Monday, December 21, 2009

80 years of the Mighty Civic Theatre


For 80 years the Civic Theatre on Auckland's Queen Street has been an Auckland landmark. The grand and ornately decorated theatre, famous for its stary ceiling, opened on 20 December 1929 and is one of only seven surviving atmospheric theatres in the world.

The Civic was originally built as a picture theatre for the people of Auckland and was the pride of Auckland for many years. After a $42 million restoration in 2000, The Civic was lovingly restored to its former glory.

The flat ceiling was cleverly painted to resemble a dome, with thousands of lights as the stars. The night sky is a representation of a Southern Hemisphere sky at 10 p.m. on an April evening. The design style of The Civic is of a Moorish garden at night, with turrets, minarets, spires and tiled roofs and, of course, the famous Abyssinian Panthers.

The Civic seats 2,378 people on two levels and is host to a range of events including visiting international musicals.

Information on the Civic will be found in the books Celluloid Dreams and Celluloid Circus in our online shop.

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