Gaiety Theatre, Zeehan

The theatre had a seating capacity for over 1,000 patrons with a large stage measuring 15 by 12 metres (48 ft × 38 ft).[2] The Gaiety was used for regular touring company performances by J.C. Williamson Ltd, as well as live music, bioscopes, films, and sporting events such as wrestling[10] and gymnastics.[11] In 1899, American actor Grattan Riggs collapsed after a performance at the Gaiety and later died at the Strahan Hospital.[12][13] Film director, producer, and exhibitor F. W. Thring honed his skills as an elocutionist and actor at the Gaiety.[14][15] Thring would go on to start Biograph Pictures Co in Tasmania in 1911, before founding Efftee Studios in Melbourne in 1931.[16] Merchant E.J. Miller, who made his fortune on the Zeehan mineral field, witnessed the rising popularity of the first silent films in vaudeville programming at the Gaiety Theatre and nearby Theatre Royal, which would later influence him to build The Strand in Hobart.[17] The Story of the Kelly Gang, the world's first feature-length film, screened during its initial run at the Gaiety in May, 1907.[18][19] In 1910, Corrick Family Entertainers premiered Leonard Corrick's Leonard’s Beautiful Pictures at the Gaiety as part of their travelling program. A newly digitised version by the National Film and Sound Archive was projected at the Gaiety as part of the Ten Days on the Island festival in 2021.[20][21]

The theatre lays to many contentious claims, such as being Australia's largest concert hall at time of construction, as well as whether-or-not tenor Enrico Caruso, Nellie Melba or Houdini performed at the theatre.[6][8][9]

The Grand Hotel commanded city hotel rates (ten shillings per day) and offered modern luxuries.[22] The hotel safe was robbed in 1910.[23] The economic downturn in Zeehan following the First World War left many businesses in decline and buildings left to decay. In 1935, the Grand Hotel was able to resume trading after "improvements demanded by the police" were deemed satisfactory.[24]

Throughout the 40s and 50s, the theatre hosted dancing lessons and community meetings.[25] In the 1980s, the hotel fell into disuse and the theatre was used for basketball games.[6] In 2000, Carlene Vickers from "Friends of the Gaiety" became a Local Hero finalist in the Tasmanian Australian of the Year Awards when the society managed to raise $120,000 for restoration works.[26] The original theatre seats, dating back to 1910, were being used by the Ulverstone Jehovah's Witness congregation. They were refitted into the Gaiety as part of the theatre's restoration.[27] The Gaiety officially reopened in April 2006.[26]