Sydneys Theatre Beautiful. The extravagant picture palaces that animated the city in the sweet and twenties were positively vulgar compared to the elegance of the Prince Edward. The Theatre Beautiful, almost opposite the Hotel Australia in Castlereagh Street, extended through to Elizabeth Street and was an eloquent salute to the silent movie era (talkies were three years away) when it opened on Saturday,22 November 1924 with Cecil B. De Milles Ten Commandments. Half of Sydneys population attended during the films record three year run. It wasnt just the movie, it was the full 21 piece orchestra, raised and lowered on a hydraulic platform, and the Wurlitzer organ, worth 10,000 Pounds, that rose, with a musical gasp, from the stage depths. Whereas the atmospheric cinemas sought to create the illusion of being in the open air, generous sprays of flowers, fresh from the markets, turned the chandelier-lit foyer into an enchanted grotto reverberating with the splash of the marble fountain. The plush auditorium with 1500 seats, upholstered in blue, rivalled those of a luxury hotel. In 1964 rumours the Prince Edward had been sold to a developer were sadly confirmed. The final presentation was Tolstoys War and Peace starring Audrey Hepburn and Henry Fonda on Saturday evening. 4 December 1965. Ironically the theatre just concluded its best box office year ever. The appearance of high-rise office blocks where the Price Edward and the Hotel Australia once stood robbed that end of town of its sparkle. The photo shows the Prince Edward in 1964. [story and photo from the book Pictorial History - City of Sydney by Alan Sharpe]
Posted on: Sun, 09 Nov 2014 04:44:43 +0000
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