Page 27 - CinemaRecord #79
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Mechanics today.
The Plaza continued its role as a live
performance venue until 1946, when Jack Costa
and his family installed a pair of Raycophone Plaza Theatre in its heyday.
projectors, and presented the first screenings
in almost seven years with The Adventures of
Robin Hood and The Case of the Black Parrot.
Screenings continued until the theatre finally
closed as a cinema in 1959.
It continued as Geelong’s only suitable live
venue, hosting local amateur productions,
touring shows, and even a very brief (2
weeks) failed attempt by a Melbourne cinema
entrepreneur to screen Italian film using a pair
of hastily set up Kalee 7 projectors.
The theatre was finally closed in the 1970’s for
conversion into a part of the present Geelong
Performing Arts Centre.
The shell of the Plaza forms the current
Playhouse Theatre within the complex, the
original projection room now housing a pair
of Ballantyne Pro35 projectors which are
occasionally used for film festivals.
In 1879, the foundation stone was laid for the Plaza/Ford Theatre
Geelong Exhibition Building in Jacob Street. reborn as the GPAC
After its completion in 1880, it was leased and Playhouse.
became the Exhibition Theatre on December
27, 1881.
Exhibition Theatre.
CINEM AREC ORD 2013 27
