Sun Theatre facts for kids
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| Private | |
| Industry | Film exhibition |
| Founded | 1938 |
| Headquarters | Melbourne, Australia |
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Area served
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Melbourne, Victoria |
| Owner | Sun Theatre Trust (controlled by Anne and Michael Smith) |
The Sun Theatre is a cool cinema with eight screens in Yarraville, a suburb in Melbourne, Australia. It's a popular spot to watch movies!
Contents
A Look Back: The Sun Theatre's History
How the Sun Theatre Started
The Sun Theatre first opened its doors in 1938. Back then, it had just one big screen and could fit 1,050 people. It was known as the fanciest cinema around. Many people came each week to watch films. There were special counters for tickets and bookings to handle all the visitors.
The place where they used to sell candy is now the Sun Bookshop. A really unique part of the old cinema was the "pram room." Parents could leave their babies in prams there. If a baby cried, its number would flash on the screen. This told the parents it was time to check on their little one.
Changes Over Time
The cinema became less popular in the 1950s and 1960s. This happened because more people started getting televisions at home. In the late 1960s, the Sun Theatre changed. It became a Greek theatre to serve the growing Greek community in Yarraville.
However, this new Greek Theatre had to close down. Health officials found that the carpets were not clean enough. After that, the Sun Theatre stayed empty and run-down for 20 years.
Bringing the Sun Theatre Back to Life
In 1995, new owners bought the Sun Theatre. It was in very bad shape after years of being empty. Parts were missing, and there was graffiti everywhere. But the new owners worked hard to fix it up.
Between 1998 and 2003, they turned it into one of Melbourne's most popular places for film lovers. It became a wonderful spot for people to enjoy movies again.
Inside the Sun Theatre: What It's Like Today
Today, the Sun Theatre has eight smaller cinemas. It can seat about 700 people in total. When it reopened in 1995, the big old cinema hall was divided into four screens. Two more screens were added at the back.
All the new screens still have the original style of the theatre. A great feature is the old club seating. These seats have been fixed up with soft suede fabric. Each group of seats shares a small coffee table. They also have lots of space for your legs, which is very comfy!
Naming the Cinemas
Each of the Sun Theatre's cinemas is named after old cinemas that used to be in Melbourne. Many are named after theatres from Yarraville and the western suburbs.
- Grand: This is the biggest cinema at the Sun. It's named after the last cinema to close in Footscray.
- Barkly: Named after another famous cinema in Footscray. This cinema is built where the original Sun's "dress circle" (upper seating area) used to be.
- Trocadero: This cinema is named after a different old cinema in Footscray. You can still see parts of the original plaster from the Sun Theatre here.
- Lyric: Named after the second cinema that opened in Yarraville. This room was first meant to be a private screening room. Now, it has 33 regular chairs and 7 comfy lounge chairs with coffee tables.
- Davis: This cinema is named after a person who helped the cinema a lot. He was a projectionist (the person who runs the movie projector) at the Sun in the 1950s. This cinema has 100 seats. It's decorated with cool old items like telegrams and the original Wurlitzer organ.
- La Scala: Named after an Italian cinema that was in Footscray. This cinema offers fancy touches like 52 leather couches. It also has paintings by local artists.
- Roxy: This is the smallest cinema at the Sun. It's one of three "lounge cinemas." It has only 20 leather lounge seats. The walls have a cool art deco style.
- St. Georges: Named after a closed theatre in Yarraville, located across the train tracks. The St. Georges is a small cinema with two levels and couch seating. At the entrance, there is a painting by Wassily Kandinsky called St. Georges.
Fun Facts About the Sun Theatre
- The Sun Theatre was the first cinema in Melbourne to have a special sloped floor. This design helped everyone see the screen better. It also started the "Continental" way of seating, which means rows are wider with more space.
- The Mayor of Footscray, Cr. Free, officially opened the theatre.
- For 13 years, the Sun Theatre was left empty. During this time, much of its beautiful inside was ruined. The decorated ceiling fell down, and white ants ate the wood. There were big holes in the roof, and lots of graffiti. The building had also been stripped of its fancy doors and decorations. Walls were falling apart, and the basement was filled with water. The building even had several fires, which people think were set on purpose.
- When it was empty and falling apart, the Sun Theatre was shown in a music video. It was for the song "Streets of Your Town" by the band The Go-Betweens.
- The bright neon sign for the Sun Theatre is on top of the roof. You can see it from many places in Yarraville and nearby areas, even from the Westgate Bridge. This sign has become a famous symbol of Yarraville.
- In 2016, famous actors Quentin Tarantino, Samuel L. Jackson, and Kurt Russell made a surprise visit to the Sun. They were in Melbourne to promote their film The Hateful 8. The Sun Theatre was one of the few places in Australia showing the movie in a special 70mm film format. The actors were very impressed that the theatre worked hard to get a proper 70mm projector just for their film. They wanted to give the audience a special memory.
- The Sun Theatre was used as a filming location for some inside scenes in the 2015 movie The Dressmaker. It pretended to be the "Dungatar Theatre" in the film. Its old-fashioned seating was perfect for a story set in the 1950s.
