State Theatre

This guide to Sydney's State Theatre opens in 1969, when a wrecking crew and developers had all but signed off on demolishing the 'tacky old' movie palace for an office tower. You'll hear why Sydney once had around twenty-eight grand theatres to rival the West End and Broadway, and how nearly all of them vanished in that same demolition wave. The guide follows the Koh-i-Noor chandelier overhead, the Wurlitzer organ hidden beneath the stage since 1929, and the pink, butterfly-covered powder room upstairs. Look up as you walk in — the chandelier is the first clue to what almost wasn't here.