THE NEW OPERA HOUSE, WELLINGTON.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5701, 19 August 1886, Page 3

THE NEW OPERA HOUSE, WELLINGTON.

Very B&fcJeSactory progress is being made by Mr James- SJansom with the contract for the erectiom of the stage portion of the Opera House, and it is expected that the work will be- out of his hands in about three weeks. As our readers are aware, the first contract, which - comprised the whole building, with the exception of the stage portion, has been completed for sometime, and one of the Bhops in Manners street has been open for the past few weeks, having been leased by a fruiterer. Mr Willis, the well-known scenic artist, has arrived from Tasmania for the purpose of consulting with the Directors of the Company in reference to the painting of the scenery and the decoration of the proscenium, and has been entrusted with the work, and Mr Hyder has been engaged to carry out the mechanical arrangements. Mr Neville Thornton, whose skill with the brush is well known, is now engaged with some others in decorating the social-room at the entrance to the dress-circle, and good progress has already been made with the work, which ia being done under the supervision of Mr Chatfield, the architect of the building. A walk over the premises (the Post says) cannot fail to convince the visitor that the Company have left nothing undone to minister to the comfort and convenience of the public, and from what we can gather the Opera House will be unsurpassed in the Colonies in these respects. The Theatre will probably be opened in November next. It is to be hoped that those who have had the enterprise to erect it will never have cause to regret the undertaking, but will find the investment a highly profitable one.