Tivoli Theatre of Varieties
The Tivoli Theatre of Varieties was a Cape Town theatre located at the corner of Darling Street and Plein Street.
Named after the famous theatre that had opened in the Strand, West London in 1890 [1], it was over the years also known, or referred to, as The Tivoli, the Tivoli Theatre and the Tivoli Music Hall.
Not to be confused with the Tivoli Empire Theatre, Johannesburg
The venue
It was designed by John Parker. It was opened by Arthur de Jong/Hyman/Logan in Cape Town in 1903. This building replaced the Masonic Hotel.
It was bought by Harry Stodel in 1910.
Later owned by African Consolidated Theatres and converted to a cinema, though also still serving as a theatre on a few occasions as well, e.g. being used by by amateurs, such as the Cape Town Repertory Theatre Society and the Garrick Club in the late 1920s and early 1930s. (e.g. Bird in Hand, Rope, What Every Woman Knows).
It was demolished in about 1932 and replaced by the OK Bazaars.
The Tivoli Company
D.C. Boonzaier (1923, see Bosman, 1980, p.418) also mentions a Tivoli Company in 1904, presumably a reference to the resident company of this theatre at the time.
Productions
Productions staged at the venue include:
1908/1909: Love and the Hyphen
Sources
D.C. Boonzaier. 1923. "My playgoing days – 30 years in the history of the Cape Town stage", in SA Review, 9 March and 24 August 1923. (Reprinted in Bosman 1980: pp. 374-439.)
F.C.L. Bosman. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1912. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: p.418
P.J. du Toit. 1988. Amateurtoneel in Suid-Afrika. Pretoria: Academica
Jill Fletcher. 1994. The Story of Theatre in South Africa: A Guide to its History from 1780-1930. Cape Town: Vlaeberg: p.
William Groom. 1899-1900. Drama in Cape Town. Cape Illustrated Magazine, 10(4): 478-481, 517-520, 547-552, 580-584, 640-643, 670-672, 706-708.
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