Bijou Theatre
2 Rowntree Street,
Sydney,
NSW
2041
2 Rowntree Street,
Sydney,
NSW
2041
2 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Hoyts Theatres
Functions: Housing
Styles: Art Deco
Previous Names: National Theatre, Balmain Theatre, Hoyts Balmain Theatre
Nearby Theaters
Located in the west Sydney suburb of Balmain. The National Theatre was opened as a live theatre/music hall in January 1912. Eventually cinema use came and it was taken over by Hoyts Theatres chain in the late-1920’s, and was renamed Hoyts Balmain Theatre. Remodeled in 1936, in an Art Deco Style.
It was closed in 1964 and became an auction house. Re-opened as an independent Bijou Cinema in 1974, and went back to live theatre with some cinema use until 1980.
In the late-1990’s, it was converted into apartments, known as ‘The Bijou’.
Contributed by
Ken Roe
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Recent comments (view all 1 comments)
It was getting pretty poor crowds (at the kid’s Saturday Matinee at least) by 1964. Understandable when they were still dishing up 50’s B grade schlock such as “The Purple Mask”, though the old girl got some full houses and rocked just before it closed when The Beatles “A Hard Day’s Night” screened. Before an auction house, it re-opened in 1965 as a live music venue called Havana Village. It was along the lines of Surf City at Kings Cross, and featured acts such as The Easybeats, Aztecs etc. My late father said in his day, a challenge for kids was to “Climb the Giant’s Bum”, which entailed climbing a vertical steel maintenance ladder located on the side of the building reaching from the ground to the roof.