The Tivoli Theatre was originally built as the Adams Bakery in 1927 and boasted having the finest gourmet cakes in Queensland. It was later used by the State Library to store rare books, but with Expo ’88 reverberating in the city, a new owner, Ann Gams transformed it into The Tivoli Restaurant and Theatre – modelled on the Paradis Latin in Paris (1803) one of the France’s most famous cabaret theatres and named after the original Tivoli Theate in the city that was demolished in 1965 to build King George Square. In 2016, the venue was purchased by brothers Steve and Dave Sleswick after being earmarked for development.
Today, The Tiv retains its stunning art deco features and old world charm and is widely considered to be one of the Australia’s most beautiful performance venues. It has played host to prolific Australian musical heroes such as Powderfinger, Nick Cave, Tina Arena, Missy Higgins, Paul Kelly and The Go-Betweens, along with major international artists such as Bob Dylan, Marianne Faithfull, Katy Perry, Lily Allen, Taylor Swift, PJ Harvey, Sigur Ros, Slash, Gene Simmons, Ben Folds, Sufjan Stevens and Rodriguez (just to name a few…)
The Tivoli continues to create history with a decadent program of local and international work.
Tour Information
Frequency of Guided Tours: Guided tours with a member of staff, departing approximately every half an hour. Please meet in front of the small stage and speak to staff about a tour.
Wheelchair access
Limited
Is Heritage listed
Yes