Page 21 - CinemaRecord Edition 3-2003 #41

There in the front row of the circle on
Saturday night was Mr B Abicare with
his wife and family. For him, Saturday
night was a night of nights. It was the
realisation of a many-years-old
dream… And a few seats along was
another little group - the architect, Mr
Louis Harrison with his wife and
family. Certainly no other man can
claim to have done so much for the
beauty of the town as Mr Harrison. It
was a lucky day for Albury when he
decided to settle here.
Then there is the third great party to
the undertaking - Hoyts Theatres Ltd.
Owner Bietro Abikhair (far left) stands with the workers in front of the first wall.
To the structural beauty and mighty
Cliff Chamberlain Collection.
magnificent of the building, Hoyts
added life - the building throbbed with
spirit on Saturday night… The master
touch of the theatrical expert merged
the theatre, the orchestra, the picture,
into one entertainment with which it
would be difficult to find fault.
Mr Georges Becu, who served
under the French colours during the
war, already well known to Albury,
controlled the new orchestra. It was its
first appearance in public… The music
at the Regent is going to be a feature of
(6)
the nightly entertainments…

Orchestra leader Georges Becu
For the next ten years, the mighty
Regent, the Theatre Beautiful, lived up
to this flowery description, dominating
entertainment in Albury. It was logical
that the Regent should be the venue for
a farewell concert by Dame Nellie
(7)
Melba in July 1927.
As with so many theatres, the
Regent had a fire incident in 1933 when
a spark from a cigarette ignited 900 feet
of film in the vestibule. Prompt action
(8)
by staff soon contained it.

6 Border Morning Mail, Sat 19 Feb 1927
7 Thorne, Tod and Cork (1997). Cultural
Heritage of Movie Theatres in NSW, 1896-1996.
University of Sydney. Pp247.
8 State Records of NSW. Board of Fire
Commissioners, Op Cit. Fire Report, 20 March
1933 From the opening night souvenir booklet.

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