Civic Theatre

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Taken on: September 13, 2022

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Civic Theatre Auckland, New Zealand in 1957

Photo by Archives New Zealand

The Civic Theatre in Auckland, New Zealand first opened its doors to the public on 20 December 1929. It was specifically designed as a ‘movie palace’ for talking pictures (‘talkies’), which had just been introduced into New Zealand. The theatre was the creation of Thomas O'Brien, who had in 1928 opened Dunedin’s successful Moorish-style Empire De Luxe Theatre. Because of this success O'Brien then managed to persuade a group of wealthy Auckland businessmen to build the cinema theatre in Queen Street, and also managed to secure a NZ$180,000 loan from the Bank of New Zealand, although eventual costs saw the figure balloon to over NZ$200,000, equivalent to around NZ$19 million in today’s money. Thomas O’Brien had toured extensively in many countries to observe cinema architecture before employing Melbourne architects Bohringer, Taylor and Johnson to design the Civic. They were already well known for the theatres that they had designed in Australia, but today the Civic in Auckland remains the only example of their work with an intact auditorium. The interior’s memorable design features include the theatrical night sky, the grand stage with its minarets, grand proscenium arch, decorative panthers and elephants, and its foyer with Indian inspired motifs which include Buddha’s, twisted columns and a domed ceiling.

The theatre did not do as well as expected when first opened and with the great depression in full swing audience attendance was disappointing. O'Brien also didn’t help with his insistence on showing British rather than the more popular American films, and he eventually became bankrupt. The theatre has survived many proposals for its demolition and has been through several modifications during the last seven decades. The theatre was eventually restored to very near its original design in the late 1990s and remains one of the few remaining Atmospheric Theatres in the world. The restoration provided the opportunity to convert to live theatre capacity and upgrade to modern movie technology. As a result the Civic has become a popular venue for major touring shows while once again providing Auckland’s most sumptuous cinema experience.

The theatre also gained some fame by being used for the scenes representing a New York theatre called ‘The Alhambra’, in Peter Jackson’s ‘King Kong’ remake in 2005. www.civictheatre.co.nz/ The above image is from the National Publicity Studios Collection at Archives New Zealand and shows the interior of the Civic Theatre taken in 1957, photographer Mr. Burns. Archives New Zealand Reference: AAQT 6401 W3537 Box 27 / A51151 collections.archives.govt.nz/web/arena/search#/?q=21435080 For updates on our On This Day series and news from Archives New Zealand, follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/ArchivesNZ Material from Archives New Zealand.

Contributed by Greg Lynch -