[4][7] In response to an advertisement for a scene-painter in The Argus newspaper, Hennings took his sketches and samples of work to the Theatre Royal, but was told the vacancy had been filled.

[2][8] Know by the anglicised name of 'John', Hennings was next engaged by the theatrical entrepreneur George Coppin to join a team of scene-painters, under the supervision of William Pitt and Edward Opie, for the production of Azael, the Prodigal.

[9][10] In August 1856 Hennings was listed as one of three scenic artists under William Pitt's supervision, employed by Coppin for a two month "dramatic season" at Melbourne's Theatre Royal in Bourke Street, featuring "the celebrated tragedian", G. V. Brooke, "for a limited number of nights".

[11] In a March 1857 review of Moncrieff's drama The Cataract of the Ganges at the Theatre Royal, the writer praised the "scenic and processional effects" of the production, adding: "It is due to the stage manager, to the costumier, property maker, and Messrs Pitt and Henning, the scenic artists, to state that all these points have been reproduced on the stage of the Royal in a manner which would not disgrace any theatre".

The writer described how, with "a skilled arrangement" of columns in the foreground, "and the prolongation of the pillared avenue upon canvas, the spectator obtains an impression of vastness and is the victim of a very agreeable pictorial delusion".

The evening's entertainment included the Pride of the Market, featuring the Gougenheim sisters, as well as "a grand pictorial representation of the Indian War, and a tableau vivant painted and arranged" by Hennings.

[22] In September 1860 a German gymnasium was opened in Russell Street, with its interior decorated with four "large and beautiful" paintings by Hennings, "illustrative of the principal rivers of Germany".

[23] In late November 1860 a festival commemorating the birth of the German poet and dramatist Friedrich Schiller was held in a large hall in the Criterion Hotel.

The closing scene of the production featured an heroic painting commemorating the expedition led by Robert O'Hara Burke to cross the Australian continent.

[2][25] Within six years of his arrival in the colony of Victoria Hennings was widely recognised and popularly appreciated as an accomplished scenic artist, known for his attention to detail and skillful representation of perspective.

[25] Hennings growing prominence within the Melbourne theatre scene was further reinforced by the departure to Sydney in the early 1860s of the talented scenic artists, William J. Wilson and Alexander Habbe.

[1] In early July 1862 George Coppin opened the Apollo Music Hall, in the same building as the newly-constructed Haymarket Theatre on the south side of Bourke Street.

[29] Hennings produced new scenery for James Simmonds' production of The Enchantress (described as an "Operatic Spectacle") at the Royal Haymarket Theatre in March 1863.

[30] By July 1863 Hennings was engaged by the English actor Barry Sullivan to paint new scenery for his production of Shakespeare's As You Like It, which opened at the Theatre Royal on 1 August.

Three paintings by Hennings – 'Fruit Piece', 'View in North Germany' and 'Yarra Falls' – were included in the annual exhibition of the society which opened in March 1864 at Charles Summers' gallery in Collins Street.

The consortium (described in the press as "a commonwealth of actors") was made up of Hennings, J. C. Lambert, Charles Vincent, Henry R. Harwood, T. S. Bellair and Richard Stewart.

[40] The first production under the new management was a revival of Tom Taylor's drama, The Serf; or, Love Levels All, which opened in mid-February 1867, but the play closed after several weeks and was not considered a success.

[2] In November 1867 the city of Melbourne greeted the visit of Prince Alfred, the Duke of Edinburgh, with a spectacular night-time display, described in The Argus newspaper in the following terms: "it is the scene of a carnival... given over to rejoicings in transparencies, loyalty in fireworks, triumph in gaslight, and a vast and overwhelming mass of people in the streets".

[43] After Lambert returned to England in March 1868 and the death of Vincent two months later, the remaining consortium members, Harwood, Stewart and Hennings, joined with George Coppin as co-lessee's of the Theatre Royal.

Hennings contributed painted scenes to the 1870 Christmas pantomime, The Babes in the Wood, or Harlequin Robin Hood staged in the Prince of Wales Theatre in Sydney.

[47] With Hennings now free from his connection with the Royal he took his services to W. S. Lyster at the Princess's Theatre and began working on scenery for Offenbach's operas, Orphée aux enfers and Barbe-bleue.

A critic reviewing the production "emphasised the importance of Hennings' pictures over the inconsequential pantomime stories": "When in the enjoyment of this admirable array of pictures one felt most strongly how much the artist had supplanted the writer, with this as the result, that the attention of the audience is carried away from the action of a few odd and funny persons, and turned to the contemplation of scenes of beauty and grandeur which the painter has selected from nature's storehouse of wonders".

[2][55] The writer Marcus Clarke used Hennings as a model for his character of 'Vandyke Brown', the scene-painter, in 'Rehearsing a Pantomime', one of twelve satirical articles collectively titled 'The Wicked World' (serialised in The Weekly Times from January to April 1874).

[59] Hennings' dramatic visual imagination in the creation of backdrops, panoramas and transformation scenes for the annual Christmas pantomime in Melbourne were consistently popular and an integral part of each production and it become a tradition for the audience to call for the scenic artist's appearance on stage during the performances.

Hennings and his assistant John Little, with the theatre mechanic W. H. Scott, produced a range of backdrops and moving scenery, including the "grand transformation scene" presenting "The Apotheosis of Victoria's Progress in four Decades, from 1841 to 1881, from Chaos to Splendour".

[16] Williamson, Garner and Musgrove's 1886 Christmas pantomime of Robinson Crusoe, written and arranged by Alfred Maltby, opened at the Theatre Royal with the scenery for the production painted by both Hennings and a younger scenic artist, John Brunton, who had recently arrived from England.

[61] The scenery was described as being "of that high artistic character which compels admiration from all classes of playgoers, the patrons of the circle joining with the gallery boys in their enthusiastic applause".

[68][66][63] In June 1889 it was reported that Hennings "is rapidly recovering from his late severe attack of illness" and had commenced working, having just completed "an Italian Lake scene, with wings, etc."