Athenium Theatre is a heritage-listed former theatre and cinema and now community hall at The Broadway, Junee, in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by Kaberry and Chard and built in 1929 by J. Nyssen. It is also known as the Broadway Theatre and JADDA Centre. The property is owned by Junee Shire Council. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 9 January 2004.
History
Chronology 1894. Gearge Laurantus was born in Kythira, Greece. (His brother, Nicholas was five years his senior.) 1909. George emigrates to Australia, first working in Sydney, then for brother Nicholas who had bought a cafe in a country town, then the Globe Theatre, Narrandera. 1925. Nicholas Laurantus's Globe Theatre is destroyed by fire. He rebuilds. 1927. The new Globe Theatre opens. Nicholas wishes to develop a "chain" of cinemas as a means of getting a better deal on film hire. 1928. Nicholas joins Ben Cummins, Junee, to build a new theatre in the Broadway; he puts brother George in charge of the Lyceum and overseeing the building of the new theatre. 1929. In May, Theatres and Public Halls gives approval to build. On 10 October the theatre opens as the Athenium Theatre. 1935. Nicholas and Gearge build the Rio Theatre at Lockhart. 1939. Nicholas decides to buy a property outside of Narrandera, decides to sell his theatre interest in Junee, forces George to give up management of the Athenium to go out and manage the property while Nicholas resides in town. 1940. Robert Tilby Begg takes over the theatre. 1950. R J and E E Pollard buy and run the theatre, renaming it Broadway. 1954. The Pollards sell on to Albert Thomas Manion for his son Kevin and daughter-in-law, Yvonne to manage (purchase price 28 000 pounds $56 000). 1958. The theatre is transferred into a company, Broadway Theatre (Junee) Pty Ltd, of which Kevin Manion and Thomas A Wah are directors 1959. The proscenium is removed, as was the custom to provide a wider opening for Cinemascope presentation. Kevin Manion sells out to a T A Wah who is sole owner under the company until 1971. 1971. Theatre licence is cancelled and the building is placed up for sale. 1977–78. Bought by Junee and District Development Association for $20 000, which makes the Junee and Illabo Councils trustees (virtual owners) of the property as tenants in common. Alterations to make it useful for indoor sports as well as social events, costing $45 000. Funding by community donations. A new licence is issued. 1984. Junee Council appears to be taking greater interest. Theatres and Public Halls initiates a search as to who or what actually owns the building. 1990. Theatres and Public Halls Act is repealed and a new Act transfers licensing, inspections etc. to local councils. 1998. The exterior is repainted, the refreshment bar kitchen is re-equipped at a cost of $28 000. 2002–03. The Junee Shire Council wishes to demolish the theatre.
For over fifty years before the coming of local television in 1964, cinema, as in other country towns, cities and suburbs, would provide not only entertainment but tacit cultural learning in behaviour, design, fashion, and current events. All the cinema venues in Junee would also provide the facility for live entertainment and social events, such as balls and receptions, since all possessed "flat" floors.
The Globe theatre in Junee was showing films by 1917, screened on Tuesday and Saturday in a small hall in Lisgar Street. By 1922, Lyceum Pictures were also showing in the larger Lyceum Hall, also in Lisgar Street The Globe appeared to disappear from the available local newspaper advertisements from 1924 while the Lyceum continued with films and live shows.JSC, 12/10/27
The Cummins' family of Junee owned the Lyceum. Ben Cummins decided to seek a partnership with some local cinema entrepreneur to build a new picture theatre. He consulted a brother-in-law, Jack Cavellas (who himself was a cinema entrepreneur and subsequently merged his assets with Hoyts Theatres). It seemed that Cavellas had misgivings about Ben Cummins forming a partnership with Nicholas Laurantus, but Cummins did, resulting in his becoming a "silent" partner in the deal. The new theatre would be under the control of Nicholas Laurantus, but with the day-to-day management by his younger brother, George.
George settled in Junee as soon as he married in 1928.P.L. 2003 He assumed management of the Lyceum Theatre. The theatre was in wide use for live shows, benefits and dancers, featuring performances by artists such as Gladys Moncrieff.JSC, 28/11/29
Approval was given for erection of the new theatre on 1 May 1929. The architects, Kaberry and Chard, wrote to say the theatre was about half completed by early July. George Laurantus, from his office at the Lyceum, wrote on 5 October seeking permission to open on the 10th of that month. The local police, representing Theatres and Public Halls, were asked to make an inspection to see that the theatre complied with the Departments requirements, and if so, allow it to open that day.(telegraph T&PH;, 10/10/29) The full report by the police at Junee on 17 October gave the seating capacity as dress circle 410 and stalls 600. A licence was granted to G. Laurantus for general entertainment purposes from 10 October 1929 for 1010 persons. Notes from Les Tod indicate the builder to be J. Nyssen.
