Australian minstrel and vaudeville entrepreneur, theatre owner, manager, producer, sports promoter.
Frank Smith initially rose to prominence in Sydney after buying the Burrangong Hotel in 1865. He expanded his business activities in 1878 by supervising Sunday entertainments at the Sir Joseph Banks Pavilion and Pleasure Grounds, Botany Bay. At that same venue in 1884 he also established the Sir Joseph Banks Handicap (possibly Sydney's first professional sprint race). The following year he converted the Haymarket Academy (located at the north-east corner of George and Campbell streets) into a variety theatre, which he renamed the Alhambra Music Hall. Although Isadore Brodsky (
Sydney Looks Back, 14-17) records that Smith had become involved with the Alhambra after being "written off at the Burrangong," newspaper advertisements for the Botany races indicate that he was still associated with the hotel up until at least September 1887. Under his management the Alhambra provided great opportunities for local performers, with most of the country's leading performers of the 1880s appearing there at some stage.
In 1886 Smith became the first lessee of the Royal Standard Theatre, opening with a season of drama by Alfred Dampier's company. He later presented a varying array of theatricals there, ranging from Shakespeare to minstrelsy. Smith's entrepreneurial effectively stopped due to financial losses incurred as a result of the 1890s depression (and particularly the 1893 banking crisis). Although he later attempted to reignite his career in July 1905 at Queen's Hall (Sydney) with the Star Vaudeville and Minstrel Company, that venture lasted only until December. His last known venture was a two months lease of Perth's Cremorne Theatre in 1910, at which time he presented his Travesty Stars company.
