The St. James has had a long history, with its success in its early years, a near demolition in the 1980s and to its return to the city's cultural light in the late 1990s. The theatre's land had been used as a church and volunteer hall prior to it being bought by the famous entertainer
John Fuller on 23 December 1899. The St. James was made famous by Fuller, who had also built over 60 other theatres in New Zealand. He revamped the hall in 1903 and named it "His Majesty's Theatre", or nicknamed "Fuller's". During its use, the hall was host to
pantomimes and a
Cleopatra act, which involved the first and last import of snakes into New Zealand. However,
opera of any kind was seldom allowed by Fuller, who usually directed any opera show to Wellington's
Opera House down the road. Fuller used the old hall until November 1911, when it was eventually declared a fire hazard and demolished. During the new theatre's first months, it was used primarily to play silent movies. The St. James was changed nine months later to present live performances. However, in 1930, after 17 years, it was again converted back to playing both movies and occasional live performances. This was after the St. James's lifelong opposition,
the Opera House, began screening movies. After this change to the "talking films" or "flicks", on 3 May 1930, His Majesty's was closed and reopened as the St. James Theatre. Over the years, the St. James was slowly brought back to showing live performances. Many shows were performed at the venue; everything from
Shakespeare, to
minstrel acts to
ballet. After Fuller died, the St. James passed through numerous owners. Other ghost stories refer to the "Wailing Woman", supposedly the ghost of an actress who committed suicide after she was booed off the stage at her comeback performance, a boys choir that was lost at sea, and Stan Andrews, a former manager who died in 1965. The Jimmy café closed in 2016 and was replaced by a Mojo café. The
2016 Kaikōura earthquake that damaged several buildings in Wellington brought forward earthquake strengthening plans in the city, and work began on the theatre in April 2018. The theatre reopened in June 2022. ==Events held==