Fish tanks built into the walls. A gentleman’s lounge decorated with rifles and fur pelts. A butterfly-themed powder room that won a heritage award. These are just a few of the unexpected delights hidden inside Sydney’s State Theatre.
Famed for its lavish interiors, glittering chandeliers and eclectic events program, the State Theatre is not only one of Sydney’s most recognisable landmarks, but also one of its most fascinating. Behind its facade lies nearly a century’s worth of stories, from near-demolitions to mass-produced Italian statues and one of the largest chandeliers in the world.
I recently attended a Sydney Film Festival screening at the State Theatre (the festival’s home since 1974) and found myself, once again, captivated by its lavish interiors. The more I looked around, the more questions I had. Where did the statues come from? What is the Butterfly Room? And just how much does that enormous chandelier weigh?
Fortunately, for anyone who’s ever wondered the same thing, the State Theatre offers weekly guided tours for just $25 per adult. We joined the two-hour experience, which takes visitors behind the scenes and into some of the building’s most fascinating spaces, from the ornate former smoking rooms and hidden lounges to the stage itself.
The tours are led by Stuart Greene, the venue’s Food and Beverage Manager, who has spent three decades working at the theatre and the past 10 years sharing its stories through guided tours. It doesn’t take long to realise that Stuart is a walking encyclopaedia of State Theatre history.
Here are some of the most fascinating stories, secrets and surprises we uncovered on our tour of the State Theatre.
Silent films and a shopping block
Built in the 1920s and opened on 7 June 1929, just months before the Great Depression, the State Theatre was the vision of Union Theatres owner Stuart Doyle and renowned architect Henry White. Conceived as “The Empire’s Greatest Theatre”, it was designed as a lavish picture palace at a time when cinemas were at their grandest and most spectacular.
Despite being built to show silent films, the State Theatre was designed to offer much more than a simple screening. Stuart explains that the reason the building still has dressing rooms, backstage areas and other theatrical facilities is that management didn’t believe silent films alone would be enough to attract audiences.
Instead, every screening was accompanied by a 30-piece orchestra, while a full-time ballet company performed live on stage four times a day, six days a week, transforming a trip to the cinema into an entertainment spectacle.
But back in 1929, people didn’t just see the State Theatre as a place to be entertained. It also opened as a shopping precinct. Stuart explained to us, “When we first opened, we had a shopping block on top, ten floors of shopping and two bargain basements below us.”
“We unfortunately opened four months before the Great Depression, and that killed off our shopping block, which went broke and turned into an office block in 1935.”
“The lower basement was turned into a mini golf course, which was all the rage in the Depression, a cheap form of entertainment.”
Sydney’s lost theatre district
As captivating as its early history is, perhaps the most remarkable thing about the State Theatre is that it almost didn’t survive. Stuart tells us about the “mass demolition” of Sydney in the 1970s.
“We had 28 theatres in the city, just like London or New York. We had a whole theatre district… a lot of Victorian theatres, all now demolished except for the Capitol Theatre and this one. They were both built as cinemas. They weren’t live venues originally. “
“All the theatres were demolished because they occupied large blocks of land, making it much easier for a developer to buy one big block and amalgamate lots of smaller sites.”
The theatre was slated for demolition in 1969, but the plans were ultimately abandoned when developers failed to secure tenants for the office building that was intended to replace it.
“When they announced our demolition in 1965, they said the State’s got to go, it’s costing too much to run, and it’s a tacky old fake movie palace”.
Stuart explains that the State Theatre was once dismissed as “a tacky old fake movie palace” because much of its marble is actually scagliola, an Italian imitation of the real thing. While the grand staircase is genuine marble, many of the building’s other surfaces were created as a more affordable alternative, scagliola, leading some to view the theatre as less prestigious than rivals like the now-demolished Palace Theatre.
The State Theatre’s strangest features
After discussing the history of the State Theatre, we continue deeper into the theatre and are shown some of its funkiest features.
The Butterfly Room
The most famous of the lounges in the State, the Butterfly Room is all pink furniture, pastel walls and ornate mirrors, with, of course, butterflies dotted all around, from the ceiling to the carpet. Women would come here during breaks to powder their noses or smoke a cigarette.
