Item Type: Series

Linked To

Collection

Capitol Theatre

Organisation

Sydney City Council

Creating agencies

Administration Department

Related activities

Photograph

Photos in this series (110)

Box

Boxes in this Series (2)

Item

Items in this series

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Photographs of the Capitol Theatre, 1972

Description

Unique IDAS-0356DateBetween 1st January 1972 and 1st April 1972Date qualifiercircaFormatPhotograph - AlbumShort descriptionThis series consists of 112 black and white photographs taken as an inventory after Council purchased the Capitol Theatre at the time it was to be leased to Harry M Miller. DescriptionThis series comprise 112 black and white photographs of the interior of the Capitol Theatre, known as the Hippodrome until 1927. The photographs were general views of the walls, auditorium, foyers and rest rooms and detailed photographs of furniture, fittings and decoration, including chairs, lights, statues, busts, mirrors, vases and urns.

The building was constructed to be used as a hippodrome (a building with an arena for equestrian or circus acts), circus theatre, opera house, concert hall, vaudeville entertainment hall, for ‘photo-plays’ (cinema) as required. It opened in April 1916 and was used chiefly by Wirth's Circus.

The lease was transferred to Union Theatres Ltd. on 20th July, 1927 and the Hippodrome was remodelled as a cinema (the Capitol Theatre) and opened on Easter Saturday, 1928.

In February 1972 the Greater Union Organisation Pty Ltd's tenancy was terminated. Council purchased from Greater Union various pieces of plant and equipment, statuary, mirrors, vases, etc which had been installed during the Company's occupancy. The theatre was then leased to Harry M Miller Attractions Pty Ltd for their production of 'Jesus Christ Superstar'.

The photographs forming this series were taken by Council Officer Ron Dunphy of the Administration Department (AG-0003) as a record of the Theatre's contents at this time. According to a letter from Harry M Miller's solicitor, 20 April 1972 on TC file 397/61 [CRS 34], Council sent the photographs to Miller to enable him to identify items specified in the list of equipment, furnishings and fittings that was to be Schedule 2 of the lease. The letter states the photographs were to be 'initialled for identification on behalf of the lessor and lessee'. There is only one initial (indecipherable) on the photographs.

65 of the photographs had a running number and this numbering system has been continued by the Archives Section for the rest (that is, numbers 66 - 112). Many of the photographs are captioned and most are labelled with a letter that signifies an area within the Theatre eg ‘A’ = West Wall, ‘B’ = North Wall (N.W. View), ‘C’ = North Wall (N.E. View), etc. Some of the photos act as keys to photos 1 - 65. They are numbers 67, 69, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, 83, 85, 87, 89, 92, 94, 96, 97, 98, 100, 103 and 106. These key photos have features such as a statue on the wall, circled and numbered 40. Photo C40 is a photo of that statue, ‘Antinous’.

The Capitol Theatre was utilised through the 1970's and early 1980's for rock concerts, opera and ballet. The last concert was performed in 1984.

During the 1990's the lease was transferred to Ipoh Garden Developments Pty Ltd. At this time the Capitol Theatre underwent a detailed restoration and reconstruction to recover the original 1928 experience. It has now been returned to its original grandeur.

Sources
Vade Mecum, 1916, 1927, 1928 (AS-0043)
Proceedings of Council, 9.9.1913, 31.5.1927 (AS-0029)
Town Clerk's File 1105/27, 397/61 (AS-0034)
Historical Report on the Capitol Theatre, 1989 (AS-0391)
The Haymarket and the Capitol Management Plan,1990, James Semple Kerr (https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/heritageapp/ViewHeritageItemDetails.aspx?id=5045280)
Relationship summaryRELATED TO: Management of Council property AY-0019 (01/01/1972 to 01/04/1972)
RELATED TO: Construction and maintenance of buildings and structures AY-0001 (01/01/1972 to 01/04/1972)
LanguageNo linguistic content - Not applicable (zxx)

Photograph

Interior, Capitol Theatre, statue and urn, Campbell Street Haymarket, 1972

Interior, Capitol Theatre, peacock details, Campbell Street Haymarket, 1972

Interior, Capitol Theatre, plaster urn, Campbell Street Haymarket, 1972

Interior, Capitol Theatre, statue of Mattei Amazon, Campbell Street Haymarket, 1972

Interior, Capitol Theatre, statue, Campbell Street Haymarket, 1972

Interior Capitol Theatre, Capitoline Wolf, Romulus and Remus, Campbell Street Haymarket, 1972

Interior Capitol Theatre, statue, Apollo Belvedere, Campbell Street Haymarket, 1972

Interior, Capitol Theatre, statue, Minerva, Campbell Street Haymarket, 1972

Interior, Capitol Theatre, bronze pendant lamp detail, Campbell Street Haymarket, 1972

Interior, Capitol Theatre, wall lighting fixture, Campbell Street Haymarket, 1972

Interior, Capitol Theatre, plaster urn, Campbell Street Haymarket, 1972

Interior, Capitol Theatre, cornice and wall plaques, Campbell Street Haymarket, 1972

Interior, Capitol Theatre, lamp and cornice details, Campbell Street Haymarket, 1972

Interior, Capitol Theatre, wall relief, Bacchantes dancing girls, Campbell Street Haymarket, 1972

Interior, Capitol Theatre, plaster urn and balustrading, Campbell Street Haymarket, 1972

Interior, Capitol Theatre, plaster wall relief, Cantoria Frieze, Campbell Street Haymarket, 1972

Interior, Capitol Theatre, wall mirror, Campbell Street Haymarket, 1972

Interior, Capitol Theatre, plaster vase or urn, Campbell Street Haymarket, 1972

Interior, Capitol Theatre, statue (Fortune?) in wall niche, Campbell Street Haymarket, 1972

Interior, Capitol Theatre, statue of Danaid, Campbell Street Haymarket, 1972

Interior, Capitol Theatre, stairway mirror and lamp details, Campbell Street Haymarket, 1972

Interior, Capitol Theatre, lamp, plaster bust, wall lighting, Campbell Street Haymarket, 1972

Box

CSA028110

CSA069028

Item

Box containing 3 photo albums of black & white prints.

Access

Public access statusOpen to public access

Identification and Arrangement

Source system ID356System of arrangementSingle number

Digitisation

Digitisation statusFully digitised

Data Quality

Authenticity & integrityThese are the original photographs taken by staff at the Council. The record has been held in the Council’s custody and has a high level of authenticity.

Relationships

CollectionCapitol TheatreOrganisationSydney City CouncilCreating agenciesAdministration DepartmentRelated activitiesConstruction and maintenance of buildings and structuresManagement of Council property

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Photographs of the Capitol Theatre, 1972