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A Star

in Transit

The Star was the brain child of
Joan Rodger who came back to
Bendigo five years ago after managing
a similar venture in Queensland.
When Joan inspected the town hall
in the former Borough of Eaglehawk,
(which is now part of the City of
Greater Bendigo) and saw that it still
had a bio-box, she knew that this was
what she had been looking for - the
chance to revive cinema in a building
with a cinema history. In the forties the
Lyric Bendigo, owned and operated by
the Guidice family, switched with the
Eaglehawk Town Hall at weekends.
The Star has a loyal support base
that appreciates the privilege of choice
in a city with a seven-cinema complex.
It is one of those ventures which help
to make Bendigo live up to the meaning
of the word ‘city’ – a place of diversity
and choice. Now there is no need to
track down specialty programs in
Melbourne. The best films from the
screens of the Kino, Lumiere and
Nova come to the Star.
CATHS visited the theatre on their
tour to the north west in 2000 after the
building had been partly refurbished by
the City of Greater Bendigo.
Since then Joan Rodger has
upgraded the projectors and screen and
hung acoustic curtains. The top-of-the-
line screen was opportunity snatched
from catastrophe: a superscreen
destined for a Gold Coast theatre split
during installation. Two smaller
screens, one for the Star, were
salvaged from it.
One of Joan’s inspired changes was
to replace the seats in the stalls with
burgundy velvet couches. Their padded
bulk and enveloping arms fill and
soften a spacious interior. To view
while sipping wine is the finishing
touch. When films such as Buena Vista
Social Club, Rabbit Proof Fence or the
The Motorcycle Diaries tap a rich vein
of interest, the over flow audience has
the novelty of a seat in the balcony.

34 2005 CINEMARECORD