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The Sydney Town Hall Sydney Town Hall organ The StateState TheatreTheatre exterior The auditorium of the StateState
StateState TheatreTheatre
StateState
Sydney Town Hall Sydney Town Hall
When we had eventu-
ally been persuaded to
leave this stunning
theatre, we were led
down into the base-
ment to the former
State Newsreel
State Newsreel Thea-State Newsreel Thea-
State Newsreel Thea- Thea-
trette. The 237-seat
trettetrette
trette
news theatre opened in
December 1931 and
operated as such until
28 March 1969. Drop-
ping “Newsreel” from
its name, it reopened
the following day with
the German ‘sex educa-
tion’ film Helga; it con-
tinued with similar fare
until March 1979. After
State TheatreState Theatre
The proscenium of the State TheatreState Theatre two weeks closure for
feet wide and 65 feet high, known as the Grand Assembly, with mar- redecoration, it re-
State TheatreState Theatre
ble staircases on both sides leading up to the dress circle. From the The State TheatreState Theatre rotunda opened on 12 April as
State Art Cinema State Art Cinema
dome of the rotunda hangs a huge chandelier. The mezzanine foyer the State Art Cinema State Art Cinema
leads off ahead and stairs lead down to the stalls, which are below becoming State d in 1980 and closing finally on 18 March 1987. It
street level. The auditorium, predominantly red and gold, has a cof- seems to have been stripped out in around 1989 but the basement
fered ceiling with a central dome covered in gold leaf and containing area has recently undergone significant restoration and now accom-
a 3½ ton chandelier, the largest of the thirteen to be seen here. The modates the Statements Lounge and Bar, two function rooms
proscenium arch, with an opening of 38 feet, is topped by a massive (known as State 1 and State 2) and a private state-of-the-art 56-seat
crown and encloses a fully-equipped stage with a plush red house theatrette called the Reel RoomReel Room. Adjacent to the theatre, the State
Reel RoomReel Room
curtain decorated with humming birds and golden fronds. The 4- office block has an entrance way and lift lobby that replicate the
manual, 21-rank Wurlitzer organ is the only one in Australia still in its style of the theatre itself.
original location. The theatre is now mainly used for live theatre but By now in need of sustenance the group disbanded but reconvened
still shows film occasionally and is the venue for the first and last at 7pm in the StateState auditorium for a slide presentation and talk by
StateState
nights of the Sydney Film Festival. Les Tod, a local Cinema Historian and Author.

TUESDAY 28 FEB 2006:SDAY 28 FEB 2006:
TUESDAY 28 FEB 2006:TUESDAY 28 FEB 2006:
TUE
A MORNING AT THE OPERA AND A NEWTOWN WALK MORNING AT THE OPERA AND A NEWTOWN WALK
A MORNING AT THE OPERA AND A NEWTOWN WALKA MORNING AT THE OPERA AND A NEWTOWN WALK
A
Meeting again outside the hotel, the group walked the few minutes
to Sydney Central Station and purchased A$15 CityRail Day Tripper
passes for our day’s excursions. Our first destination was what is
probably the best known Opera House in the world and an icon for

Sydney Opera HouseSydney Opera House
The concert hall in the Sydney Opera HouseSydney Opera House
Sydney and Australia. The Sydney Opera House Sydney Opera House is on Bennelong
Sydney Opera House Sydney Opera House
Point at the entrance to Sydney Harbour and was built on the site of
Sydney Opera HouseSydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera HouseSydney Opera House a former tram depot, itself occupying the site of Fort Macquaria,
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