Rivoli Cinema

Rivoli Cinema, also known as Rivoli Cinemas, Rivoli Theatre and New Rivoli Theatre, is a cinema venue at 200 Camberwell Road in Hawthorn East, Melbourne. The present building opened on 11 October 1940 with a screening of French Without Tears, replacing an earlier Rivoli Theatre that had operated on Burke Road since 1921. The new venue was developed under the direction of Robert McGleish, a significant figure in Melbourne's cinema industry and manager of the earlier theatre, and designed by the specialist cinema architects H. Vivian Taylor and Soilleux. The building was conceived as a substantial single auditorium with a capacity of 1,644 seats, divided between 1,004 stalls seats and 640 circle seats. Its design reflected the late-1930s Streamline Moderne interpretation of Art Deco. Distinctive features included horizontal bands of pink and oatmeal brickwork, a vertical fin, a curved balcony wall, a roof garden, a circular ticket hall, a sweeping circular staircase and an upper lounge. The auditorium used decorative plasterwork, concealed lighting and acoustic grilles, with parts of the interior constructed independently from the main building structure. Rivoli adapted to changing cinema habits in 1968, becoming the first cinema in Australia to be converted into twin auditoriums. The original balcony became the principal screen and retained much of the elaborate plasterwork, while a smaller auditorium was created within the former stalls area. This conversion helped the venue remain adaptable during the long period when cinema attendance faced pressure from television and other forms of home entertainment. A major restoration and expansion began in 1999. The approximately $16 million project added a large western extension containing six new screens while conserving important parts of the original building. The restored and expanded venue reopened as an eight-screen multiplex in 2000. Restoration work reinstated elements such as the original-style ceramic tiling around the entrances and Art Deco signage, while retaining the largely intact upper auditorium, foyers, circular staircase and upper lounge. Heritage Victoria and the Melbourne-based Art Deco & Modernism Society were consulted during the work. The Rivoli Theatre was added to the Victorian Heritage Register on 10 February 2005 because of its architectural, historical and social significance. It is regarded as an important surviving example of the work of Taylor and Soilleux, whose practice was responsible for the design or acoustics of hundreds of cinemas and theatres in Australia. The venue combines conventional commercial cinema operations with a prominent heritage identity, making the building itself a central part of its public appeal. Public accounts have also associated the cinema with local ghost stories, including staff reports of a presence in Row P of Cinema One, although these claims are anecdotal rather than established facts.

Rivoli Cinema's history is rooted in an earlier theatre of the same name that opened on Burke Road in 1921. That predecessor was designed by Frank Richardson and was managed by Robert McGleish, who later played a leading role in the development of the present venue. The replacement cinema was built at 200 Camberwell Road in Hawthorn East and opened on 11 October 1940 with French Without Tears, starring Ray Milland. Designed by H. Vivian Taylor and Soilleux, the building represented the Streamline Moderne phase of Australian Art Deco cinema architecture. At opening, the cinema had one large two-level auditorium with 1,644 seats. Its architecture emphasized movement and theatricality through curved forms, horizontal brick bands, a vertical fin, a circular ticket hall, a dramatic staircase and an upper lounge connected with a roof garden. The interior used extensive plasterwork and concealed lighting, while decorative grilles also served acoustic purposes. These features made the cinema a technically and visually ambitious entertainment building for its period. In 1968, the venue underwent a significant operational change when it became the first cinema in Australia to be converted into twin auditoriums. The balcony was adapted as the principal cinema and preserved much of the original decorative treatment, while a smaller auditorium was formed in the stalls. The conversion allowed the theatre to present more than one film at a time and helped it respond to changes in exhibition economics and audience behavior. It remained in operation through the later twentieth century, including the period when cinema attendance was challenged by television and home entertainment. An extensive restoration and expansion commenced in 1999. The project, reported as costing approximately $16 million, added a western extension with six additional screens. Rather than replacing the original building, the work integrated a modern multiplex into the historic structure. The enlarged venue reopened in 2000 as an eight-screen cinema. Conservation work reinstated selected external details, including cream and orange ceramic tiles around the entrance areas and Art Deco-style signage, and protected major original interiors such as the upper auditorium, foyers, circular staircase and upper lounge. Heritage Victoria and the Art Deco & Modernism Society were involved in the conservation process. The building's architectural, historical and social importance was formally recognized when the Rivoli Theatre was entered on the Victorian Heritage Register on 10 February 2005. The heritage assessment highlighted the building as an unusually intact surviving Victorian example of Taylor and Soilleux's cinema work, as well as the quality of its external brickwork, internal plasterwork and purpose-built theatrical planning. The venue is also part of local cinema folklore. In 2003, an ABC science feature about research into alleged ghosts referred to staff stories concerning several spirits at the cinema, including a reported figure associated with Row P in Cinema One. These accounts are part of the building's cultural mythology and should not be treated as verified paranormal evidence. Overall, Rivoli Cinema's historical identity rests on the continuity between its pre-war theatrical origins, its mid-century adaptation to multiplex-style exhibition and its late-twentieth-century restoration-led expansion.

