Star in the East Amphitheatre

Helen Bendall December 29, 2022 Accommodation, History, Oriana Blog

I thought some of you may be intrigued as to the story behind one of the most interesting buildings that once dominated the foreshore of Balmoral.

Just two doors along from The Oriana stands a red brick block of units, built between 1951 to 1953. However, on the site it now occupies, previously stood one of the more unusual buildings in Sydney – the Star in the East Amphitheatre, built in 1923-4 by an offshoot of the international Theosophist Organisation, with an exotic vision. The Star in the East Order believed that members would witness the Second Coming of the Messiah and raised money for the venture by selling 25 year leases for seating, amongst others means, to build an amphitheatre on the foreshores of Edward’s Beach Balmoral.

It contained semicircular concrete tiers capable of seating 2000 people, standing room for another thousand and a chapel, library, meeting halls and tea-room.

The Order of the Star in the East had been established to prepare the way for a new “World Teacher” who would use the amphitheatre to address his audience. This teacher, Jiddu Krishnamurti had been found as a young boy in 1909 by Charles Leadbeater, who claimed psychic powers. He was convinced that the boy had a divine aura. Leadbetter later was to become the Bishop of the Liberal Catholic Church in Sydney.

Thousands gathered at the amphitheatre and along the beach in 1926 waiting eagerly for the Messiah’s arrival– the expectation heightened with stories abounding that the Messiah was to walk through the Heads. They were to be disappointed and disillusioned that the ship he was on, merely berthed as usual at a Sydney wharf. The “Star” had lost its brightness!

Krishnamurti only spoke on one occasion at the Amphitheatre and subsequently left for California. Three years later he rejected this role as the messiah. He died in 1994 at the age of 90.

The Order came under financial difficulties in 1931 as contributions waned in the height of the depression. The amphitheatre, which had dominated the landscape of Edward’s Beach, Balmoral for around 30 years, was firstly sold to an entrepreneur who used it for vaudeville and other live performances as well as installing a mini-golf course on the roof. The Catholic Church bought it in 1936 and then re-sold it in 1950. The Star in the East Amphitheatre was demolished and was replaced with the current block of units.

On the beach wall in front of the units there is a small plaque commemorating the history.