotel and saw-mill were constructed on the site in the late 1880s, but when the
worst flood in the early history of Brisbane occurred in 1893, many industries moved
to higher ground. In August 1911, Brisbane people read an item of interest in their
newspapers, "Under the name of 'Cremorne', a new place of amusement, situated on
the south bank of the river near Victoria Bridge, will be opened this evening by
a clever combination called The Dandies."
In its heyday from the 1920s, until it was destroyed by fire in 1954, the Cremorne
provided entertainment by presenting Australian stage legends such as Roy Rene,
Will Mahoney and Evie Hayes, George Wallace and the Cremorne Ballet girls.
The Brisbane City Council bought the empty site in 1955 and by proclamation dated
26th May, 1966, the State Development and Public Works Departments took over the
land.
In 1972, a decision was made to erect a new Queensland Art Gallery and by 1974 it
was generally accepted that there was also a need for a major performing arts complex
as well as new premises for the State Library and Queensland Museum.
State Cabinet decided to build an ambitious new cultural centre to house all these
needs and Brisbane architect, Robin Gibson, was commissioned for the task. These
were his thoughts on the matter:
"The creative opportunity to provide such a home is a rare and onerous task of immense
proportions to the architect. For it has to be a home which not only satisfies the
rigorous demands of theatre presentations of both the past and the present, but
also those of the unknown future.
It has to be a home where the audience, before a performance, can contribute to
the expectation and excitement of the event to be performed. The architecture, with
its ever-changing levels and complexity and drama of the foyer spaces, will set
the stage for such occasions. The wall, floors and ceilings, the rhythms and the
seductive lighting caressing and articulating the subtlety of the materials, will
all contribute to the symphony of architecture to create this backdrop.
It will be a true home which will not only satisfy the demands of the performing
arts, but will also demand the contribution of artistic excellence by the performer,
the performance and the audience."
Preliminary works began on the site in 1976 and the Queensland Art Gallery, Stage
I of the project, was opened in 1982.
Stage II, the Performing Arts Complex, was officially opened by His Royal Highness,
the Duke of Kent in 1985.
The Queensland Museum was opened in 1986 and the State Library, the final major
building in the Cultural Centre, was completed in 1988.
Stage V, comprising a state-of-the-art 850-seat theatre (the Playhouse) and ancillary
spaces, was opened in September 1998, completing Robin Gibson's original plan.
