Sydney Architecture Images- Capitol Theatre

Sydney Architecture Images- Central Business District

Capitol Theatre

architect

New Belmore Markets 1892-3 George McRae
Hippodrome Theatre 1913-16 R.H.Brodrick
Capitol Theatre Henry Eli White 1927-8
Lyric Theatre Peddle Thorp and Walker 1989-95

location

Corner Hay, Campbell and Pitt Streets

date

1927-28

style

Inter-War Free Classical

construction

brick and terracotta

type

Theater

This building was designed by George McRae and built in 1892-93 as a fruit and vegetable market next door to older ones that had been on the site since the 1860s. Originally a single story building, it was rebuilt with an extra floor in the early twentieth century, and used as a circus venue, a cinema and a theatre. If you look up you will see that the terracotta pediment is decorated with fruits and surprisingly, choko vines. The humble choko has all but disappeared from our vegetable menu. By the 1980s the building had become very rundown. It was restored by Ipoh Garden for the City Council in the early 1990s. The exuberant 1920s interior, imported from the United States, is intended to evoke a romantic courtyard with a ceiling lit to imitate a star studded night sky.

The Capitol Theatre seen today is the result of a major redevelopment after a chequered history of rebuilding and additions to the New Belmore Market building erected by Sydney City Council. Completed in 1893, it soon fell out of use, and, after languishing for years, was converted into a circus called The Hippodrome in 1913.

Unfortunately, The Hippodrome was a commercial failure, and the operators soon approached Sydney Council to convert the use from a circus into an "atmospheric" theatre intended for silent movies and live performances. Henry E White, an experienced theatre designer in Sydney, toured the USA inspecting John Eberson’s atmospheric theatres to get ideas. Eberson provided White with a design along similar lines to his Riviera Theatre in Omaha, Nebraska. The interior was meant to create the illusion of sitting in a romantic courtyard under a brilliant night sky, with patrons dazzled by special climatic and lighting effects.

In total, five atmospheric theatres were created in Australia before the Depression, and the takeover by sound cinema. The theatre was restored and extended jointly between the owners Sydney City Council and the developer Ipoh Garden for major musical productions. The adjoining site, including former Watkins Terrace and a new glass vault, was redeveloped by Augustine Chan as a hotel and retail complex.

Information appearing in this section is reproduced from Sydney Architecture, with the kind permission of the author, Graham Jahn, Sydney architect and former City of Sydney Councillor.

The renovation of The Capitol Theatre was a labour of love by many dedicated and skilled people including architects, builders and subcontractors. This section provides a brief insight into what was involved in the renovation.
• The Master Builders Association of NSW awarded its Restoration / Renovation and Outstanding Workmanship Awards to Fletcher Construction for their work on The Capitol Theatre.

• Fletcher Construction worked closely with architects Peddle Thorp, the Heritage Council and Sydney City Council to ensure a balance was achieved between retaining the heritage significance of the 1927 atmospheric lyric theatre interior and satisfying the sophisticated requirements of modern theatrical productions.

• The penetration of external noise into the theatre is controlled by the construction of a new roof mounted on the existing roof. This was built early in the works period to allow the time-consuming task of restoring and reconstructing the plaster statues to begin as soon as possible.

• Other work in the auditorium included the demolition and reconstruction of the stalls floor, construction of balcony boxes, ceiling hatches and roof, re-configuration of the proscenium arch and the painting of the ceiling in a rich deep blue to create the desired effect of a Mediterranean night sky.

• The circular boxes (balcony stalls) on each side of the dress circle were added to the original 1928 design.

Andrew Andersons Talks - Architect, Director of Peddle Thorp Architects and overall supervisor of the restoration project.

“We took in two bays of the Manning Building next door to fit in the new foyer and the working spaces – rehearsal rooms etc. But it was still pretty tight getting the detail planning right for the very specific interrelationships that are necessary behind the scenes in a theatre”

“Though the decorations in the new lobby are quite different from the old, certain devices remain the same. The carpet flows through both, and there’s theatrical new bracket lighting, which is the same kind of device as the period brackets in the old part, but completely different in style and effect. The new ceiling is cobalt blue, but overlaid with a stainless steel mesh, as opposed to having those little twinkling stars, and the walls use the same rich earth colours: terracottas, ochres etc’

“The old part of the building is rich in decorative works, sculptural embellishments, and it seemed very desirable that the new area should have a memorable example of today’s art. Laurens Tan’s marvellous sculpture titled ‘Octogene’ has certain linkages with 1928. The enormous baroque frame is the sort of thing you might well have seen in a grand old cinema, but it’s entirely contemporary in execution, being out of galvanised steel sheeting. State of the art technology is used in the video art which is a principle component.”

