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Dend
Hoy
Dendy Cinemasy Cinemas Newtown Hoytsts Newtown The Imperial HotelImperial Hotel
HoytsHoyts
Dendy CinemasDendy Cinemas
Imperial HotelImperial Hotel
which was demolished in 1902. Work started in 1959, with the long Art Deco frontage with shops and a café has a canopy the
demolition of the tram depot, to construct the building to the design length of it to shelter the queues for the theatre. A proud sign along
by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, which had won an International com- the top edge of the building proclaimed Vaudeville since 1908,
petition. Utzon resigned in February 1966 following various dis- which does not quite agree with the building date! The foyer con-
agreements and has never returned to Sydney. The building was tains a number of contemporary fixtures including a old mural adver-
completed although Utzon’s designs for the interiors were not used tising the concessions stand. Inside the auditorium, the Art Deco
and it was opened by HM Queen Elizabeth II on 20 October 1973. style is more evident with wall features and a most interesting ceil-
The famous ‘sails’, covered with over 1,000,000 specially-made ing – all still very well maintained.
Swedish tiles, enclose not only the Opera House with 1,547 seats Opposite Newtown Station, we continued our walk back up King
but also a 2,679-seat Concert Hall, three smaller theatre spaces Street and saw the Hub CinemaHub Cinema, closed in the late 1990s and later
Hub CinemaHub Cinema
(544, 398, 324 seats) and an exhibition hall. These spaces are free- briefly in use for live theatre. It closed in 2002 and remains unoccu-
standing within the outer shells of the roofs. Sadly rehearsals in pied. The next building that we reached was the Dendy CinemasDendy Cinemas, a
Dendy CinemasDendy Cinemas
some of the venues, including the Opera House itself, meant that we mid-1990s conversion of a supermarket to a two-screen cinema.
were unable to undertake a complete tour of the facility. We did Subsequently a further two screens have been added and is a popu-
however see the foyers, the magnificent Concert Hall and the Studio lar Art House venue. Although not on our itinerary, the management
Theatre before going outside into the blazing midday sun. were prevailed upon to give us a brief tour of the, typically modern

Enmore TheatreEnmore Theatre
The exterior of the Enmore TheatreEnmore Theatre The auditorium of the Enmore TheatreEnmore Theatre
Enmore TheatreEnmore Theatre
Taking to the trains again, we next travelled out to the Newtown multiplex, interior! Continuing along the street, we passed the for-
suburb to the South West of Sydney where, after a break for lunch, mer Hoyts NewtownHoyts Newtown, closed since 1959 and now a community cen-
Hoyts NewtownHoyts Newtown
Enmore TheatreEnmore Theatre
Trocadero Picture PalaceTrocadero Picture Palace
our first stop was at the Enmore TheatreEnmore Theatre. Originally built in 1921 on tre and the Trocadero Picture PalaceTrocadero Picture Palace, a building dating from 1888,
the site of a roofless tin-walled building that had been used for early which closed after three years as a cinema in 1916. After 62 years
film screening, this independent cinema was taken over by Hoyts in as a car body parts centre and 12 years as a furniture store, it re-
1927 and given an Art Deco ‘facelift’ in 1936 with 2,081 seats. It mains empty and unused although, when we saw it, it was covered
showed films until 1967, when it was only opening on three days a in scaffolding and some work seemed to be going on. Finally, gasp-
week and then lay dormant for two years. Renamed the Finos Thea-Finos Thea- ing for refreshment in the afternoon heat, we arrived at the day’s
Finos Thea-Finos Thea-
tre, Greek films were shown until 1984, after which it has become a last venue, The Imperial Hotel – although looking as if it could have
tre
tretre
rock concert and live show venue and reverted to its original name. been one, it was never a cinema; of course it is famous for its rôle in
Although the auditorium is angled slightly away from the road, the the 1994 film The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.
th
the Hayden Orpheum Picture Palacethe Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace
WEDNESDAY 1 MARCH 2006:EDNESDAY 1 MARCH 2006: the Hayden Orpheum Picture Palacee Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace. The quotation is from Ross
W
WEDNESDAY 1 MARCH 2006:WEDNESDAY 1 MARCH 2006:
N Thorne FRAIA, Professor of Architecture at Sydney University and
NORTHERN SUBURBS AND BEACHES DAYNORTHERN SUBURBS AND BEACHES DAY
NORTHERN SUBURBS AND BEACHES DAYORTHERN SUBURBS AND BEACHES DAY
OrpheumOrpheum
Another 8am start on a grey drizzly morning saw us boarding our author of a book Cinemas of Australia via USA. The OrpheumOrpheum was
Cremorne Theatre Cremorne Theatre
vintage double-decker bus for the trip to the North side of Sydney built on the site of the 1913 Cremorne Theatre Cremorne Theatre and opened on 3
Harbour. We were soon travelling over the Sydney Harbour Bridge October 1935 with 1,735 seats in stalls and balcony and with a fully
and getting a different perspective on the Opera HouseOpera House, where we equipped stage with fly-tower. The building was listed by the National
Opera HouseOpera House
were the day before. Our destination was the district of Cremorne, Trust in September 1977 although it had closed in June of that year.
home of “the finest example of an Art Deco cinema in Australia” – After sale at auction in 1979, the local Council opposed the use that
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