Yaumati Theatre
Waterloo Road,,
Yaumati,
Hong Kong
Waterloo Road,,
Yaumati,
Hong Kong
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The Yaumati Theatre is the only pre-World War II theatre building remaining in Hong Kong. It is situated in the Yaumati district on the Kowloon side of Hong Kong. The theatre opened to business on 21st June, 1930. Before the outbreak of war on 8th December, 1941, it showed Chinese dialect and selected English language films.
During the war years, only films censored by the Japanese Army could be shown. After the suspension of electricity on 20th August, 1944, the theatre closed its doors.
The theatre reopened at an unknown date after the end of WWII. In the 1950’s, the theatre was managed by Shaw and Sons Limited. It was a neighbourhood cinema, and showed first run Chinese dialect and selected English films until 1987. From 1988 until its closure on 31th July, 1998, it showed pornographic films.
The theatre was classified as a “Grade II Building” by the Hong Kong Government. From a press release issued by the Government on 18th April, 2007: “The government is planning to convert the former Yaumati Theatre into a Cantonese opera centre, and the project concerned is expected to commence in 2008 for completion in 2010.”
A re-opening date has been set for July 2012.
Contributed by
Raymond Lo
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Recent comments (view all 12 comments)
The building of the Yaumati Theatre was completed in 1930.
Here is what this building looked like before it was “cleaned up”. This is a more recent photo.
During the war years, the theatre also was a venue for stage performances.
As of March 2010, the cinema is under extensive renovation to be converted into a 300-seat Cantonese opera centre.
corrected now… it took me minutes to drive Google earth from Kowloon Tong to Yaumati.
Chinese name:油麻地戲院.
According to one source, the theatre will be re-opened in 2012 after extensive renovation as a Cantonese opera theatre.
The renovation of the theatre has been completed and will be officially opened in July, 2012 as a Cantonese opera theatre.
According to an article published by the Chinese language newspaper Ming Pao on 22nd April,2012, the exact opening date of the theatre should be 21st June,1930.
Just found a document for the theatre during the renovation project. http://www.amo.gov.hk/form/YMTT_RBB_HIA%20Report.pdf
For those who are not familiar with Hong Kong, this is a great reading, not only about the history of this cinema but also some background about the culture of the city. Fascinating.