SIGNIFICANT MELBOURNE CITY CINEMAS & THEATRES
Copyright 2022 -
The State Theatre 154 Flinders St. Melbourne
The theatre opened 22/2/1929, and was known as the State Theatre from its opening until it closed 8/3/1962.
When it opened in 1939, the Dept of Health files say it had 1999 seats in stalls & 1372 in the circle, although these numbers were reduced over the years.
In 1962, it was divided into two to become the Rapallo (former circle, seating 627) and the Forum (former stalls, seating 944).
It was further refurbished in 1981, and reopened as the Forum 1 & Forum 2. It was subsequently closed 1986 and was then taken over by a religious group.
The theatre was sold in 1995 to the Marriner Group, who restored and refurbished the theatre. It was reopened July 1996.
It is now mostly used as a live music/theatre venue, although it is still used for the Melbourne Film Festival (1996-
The building had another extensive internal refurbishment with some alterations in 2017.
The venue has a National Trust classification and is recorded by Historic Buildings Preservation Council.
