Thank you for that info barth!
I personally don’t care if they build a hotel. The Regent is only a foyer, the theatre was destroyed in 1978, what was built to replace the auditorium deserves to be destroyed, it’s a travesty. I stopped supporting Hoyts after they showed no respect for a landmark. As a hotel at least the foyer will lead to something other than the hideous cinemas it presently does. Basically, if you are interested in heritage, you don’t visit Brisbane, it has no heart or soul. The only major Victorian era building is a casino, kind of says it all. If you want to see majestic theatres go to Melbourne and Adelaide, Brisbane has only one left and it’s been an antiques shop for 30 years..
If anyone has any information about this theatre, please share it. Brisbane is devoid of any Picture Palaces except for this survivor and so it is the most important theatre in the city. If it is lost, it will leave the city as the only one in Australia that has no original 1920s movie houses. Even Toowoomba has the Empire!
One of the most beautiful theatres in Australia, the Brisbane Regent, and Australia’s first Picture palace The Wintergarden (only Brisbane would destroy the first ever built for the sake of a shopping complex), are gone thanks to Brisbane apathy, don’t lose the last one.
In 1980 I was a drama student at Uni in Toowoomba and saw the inside of this theatre prior to any talk of restoration. I never thought it would ever be resurrected from the outrageous vandalism it had been subjected to during the time it sat silent. Anything within arms reach had been ripped up and smashed, the ceiling had huge gaps and 2 feet of rubble covered all floor space. In what had once been the main foyer, an enormous poster of Gone With the Wind framed in hundreds of gold-leafed cardboard crescents had been reduced to a barely legible image, only 3 or 4 crescents remained. A wall of original Coca-Cola mirrors, that had once decorated the refreshments area, were now only jagged bits of glass. The building looked in the last throws of death. I am yet to see the restoration except in pictures, but it’s a miracle that this art deco wonder rose again
I saw Cinema Paradiso during it’s original run at this theatre, and I can’t think of a more perfect setting for this or any other film. It’s like being transported to the golden age of cinema. It’s still operating, has a genuine widescreen at 19 metres wide, and 70mm projection equipment. The constantly changing “double features”, are perfect for anyone wanting to see a mix of the old and new, print quality is stated with the best copy available being played. As someone who has lost interest in the modern cinema experience, the Astor is the last bastion of a “night at the flicks” for me.
Even with the stalls removed and the floor raised, this is still the most impressive Picture Palace and worth a visit to Melbourne Australia. No photograph can begin to capture the astonishment you feel when first seeing that ceiling for real. I have faith that it will again sparkle as it once did, Melbourne has a better track record for theatre restoration than the other cities of Australia, especially Brisbane which has none.
Thank you for that info barth!
I personally don’t care if they build a hotel. The Regent is only a foyer, the theatre was destroyed in 1978, what was built to replace the auditorium deserves to be destroyed, it’s a travesty. I stopped supporting Hoyts after they showed no respect for a landmark. As a hotel at least the foyer will lead to something other than the hideous cinemas it presently does. Basically, if you are interested in heritage, you don’t visit Brisbane, it has no heart or soul. The only major Victorian era building is a casino, kind of says it all. If you want to see majestic theatres go to Melbourne and Adelaide, Brisbane has only one left and it’s been an antiques shop for 30 years..
If anyone has any information about this theatre, please share it. Brisbane is devoid of any Picture Palaces except for this survivor and so it is the most important theatre in the city. If it is lost, it will leave the city as the only one in Australia that has no original 1920s movie houses. Even Toowoomba has the Empire!
One of the most beautiful theatres in Australia, the Brisbane Regent, and Australia’s first Picture palace The Wintergarden (only Brisbane would destroy the first ever built for the sake of a shopping complex), are gone thanks to Brisbane apathy, don’t lose the last one.
In 1980 I was a drama student at Uni in Toowoomba and saw the inside of this theatre prior to any talk of restoration. I never thought it would ever be resurrected from the outrageous vandalism it had been subjected to during the time it sat silent. Anything within arms reach had been ripped up and smashed, the ceiling had huge gaps and 2 feet of rubble covered all floor space. In what had once been the main foyer, an enormous poster of Gone With the Wind framed in hundreds of gold-leafed cardboard crescents had been reduced to a barely legible image, only 3 or 4 crescents remained. A wall of original Coca-Cola mirrors, that had once decorated the refreshments area, were now only jagged bits of glass. The building looked in the last throws of death. I am yet to see the restoration except in pictures, but it’s a miracle that this art deco wonder rose again
I saw Cinema Paradiso during it’s original run at this theatre, and I can’t think of a more perfect setting for this or any other film. It’s like being transported to the golden age of cinema. It’s still operating, has a genuine widescreen at 19 metres wide, and 70mm projection equipment. The constantly changing “double features”, are perfect for anyone wanting to see a mix of the old and new, print quality is stated with the best copy available being played. As someone who has lost interest in the modern cinema experience, the Astor is the last bastion of a “night at the flicks” for me.
Even with the stalls removed and the floor raised, this is still the most impressive Picture Palace and worth a visit to Melbourne Australia. No photograph can begin to capture the astonishment you feel when first seeing that ceiling for real. I have faith that it will again sparkle as it once did, Melbourne has a better track record for theatre restoration than the other cities of Australia, especially Brisbane which has none.
I have 44 pictures of the theatre’s interior, including the original auditorium and stalls, in a zip file if anyone is interested. .au