• 2005

  Added to the Victorian Heritage Register

  [1]Rivoli Cinemasen.wikipedia.org

  The Rivoli Theatre is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register in recognition of its architectural, historical and social significance.

• 2000

  Reopens as an eight-screen multiplex

  [1]Rivoli Cinemasen.wikipedia.org

  Following restoration and expansion, Rivoli reopens as an eight-screen multiplex.

• 1999

  Restoration and expansion begins

  [1]Rivoli Cinemasen.wikipedia.org

  A major restoration and expansion project begins, adding a western extension designed to accommodate six new screens while conserving significant original interiors.

• 1968

  Conversion to twin auditoriums

  [1]Rivoli Cinemasen.wikipedia.org

  Rivoli becomes the first cinema in Australia to be converted into twin auditoriums, with the balcony and former stalls area adapted into separate screens.

• 1940

  Present Rivoli building opens

  [1]Rivoli Cinemasen.wikipedia.org

  The new Rivoli Cinema opens at 200 Camberwell Road on 11 October with a screening of French Without Tears. The building is designed by H. Vivian Taylor and Soilleux.

• 1921

  Earlier Rivoli Theatre opens

  [1]Rivoli Cinemasen.wikipedia.org

  An earlier theatre named Rivoli opens on Burke Road, designed by Frank Richardson and later managed by Robert McGleish.

A Melbourne cinema destination combining contemporary multiplex exhibition with a distinctive heritage-listed Streamline Moderne setting.

• Cinema exhibition · 2000

  Rivoli Cinemas multiplex

  The venue's principal offering is film exhibition across eight screens. The multiplex format emerged from the 1999–2000 expansion, which added six screens to the historic cinema while retaining important elements of the original 1940 building. The result combines contemporary multi-screen programming with a heritage theatre environment.

• Heritage cinema auditorium · 1940

  Original Rivoli auditorium

  The original auditorium is the architectural core of Rivoli Cinema. Its surviving features include elaborate plasterwork, concealed lighting treatments and decorative acoustic grilles. The upper auditorium, along with the foyers, circular staircase and upper lounge, was substantially retained during the late-1990s restoration.

• Venue services

  Cinema venue and event space

  The building functions as a public entertainment venue centered on cinema screenings. Its distinctive architecture and multiple auditoriums also provide a setting suitable for special screenings, community events or private venue use, although specific current hire packages are not documented in the supplied sources.

• 1999

  Combined heritage restoration with multiplex expansionStrategy

  Background

  The historic cinema required modernization and additional screens while its architectural character had significant heritage value.

  Action taken

  An extensive restoration and expansion began, including a western addition containing six new screens. Conservation was undertaken with Heritage Victoria and the Art Deco & Modernism Society.

  Aftermath

  The venue reopened in 2000 as an eight-screen multiplex, retaining much of the original building's most significant interior and exterior work.

  Reported project cost. $16 million (1999–2000)

  Source

• 1968

  Adopted a twin-auditorium operating modelStrategy

  Background

  Changing cinema exhibition conditions created an incentive to present more than one film in the same building. Rivoli was reported as the first Australian cinema to undergo this type of conversion.

  Action taken

  The balcony became the main cinema while a smaller auditorium was constructed in the former stalls area.

  Aftermath

  The conversion increased programming flexibility and may have helped the venue remain viable through the long downturn in cinema attendance before the market recovered in the 1990s.

  Source

1. 1Rivoli Cinemasen.wikipedia.org