Moonee Ponds Theatre                          index

 

Moonee Ponds Theatre was founded in 1911 on the old omnibus stables site.

80 feet of stables were purchased for 23 Pounds 10 shilling per foot to erect a theatre that cost five thousand pounds, including 4 shops frontage.

The theatre itself boasted many then unheard of innovations, like the Kinemacolour process. Kinemacolour, the original movie colour, was a British patent, used to record the 1911 Durbar at Delhi in a sumptuous haze.

Kinemacolour was believed to be the first color movie process. It was invented in 1906 but abandoned several years later because of the high production cost.

Some of the more famous faces shown were Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chaplin, Fatty Arbuckle, and the 30's ‘IT’ girl Clara Bow.

The main auditorium was opened on the 14 of December 1911, with over fourteen hundred people attending.

The theatre proved popular for many years, pulling in a phenomenal crowd, even during World War 1, when news was shown.

It closed temporarily in 1929 for renovation for "talkies". Hundreds of people were turned away from seeing "the terror", a "100% all talkie" starring May Macavoy. But sadly, in 1965 it was all over. Since the advent of television, attendance had dropped steeply.

There was talk of the Essendon council buying it to use as a library, but tragically, it was not to be. It was sold for $65,000.

 

 

  The theatre, as it was…                                                and how it stands today

 

Page 2 - Recollections of the Moonee Ponds Theatre contributed by Graeme Bryant

 

With many thanks to the Essendon Gazette and the book "The Stopover That Stayed" by Grant Aldous

Photograph of the Moonee Ponds Theatre courtesy David Likar, new picture by the author.

 

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