SIGNIFICANT MELBOURNE CITY CINEMAS & THEATRES
The Regent Theatre, 191 Collins St. Melbourne
When first opened on 15 March, 1929 as the flagship Melbourne theatre of Frank Thring's Regent franchise (later sold to Hoyts), the theatre had 3,250 seats, it was equipped with a Wurlitzer organ and was the second only to the State Theatre in capacity. It was destroyed by fire on 29/4/1945, rebuilt and reopened 16/12/1947.
The Regent was sold to Melbourne City Council in 1969 and closed on 1/7/1970 and remained idle for approximately 25 years.
Melbourne City Council attempted to demolish it, but due to fierce opposition by the "Save the Regent Committee" and the Builders Laborer’s Federation (BLF) it was saved and reopened on 17/08/1996.
After years of negotiation, the Regent came under the control of the Marriner Group, which commenced restoration in 1993, it took three years to bring the Regent back to its former glory.
In 2019, the Dress Circle balcony was extended 3.7 metres towards the stage and the stalls floor was re-
Although still equipped for film screenings, the Regent is today mainly used for live shows .
The Regent -
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