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centre part of which used to open. We headed on stage to view the courtesy of the Ballarat Organ Society, as the console rose from the
theatre with its 959 light green seats on three levels. The auditorium orchestra pit. We were then free to explore the nooks and crannies
is heated by hot water pipes connected to foot warmers under the of the building, including The Long Room, now the theatre bar,
seats, which came from the Rivoli Theatre Rivoli Theatre in Melbourne. The theatre which contains the Melba Piano, a Bechstein Grand once owned by
Rivoli Theatre Rivoli Theatre
gained an organ in 1982 when the Compton 3 manual/6 rank organ Dame Nellie Melba. On our way back to the station, we passed the
Plaza Theatre Plaza Theatre
ABC Ritz ABC Ritz
from the ABC Ritz ABC Ritz Warrington in Lancashire was installed under the site of the Plaza Theatre Plaza Theatre which opened in 1936 with 673 seats,
front stalls. We were able to hear the organ put through its paces, closed in 1964 and is now an employment agency.
WEDNESDAY 22 FEBRUARWEDNESDAY 22 FEBRUARY:Y:
WEDNESDAY 22 FEBRUAREDNESDAY 22 FEBRUARY:Y:
W distinctive 'R' motif handles. On the roof garden overlooking the
ART
ART DECO MORNING DECO MORNING –– H HISTORIC AFTERNOONISTORIC AFTERNOON
ART DECO MORNING ART DECO MORNING –– H HISTORIC AFTERNOONISTORIC AFTERNOON main road and behind the high letters spelling out RIVOLI on the
façade is a round fish pond of which the base was the “O” from the
original RIVOLI sign.

Rivolioli Camberwell
Riv
RivoliRivoli
This sunny morning, we took the tram to the suburb of Camberwell
to see the Rivoli CinemasRivoli Cinemas, named in 2004 by Screen International as Rivol
Rivoli CinemasRivoli Cinemas
RivoliRivoli
Rivolii Camberwell – screen c auditorium
one of the world’s best cinemas. The Art Deco exterior has a brick
patterned frontage of horizontal layers of red and brown bricks. Five Leaving the cinema to finish preparing for that night’s premiere and
sets of double doors lead to the original round foyer, with cream and we next visited the Tram Museum at Hawthorn, where we could walk
green coloured walls and a circular pattern in the floor indicating around vintage Melbourne trams, sit in the driver’s seat and ring the
where the island pay-box once stood. There was a lot of activity, even bells! The shouts of “time to go” meant we were off on an unsched-
this early in the day, as the cinema prepared for the Australian pre- uled trip to the Burnley Theatre Burnley Theatre (1928-1960), a Union Theatres
Burnley Theatre Burnley Theatre
miere of Harrison Ford’s new movie Firewall. At the back of the foyer house with 943 seats, now a furniture shop. The cream and pinky
an art deco inspired statue, designed by Peter Schipperhern, is at coloured exterior is a fairly elaborate example of the Neo-
the heart of the original grand double staircase. Classical/Adam style, with the theatre name etched into the plaster-
work above a row of square windows, with decorative arches. The
proscenium arch and dress circle were still intact, as was much of
the plaster-work detail, a lovely surprise for the day. A break followed
for the journey back into downtown Melbourne and lunch! In the
afternoon came something completely different, the Australian Cen-Australian Cen-
Australian Cen-Australian Cen-
tre of
tre of the Moving Image the Moving Image (ACMIACMI). Opened in 2002 on Federation
tre of the Moving Image tre of the Moving Image ACMIACMI
ACMIACMI
Square, the aim of ACMIACMI is to collect, lend, educate and promote the
moving image. We entered one of two auditoria in the building with
stadium seating. Most of the seats are dark grey with some orange
ones in Screen c and some cream ones in Screen d; the carpet
and the side walls are black, apart from a few fluorescent tubes for
lighting. The screen can be resized quickly to show any
film/presentation in the correct ratio and the bio-box was equipped
to show films on any format, except nitrate.

Rivolii Stairwell
Rivol
RivoliRivoli
The building opened in 1940 with 1,004 seats in the stalls and 640
in the circle but was twinned in 1968. The main auditorium in the
former circle still has the original decorations, coved lighting in the
ceiling and round mouldings on the side walls joined up by horizontal
lines. The rich golden, yellow and green colour scheme is reminis-
cent of the colours used during the deco era following the discovery
of Tutankhamen’s tomb. Screen d is in the former stalls area and a
further six screens were built on adjacent land in 1999/2000. All
have stadium seating, silver vertical opening curtains and either
green or red walls. The patterned timber doors to each screen have
Federation Square & the ACMIACMI
ACMIACMI
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