1866	Construction of the first Belmore Markets begins on a site bounded by Castlereagh, Hay, Pitt and Campbell. They open 14th May 1869.
1893	Second Belmore Markets (Capitol site) open. Used for theatrical and circus performances on Saturday nights.
1910	Council decides that the Tivoli and the Capitol (two theatres) would be erected on the sites of the old and new Belmore Markets.
1912	Wirth Bros take a 10 week lease on the new Belmore Theatre for a ‘circus and hippodrome’. The council claimed the auditorium could be used as hippodrome, circus, theatre, opera house, concert hall, vaudeville entertainment hall or for photo plays (early silent motion pictures).
1914 1915	Belmore Markets dismantled and re-erected as the Hippodrome – home of Wirth’s Circus in Australia. The detail of the market walls were erected 10 metres higher.
1916	On April 3, Wirth’s Circus and Hippodrome opens – the largest theatre in Australia. The 13-metre ring in front of the proscenium arch had a hydraulically operated floor which dropped to fill with water for aquatic events. Beneath the stage were animal pits. Part of the Hippodrome show was an exhibition of numerous caged animals. At other times, the Hippodrome was used for dramatic stage shows, variety concerts, vaudeville and, in fact, anything that attracted a large audience. The Hippodrome failed financially that same year.
1926	Wirth’s in negotiation with Stuart Doyle, MD of Union Theatres plan to remodel the building as The Capitol Picture Palace.
1927	(June) Union Theatres acquires the lease from Wirth's and the construction of The Capitol begins within the walls of the Hippodrome, Managing Director of Union Theatres, Stuart Doyle, has plans for a chain of ‘atmospherics’ around Australia to be known as ‘Million Dollar Theatres’.
1928	The Capitol opens with a 2,999 seat auditorium. It featured an ‘open air’ Florentine garden surrounded by walls and balustrades, statues, tress, doves, shawls and period furniture – all beneath a ‘blue sky’ which darkened as session time approached. When all was dark, stars began to twinkle in the ‘night sky’ as fake clouds drifted overhead. Included in the décor was a massive pergola across the entire rear of the dress circle, from which clung vines and ferns. Statues throughout were replicas of famous European works of art. The courtyard at the entrance to the back stalls was an exact replica of the courtyard of the Pitti Palace in Florence. More than 23,000 people attended in the first two days.
	Open Program: Overture, featuring CAPITOL ORCHESTRA plus WURLITZER ORGAN; NEWS & VIEWS OF THE WORLD; FEATHERS, a colour study; TODDLERS, a Paramount novelty featurette; On Stage, TED HENKEL & HIS BAND. Intermission, FRED SCHOLL at the mighty WURLITZER, OPERATIC INTERVAL interlude from Mignon. Main Feature: “HIS LADY” starring John Barrymore & Dolores Costello, musical score by Ted Henkel.
1929	(April 20th) The first ‘talkie’ film is screened – ‘Beware of Bachelors’
1932	The theatre runs into financial difficulties and films are scarce. Also, the central shopping district moves to the other end of town, and the Depression hits hard forcing The Capitol to close on November 24th.
1933	(April) Capitol reopens, with 2 Australian productions from Efftee Studios. No orchestra – only the Wurlitzer played by Billy Dick. The orchestra pit is filled with pot plants and a fountain.
1930s	By the early to mid 30s through to WW2 the Theatre had gained a reputation for lesser quality films (horror and westerns). Special guests appear from the Tivoli. There is an upturn in box office receipts, but a downturn in theatre maintenance - Lighting effects were not repaired, cloud machines stood motionless, the famous blue lighting around the wall started to fade away. The Theatre was in a sad state of disrepair.
1945	The Capitol closes for ‘makeshift’ repairs. Workman remove unwanted decorations such as banners, tapestries, artificial foliage and those lighting effects which weren’t working simply had their wiring cut. In March The Capitol re-opens as a first release house using Dianna Durban as a drawcard.
Late 1940s	From the late 40s through to the early 50s it was obvious that the first release policy was a failure. Electricity bans force more lights off. The famous organ is closed down in October 1947. The theatre begins to experiment with Jazz Concerts and Beach Girl contests. The theatre is threatened with demolition to allow construction of the Eastern Suburbs Railway.
1954	Greater Union attempts to resurrect theatre for first release films.
1970	(August) Australian Opera moves to The Capitol with ‘Othello’ for 3-months after Her Majesty’s theatre is destroyed by fire. A new aspect emerges about The Capitol – it has perfect acoustics and sightlines providing the audience with an amazing new visual and sound experience. The ‘Sydney Morning Herald’ and ‘Australian’ newspapers praise the acoustics. (September) Lord Mayor requested meeting with G.U., J.C.W., Aust. Eliz. Theatre Trust, Empire Talkies & NCT Productions to discuss future of theatre. Greater Union was granted a lease for 3 years from 02/012/70 on understanding that they spend not less than $150,000 on repairs and renovations.
1971	(21st December) Harry M. Miller takes over lease for ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’. Paid $2,000 per week. Re-equipped stage and generally tidied up inside, installing drink bars in rear of back stalls where seats were removed. Housed orchestra in several ‘bunkers’ under stage connected by TV monitors. The external of the Theatre was painted ‘Superstar’ brown.
1972	(February) The massive 3/15 Wurlitzer plays its last tune. It’s dismantled and is eventually re-erected at Orion Theatre, Campsie in 1988.
1972	(29th February) Greater Union vacates Capitol after over 40 years of lease. Harry M. Miller takes over lease for ‘J.C. Superstar’
1974	A 2 year success for ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ makes it the most successful stage presentation in Sydney’s history – but then the theatre again goes dark and falls into disrepair.
Mid 1970s	Hoyts lease theatre for sexploitation films.
1977	The Capitol Theatre is classified by the National Trust.
1979	(4th May) ‘Telegraph’ Sydney City Council advertises for tenders for The Capitol. (September) Bill Shopov takes 2 year lease for $2,000 per year plus $30,000 rates to use the theatre for rock venue.
1980s	Various rock concerts and rock videos.
1983	Sydney City Council attempts to interest developers in the site and at one time proposed the construction of a modern lyric theatre to replace the crumbling Capitol. Ian Hanson and members of A.T.H.S. approach council for inspection of theatre. Mike Walsh from SUN backs Capitol renovations.
1985	Sydney Morning Herald – letter from Noel Ferrier says pull Capitol down.
1986	Used as film set for ‘Les Patterson Saves the World’, ‘Those Dear Departed’ and ‘Nellie Melba’, plus various commercials and rock clips. The theatre begins to slowly decay, speeded up in 1988 by leaking box gutters which have caused damage to side walls and sections of plaster.
1987	Placed on National Estate by Heritage Commission.
1988	New State Government and new Council Administration makes firm commitment to restoring The Capitol and returning it to live theatre.
1989	(January) Sydney City Council calls for tenders to redevelop The Capitol area, conditional to restoring theatre.
1995	(24th January) The Capitol Theatre reopens to widespread acclaim for its magnificent restoration and facilities, continuing more than 100 years of entertainment tradition on the site. Some guests, who had attended the original opening night in 1928, said it looked even better in 1995. The restoration and extensions into a lyric theatre, including new galleries and back stage facilities cost $35 million.

