Capitol Theatre
William Street,
Perth,
WA
William Street,
Perth,
WA
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Early photo of the magnificent Captitol
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And what they replaced it with :(
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Links to photographs of Perth’s magnificient Capitol Theatre, sadly demolished:
CAPITOL THEATRE, WILLIAM STREET, PERTH
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CAPITOL THEATRE, PERTH – AERIAL VIEW (THE THEATRE IS NEAR THE BOTTOM RIGHT OF THE IMAGE)
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One of the many beautiful features of Perth’s Capitol Theatre was the magnificient art nouveau stencil work in the lounge foyer and the upper crush area, argually the finest such decoration in Australia at the time. Also notable in the lounge foyer was a bust of Rudolph Valentino, placed on an elegant plinth. Reputedly, Valentino’s lips were constantly red with the adoring but heartbroken kisses of his Perth fans. The bust is today part of the WA Performing Arts Museum collection at His Majesty’s Theatre.
The demolition of The Capitol rates as one of the major (of many) heritage crimes committed in Perth during the 1960s and 70s. Its principal designer, George Temple Poole, was WA’s greatest architect – and Western Australia’s premier architecture award is named in his honour. Ross Thorne in PICTURE PALACE ARCHITURE IN AUSTRALIA (Sun Books, 1976) states that Poole & Mouritzen “achieved a most remarkable design that should never been allowed to disappear … [its] decoration contained the essence of real art. The auditorium was a noble space, and the foyers and lounge lobbies were ingenious in decoration. Instead of moulded plaster, the architects decided to use paint. The flat wall, square column faces and ceiling panels were vividly decorated in patterns, panels and leafy murals” (p. 23).
As a live theatre, its stage was graced by some of the 20th century’s legendary performers, including Noel Coward, Vivien Leigh and Sir Lawrence Olivier.
Barry in Perth