Peter Laurantus related that from the opening until the birth of their first child in 1931 his father and mother did everything his father doing the sign-writing for the film attractions (on the front of the awning), booking films, despatching them and projecting them. His mother sold tickets and retained the records for the entertainment tax and film hire (particularly percentage) charges. In 1931, Blanche Heffernan, formerly Cummins became employed in the ticket office. She was the seventeen-year-old daughter of Ben Cummins (the "silent partner" in the venture), and remained working at the theatre until she married in December 1936.
The theatre opened two weeks before the New York stock market crash, and the Great Depression that followed. But the taxable admission figures for 1928 were showing a decline in admissions to picture theatres before the Depression. Perhaps the novelty of silent films was wearing thin, particularly as wireless was now developing. The Laurantus' had to work hard, but fortunately, after an initial poor quality, sound films rapidly improved and even with the Depression attendances quickly rose. From Census figures for income and employment for 1933, Junee was in a considerably better position than many other towns and shires. Even so, Blanche Heffernan remembers how itinerants, looking for work, but only being allowed to stay in a town for one or two nights before being moved on, were allowed to come into the theatre and stand at the back for a while in order to warm themselves up. Farmers, who were possibly "doing it tougher" than, say, railway employees, were allowed to come in at half time and half price to see the main movie.
In one of the regular police reports to T&PH; (11/2/38) on maintenance of the theatre, it was noted that movies were shown six days a week except for about seven times a year when dances or concerts were held (on single nights). In a note by George Laurantus, he says that the theatre is used for a Saturday matinee and every night.T&PH;, 8/10/38 With the Sunday Observance Act in operation at the time this would mean Monday to Saturday for showing films with perhaps a free event such as a concert by one of the church choirs on Sunday. Blanche Heffernan remembered that every church had a ball, the ambulance would present plays, Sorley's touring variety show would perform at the theatre, as too would McKays'. The locals put on The Mikado one year. As late as the 1960s, White Horse Inn was being performed for a three-night season.Junee: Speaking of the Past, Vol. 3: 144, 145 Of course during World War II, the only visual news was via the filmed newsreels, both Australian and International editions; there were also special advertising films and foyer posters to encourage patrons to buy War Bonds and War Savings Certificates; and there were the patriotic balls, concerts and competitions such as the Spitfire [fighter aircraft] Queen Competition of 1941, with its crowning ceremony at the Athenium Theatre.Junee: Speaking of the Past, Vol. 3: 192
The theatre was also used during the daytime, its flat floor in the stalls being suitable for dancing lessons. Blanche Heffernan taught ballet there two days a week until she married and moved to her husband's farm.
Since its opening George Laurantus had an eye for good publicity. Advertisements in the local newspaper became large with large type so they could not be missed. He would shift his programs to suit the films available and his audience. By the start of 1935 he was having a "bargain night on Monday with one program, a second program on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and a third program on Friday, Saturday. Each would be a double-bill feature program with newsreel, travelogue or carton, a serial for the weekend, and of course, trailers for coming attractions. All films were transhipped by train to and from different distributors, and to and from different towns, with about 50 percent coming from and being despatched back to Sydney. This meant receiving and despatching from Junee station some fifteen or sixteen films per week.
The Athenium had another link with the railway (apart from film delivery). In the Junee Southern Cross for 11 February 1935 there is an advertisement for the Junee Railway Jubilee Gala Performance for Wednesday 20th of that month. There was to be a film at 7:00pm, followed by presentation of service medals to railway employees by the Chief Commissioner of New South Wales Government Railways, then a concert and dancing until 1:00am the next morning. The last included the finals and judging of the National Dancing Competition. This six hour marathon concert illustrates how the Athenium Theatre doubled up as a town hall.
Picture theatres, in those times, did not possess their own candy bar. Often there would be a small shop in the theatre building that was a milk-bar, but this could rarely cater for the crowd that rushed out at interval between the two feature films. At Junee, Allan McEwan, Dal Eisenhauer and Blanche Heffernan remember how a few early exiting patrons would get into the small milk-bar in the shop next to the theatre lobby, but the great rush was across the two roadways and the garden strip to the Allies Cafe in the Broadway Stores building to get a milkshake, cordial drink, ice cream, a bar of chocolate or packet of Minties (no popcorn or coffees). Sensibly, the same Greek proprietor, from about 1935 Peter John Prineas of the island of Kythera assisted by his wife Nancy (nee MacDonald), ran both milk-bars, thus maximising his business.
George Laurantus renewed the licence in 1938, still a manager, but in September 1940, the renewal application is by Robert Tilby Begg as owner.T&PH;, 17/2/38, 8/10/38, 19/9/40 Upon calculating from the year of birth of his daughter and her age when she left Junee, the Laurantus family would have left the town around the end of 1939.Paula Tumley, formerly Laurantus, 31/8/03