Special thanks to www.capitoltheatre.com

The Capitol Theatre, Sydney, was Australia's first example of what had become known in America as the "atmospheric" style of auditorium, intended to make patrons feel as if they were out of doors, with grottos, statuary and a sky-like ceiling where stars twinkled and clouds moved slowly across. This style of theatre had been popularised in America by the architect John Eberson, and contrasted strongly with the traditional "hard top" school. Atmospheric theatres were considerably less costly to build than their traditional counterparts, and it was at the Paradise Theatre, Faribault, Minnesota, that the oft-quoted instruction to electricians was posted: "Please do not turn on the clouds until the show starts. Be sure stars are turned off when leaving", words, which, as the late Ben Hall observed, might well have come from the Book of Genesis. [Ben Hall, The Best Remaining Seats, Bramhall House, New York, 1961]

WHAT IS AN ATMOSPHERIC THEATRE?

"Imagine yourself seated in a beautiful, old world, Florentine garden. Above, the blue Mediterranean sky. Stars twinkle. Clouds float by as if in silent admiration of the beauty encased in those creeper-covered walls below.

"Rare statuary half-hidden in the twilight, adorns the alcoves and niches. Copies of famed pieces from the Vatican, the Louvre, the Museum of Santa Maria del Fiore, tell a story of elegance.

"Magnificent objects of art in beaten silver and gold and rich tapestries find a place in the gorgeous decorative scheme. White pigeons flutter to a resting place with love birds in the foliage of the cypress trees. Peacocks proudly display their brilliant plumage to the idler...

"Staggering in its immensity, enthralling in its magnificence, as you enter the mighty portals of this treasure house you will be amazed at the glory of the panorama that unfolds itself before you. Never before such supreme comfort, such splendour, such startling reality in construction, decoration and musical and motion picture entertainment." [Capitol Theatre, Sydney, pre-opening advertisement, 1928]

Fred Scholl introduced at the Capitol another novelty feature to Australian audiences:

"The third [unit was] three organ numbers by Frederick Scholl, the most popular of which was 'Ain't It a Grand and Glorious Feelin'?' illustrated by comedy slides. Certainly - words and everything. The house took to the idea; and one of these days Scholl is going to work a miracle with an Australian audience. Under the gentle persuasion of his organ they're going to join in and sing as cheerfully as they do in the best Broadway houses when these novelties appear." [Everyone's, 8 August, 1928]

Special thanks to http://theatreorgans.com

www.sydneyarchitecture.com

links

http://www.capitoltheatre.com.au/index1.htm