Cabaret season in full swing to celebrate Auckland Civic Theatre's 90th birthday

Around 2000 people worked on the building, which was completed in nine months in 1929.

The Auckland Civic Theatre's celebrating its 90th birthday this week with a special cabaret season to mark the occasion.

Built in 1929 on the verge of the Great Depression, Queen Street was lined with men looking for jobs. As soon as one man was unable to work on the Civic Theatre construction, another took over.

Around 2000 people worked on the building, which saw it completed in a speedy nine months.

Its interior was inspired by a Moorish outdoor north African setting. Golden elephants, lions, dragons and horses line the walls and ceilings.

Auckland Live director Robbie Macrae has seen the Civic host many shows and says its 90th birthday is a success.

"The Civic Theatre is unlike anything else in New Zealand," he said. "It's a soft top theatre, where you have twinkly stars in what looks like an open sky on the ceiling, and underneath are all these hidden doors with special rooms.

"During the second World War down in the Wintergarden where it was dimly-lit and smoky, all the servicemen would come to watch Freda Stark."

Freda Stark was the Civic's showgirl queen, renowned for dancing on stage clad only in gold paint and a feather in her hair.

But scandal struck the theatre community when the orchestra's conductor killed his wife after she allegedly had an affair with Stark.

Many performers in the cabaret today find Ms Stark's story an inspiration, including Reuben Kaye, the face of this year's Auckland Cabaret Festival.

"She's an idol," Mr Kaye said. "Freda Stark, this incredible rumoured lesbian, shielded in mystery, involved in an amazing, jaw-dropping, nail-biting murder trial. And to think that even through that murder trial she maintained her position as one of the star dances at the Civic."

Mr Kaye says there's a misconception that drag performance have only surfaced in recent years. He says it's people like Ms Stark who started it, but it was eventually covered over the years by homophobic attitudes.

"For me as a queer person, to find someone who can through so much with an absolutely unshakable core of themselves and come out the other end successful, that's the kind of queer idol we need."

Several cabaret performances are being held inside the Civic Theatre until the end of the week.

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