Gee, you're bringing back a lot of memories for me, Sue. I left Sydney in the late 60s to study and was away from the city for a time, but I did do a lot of living before moving away. I didn't return until the 70s were upon us, when I met my to-be partner, George (Royal Australian Navy - coincidence), and disappeared back into the suburbs for 15 years with him. But I managed to do a lot of living before that happened. And it was the best time to be alive in Sydney, when I was young and, yes, as you say, the Cross didn't seem so seedy.
I got to know the Metro Theatre very well because I saw "Hair" several times there. And just opposite the Metro, in Orwell Street, there was a little coffee shop that was so tiny, I swear it could only seat about 10 people (or so I recall), but they somehow managed to squeeze about 50 people in there! And it only started to fill-up after midnight. All the bohemian and gay crowd went there in the 60s. There was a pocket handkerchief sized kitchen and they somehow managed to produce the best meals, which me and my friends would devour - we'd just spent hours on the dance floor at the Aquarius Club in Darlinghurst Road and were really hungry by the time we got to Orwell Street at 2 a.m.!
The Aquarius Club held exclusively gay dances in the Jewish Macobean Centre up near St Vincent's Hospital. They used to get big name rock/pop bands there. Zoot used to play there quite often. After the dance, we'd walk (roll?!) along Darlinghurst Road, a group of us arm-in-arm, shrieking and giggling, en route to Orwell Street. We'd often pass policemen along the way, doing the beat, but they'd only ever smile and tip their caps at us, as if to say "Evening girls!" They never harassed us. It was a more innocent time. Party drugs were unknown back then. Crikey, my friends and I didn't even smoke. We did enjoy a drink, though!
I do indeed remember "Jesus Christ, Superstar." I loved that show. I saw it a couple of times in the 70s. It had a long run in Sydney. It was on at the Capital Theatre in Haymarket, a fabulously ornate, grand old theatre in high Baroque/Rococo style. A beautiful theatre.