- When it was the Solway theatre, in January 1926, the venue was almost burned down as an iron building next door caught alight. The article "A Fire in Melbourne, Picture Theatre Endangered" found on trove describes how the occupants of the theatre had to be evacuated. The venue could have suffered the same fate as the Collins st Regent however the venue was saved from any damage. Some online sources say that this venue burned down and this was why it needed to be rebuilt however this is untrue. See my original post for the history of the venue and the reason for it getting shut down.
- In 1918 the venue was used as a meeting point for men signing up for the voluntary ballot to join the military.
- The Regent opened: 30th March, 1929, "Two Lovers", Ronald Colman, Vilma Banky.
- Architect: Charles. N. Hollinshed. See below for image of the decadent Regent Theatre in Queensland, also designed by this architect.
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| Image taken from Wikipedia file, click here for a link to the original image. |
- Only two cinemas in Victoria at the time of the opening of the Regent Fitzroy had a higher seating capacity. Those were the Palais in St Kilda and The Victory in St Kilda with seating for 2,968 and 2,547 respectively.
- First All Talkie: January 8th, 1930, "Broadway", Evelyn Brent. See below, Youtube clip of the original film; "Broadway."
- In 1933, The Argus reported that the film operator at the Regent Theatre; R.J.Tregenza, was carged for not holding a valid licence to operate the cinematograph equipment, he pleaded guilty to the crime.
- Cinema scope from: Thursday, 2nd of December, 1954.
- Closed: 17th September 1960, "The Mountain Road", James Stewart.
- The channel 7 H.S.V Teletheatre was built to compete with channel 9's climbing ratings. It was styled after the Ed Sullivan Theatre in New York which holds "The Late show" with David Letterman and saw the taping of many shows, mainly quiz shows.
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| Image of The Teletheatre taken from a 'KHO Newsletter'. Click here for link to the letter explaining the early days and opening night of the teletheatre. |
- At one point, the venue of the Regent was used for an underaged nightclub called 'Disco Inferno.
- The Regent opened "Rocky Horror Picture Show" live in 1975. see below images and sound taken from the original 1975 live show (These are images from the New York show before it was brought to Australia.) Video was taken from Youtube.
- The Venue was left derelict between it closing and being demolished in 1984, in that time the interior was totally stripped by vandals, leaving nothing of the grand baroque fittings, crystal chandeliers and embellishments.
- At one point in 1980, plans were put in for the venue to become a theatre restaurant. see article below.
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| From the Melbourne times (04/07/1984), describing the last years of the venue. Courtesy of the Fitzroy Historical Society. |
- 84 Johnston Street today is a solicitors office. Click here for Google maps images.
