Regent Theatre

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Uploaded on: May 18, 2021

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When Dale Turnbull took the reins of Hoyts from his father in August 1963, he no doubt had a few ideas about how the company could stay in business. Multiplex cinemas in Melbourne and later Sydney were successful projects. In 1964 the company experimented with live theater – a partnership with impresario Tibor Rudas (later to gain world fame presenting ‘The Three Tenors’). Both the Sydney and Melbourne Regents had featured live elements to their early film programming, but “This Is Paris” - a collection of specialty acts - was their first completely live show (and featured semi-nude showgirls appearing in the side boxes!) Following a fixed five week run in Sydney from 24th July 1964, the production moved to Melbourne for a further five weeks. After the show closed there, Hoyts never entered into any further live joint ventures. Rudas later leased the Sydney Regent for live productions of “Snow White” and “The Wizard of Oz”.