Often described as Sydney’s most beautiful bathroom, it still has some of its original 1929 paint job, though most of the room has undergone a “reproduction”, based on past photographs. In fact, the team behind the Butterfly Room’s restoration won the 2020 National Trust Heritage Award for Conservation Interiors & Objects, recognising the painstaking work undertaken to return the space to its original splendour.
The Pioneer Room
Few things highlight the gender norms of the early 20th century quite like the contrast between the Pioneer Room and the Butterfly Room.
Designed as a gentlemen’s lounge, the Pioneer Room is rugged, dramatic and stereotypically masculine. Stuart tells us it once featured real rifles mounted on the walls, though these have since been replaced with replicas for obvious reasons. A fur pelt hangs above a faux fireplace, and the room almost feels like a dark, old British pub. In fact, an old piece of writing in the theatre describes it as “an exact reproduction of the hut of a backwoodsman”.
The Royal Mezzanine fish tanks
The State Theatre originally featured two live fish tanks, built into the walls of its mezzanine level. Stuart reveals where one of them would have been and describes the hydraulic lift system that allowed them to be raised for cleaning. He also tells us that there is some talk of reinstating the fish tanks, though nothing has been confirmed yet.
The Fujiyama Cameo
The Fujiyama Cameo in the Dress Circle Foyer was meant to look like Mount Fuji erupting: when a tap was turned on, water bubbled up at seven different levels and went into a pond below.
Unfortunately, it was removed during World War II because it was a Japanese design, and despite calls to bring it back 20 years ago, it was considered dangerous to have a pond feature in the dress foyer where people would be drinking. You can still see the hand-carved mirror, which was part of the feature.
Koh-I-Nor Chandelier
The Koh-I-Nor cut crystal chandelier is the second largest on earth, and hangs from the ceiling of the State Theatre. Stuart tells us that it weighs roughly three and a half tonnes. Thanks to its huge scale and delicate structure, it takes a dedicated crew to maintain and clean it every six months.
The Wurlitzer Organ
The State Theatre’s Wurlitzer organ is currently the only theatre pipe organ in Australia and New Zealand still housed in its original location. However, Stuart notes that this distinction may not last much longer, with Melbourne’s Capitol Theatre preparing to return its own organ to its original location. The organ recently underwent a $3 million restoration spanning 17 years.
Mass-produced statues
Many of the statues dotted throughout the State Theatre were imported from Italy by a company that mass-produced decorative pieces for movie palaces around the world. According to Stuart, theatre owners could simply select their favourites from a catalogue of around 150 different designs and import them to Sydney.
Original drapes
You can see the theatre’s original red drapes throughout the theatre. They have to be dry-cleaned every two years, then sprayed to make them fireproof.
Notable performances
The State Theatre has hosted some of the biggest names in the world, though Stuart says that his favourite would have to be Julie Andrews, who came to the theatre in 2013 for an interview-style talk discussing her six-decade career.
Other world-class musical acts that have graced the stage include Prince, Cyndi Lauper, Petula Clark (another of Stuart’s favourites), Florence and the Machine, John Legend and Dawn French.
The theatre now hosts comedies, talks, theatre productions, concerts, burlesque and more. You can check out its full program here.
How to book a tour of the State Theatre
After two hours wandering through the hidden lounges, former smoking rooms and various levels of the State Theatre, I’m amazed that this extraordinary building has managed to retain so much of its original charm.
Stuart’s tour offers a fascinating insight into the theatre’s architecture, history and hidden secrets. With 30 years spent working within its walls, there’s seemingly no question about the State Theatre he can’t answer.
Whether you’re fascinated by architecture, local history or simply curious about what lies behind those grand doors on Market Street, I’d highly recommend booking his tour. You definitely won’t look at the theatre the same way after, and at $25 for adults and $17 for children for a two-hour tour, it’s definitely worth the money.
To book a spot on the tour, simply head to statetheatre.com.au. You can buy tickets at the State Theatre Box Office; they do regularly sell out, so I’d recommend booking ahead online.
