Built in 1879 on land owned by I. J. Josephson and opened as '''Kelly and Leon's Opera House''' for the New York minstrel company of drag performers Edwin Kelly and
Francis Leon, it was situated on
King Street near the
York Street intersection; a number of smaller buildings at the corner of
Pitt Street and York Street being demolished to make way for the grand building. The architects were
Backhouse & Sons. When Kelly and Leon's lease expired in 1880, their name was dropped and the venue was advertised for lease. It reopened as "Sydney Opera House" in September 1880 and for much of the 1880s was under the management of
W. J. Wilson, who was joined by
Eduardo Majeroni in 1884. Construction on the
Grace Building started at the site in 1928. Some successes were: •
The Doctor of Alcantara, played by Kelly and Leon 1879–1880 • ''The Guv'nor
and Chawles'' played by Fred Marshall's Comedy Company •
Boccaccio played by Emilie Melville's Opera Company •
Il trovatore and
Mignon played by The
Montague Turner Company. •
Patience played by the Royal Comic Opera Co. •
The Strategist and
The Candidate played by the Polks •
Manola,
Les Manteaux Noirs, and ''The King's Dragoons'' played by the Dunning Opera Co. •
Diplomacy,
The Woman in White, and
The Squire played by
Wybert Reeve in 1883 •
The Country Girl,
The Busybody, and
The School for Scandal played by Marie de Grey in 1884 •
Jo and
The Grasshopper played by
Jennie Lee •
Mammon, ''The Queen's Favorite
, and Forget-Me-Not'', played by Genevieve Ward, W. H. Vernon and Roland Watts-Phillips in 1885 •
The Life of an Actress,
George W. Anson •
Jem the Penman, Harry St. Maur and Agnes Thomas in 1886 •
My Sweetheart played by
Minnie Palmer •
Ingomar and
Romeo and Juliet played by
Essie Jenyns •
Hide and Seek played by Walter Craven in 1887 •
Fedora and
Marie Antoinette played by The Majeronis
Fayette, a new opera due to open on 17 February 1900, never opened. == Notes ==