23.08.2020

Capitol Building in Singapore


It's a bit strange about Capitol in Singapore: There is Capitol Theatre and Capitol Building (so written on the stamp). Both buildings were built in 1929/30 and stand next to each other. But there is only one cinema opened on 22 May 1930 - the Capitol Theatre.
The Capitol Theatre was designed neoclassical architecture by British architects Keys and Dowdeswell, inspired from the Roxy Theatre in New York. It had 1.100 seats on the ground floor and 500 seats at the circle. On 22 May 1930, Capitol Theatre officially opened with musical comedy film Rio Rita (USA, 1929).
In the 1930s, the Capitol was the largest and the newest cinema in Singapore.
Movie stars like Charlie Chaplin, Ava Gardner, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks visited the theatre to promote their movies in Singapore.
In 1989, the theatre closed for a two-week renovation with rewiring, reequipped with the new sound system and projectors and painting of the cinema hall and reopened on 26 October 1989 with Lethal Weapon 2. But closed in December 1998. 
Fortunatelly, the Capitol reopened on 19 May 2015 with the world premiere of Singapura: The Musical. Now 977 seats are ready for different venues.
The advertised movie is Bengal Brigade (USA, 1954).

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