Rosebud’s historic Broadway Theatre set for revival

Rosebud’s historic Broadway Theatre set for revival — providing a bold new model for sustainable arts spaces

An almost-forgotten century-old Art Deco theatre on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula is poised for a remarkable second act.

The Broadway Theatre, an Art Deco landmark that opened in 1928, is being restored as a multi-purpose creative hub — part performance venue, part learning space, and part experiment in sustainable, community-led arts practice.

The transformation, led by Barnacle Studios founders Sally Baillieu, Max Johnson and Anthony Pope, will see the Broadway reborn as:

• A professional space for live performance, theatre and music
• A gallery and exhibition venue for local and visiting artists
• Rehearsal, mentorship and education facilities for youth and emerging creatives
• A community hub for cultural exchange and local gatherings

Co-founder Sally Baillieu:

This isn’t just a renovation — it’s a reinvention of what a regional arts space can be.

We’re restoring the Broadway with the very people who’ll use it, perform in it, and make it their creative home. It’s a community-built stage for brave ideas.

The project is developing partnerships with local learning networks to create direct pathways between education, creative industries and local employment — a model that aims to make the arts viable beyond metropolitan centres.

 

 

To complete the restoration and bring the theatre to full operational capacity, $250,000 in seed funding is now being sought. Once this target is reached, the Broadway will become financially self-sufficient, generating its own income through programming, venue hire and partnerships — offering a new model for how regional arts organisations can sustain themselves without ongoing subsidy.

Co-director Max Johnson, who grew up in Rosebud:

It’s about reimagining cultural infrastructure from the ground up.

Once we’ve completed this final stage, the Broadway will stand on its own feet — a self-sustaining arts space driven by local creativity and community energy.

The building’s history mirrors the social life of 20th-century Australia: a silent picture house with its own orchestra pit and exceptional acoustics; a wartime dancehall popular with American soldiers a rock venue that once hosted a young John Farnham; and later, a discotheque and music shop.

Now, almost a century later, the Broadway is being prepared to shine again.

Already home to the Dreamhouse Theatre Company, which premiered a new work in August, the venue has begun hosting performances, workshops and community events in an early glimpse of what’s to come.

Barnacle Studios has a long-term lease on The Broadway from the Whitaker family, who have been part of the Mornington Peninsula’s entertainment story for generations. Paul Whitaker, whose father Frank founded the original cinema, still operates the Dromana Drive-In (one of only two drive-in cinemas still operating in Victoria) maintaining a proud local legacy of film and storytelling.

Tax-deductible donations to help restore and revive the Broadway Theatre can be made through a fundraising page via The Australian Cultural Fund.

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