page_title: State Theatre (Sydney)
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: State Theatre (Sydney) / History
caption_attribution_description: English: State Theatre, Sydney
context_page_description: The State Theatre is a heritage-listed theatre, located at 47-51 Market Street, in the Sydney central business district in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. The theatre was designed by Henry Eli White and built from 1926 to 1929. It hosts film screenings, live theatre and musical performances, and since 1974 it has been the home of the annual Sydney Film Festival. It is also known as State Building and Wurlitzer Organ. The property is privately owned. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.
context_section_description: Located on the site former offices of the Evening News newspaper, building commenced on the State Theatre in 1927 with an estimated construction budget of £400,000. The theatre was designed by the eminent New Zealand theatre architect Henry Eli White, the designer of some 120 theatres in Australia and New Zealand. It remains as a rare and pre-eminent example of his firm's work. The design of the State Theatre, with its fly-tower stages,was based on original design ideas produced by the American theatre architect John Eberson in co-operation with Henry E. White. After visiting the USA  to see Eberson's work, White was able to eliminate all posts supporting balconies and the interior reflects the American's influence. 
  The State Theatre opened on 7 June 1929. The Theatre was envisioned by Stuart Doyle, owner of Union Theatres and the esteemed architect Henry White. It was to be seen as "The Empire's Greatest Theatre" and was designed as a picture palace when such monuments to movies were seen at their grandest and most spectacular. During its first week patrons were offered "entertainment of unparalleled magnificence". The opening night's performance featured noted bandleader Will Prior who was described in the programme as a conductor capable of lifting "jazz to perfection in a sublime miscellany of melodious rhythm". The Greater Union theatre chain had purchased the land in 1926. The cost blew out to over a million pounds, and the theatre opened with the Ernst Lubitsch film The Patriot on 7 June 1929, accompanied by Price Dunlavy billed as a "debonair genius" playing on the Wurlitzer organ.
  Seating approximately 2,000, it was eclipsed in size by its namesake, the State Theatre in Melbourne, which sat 3,371. However, it was much more ornate, having been elaborately designed by Sydney architect Henry Eli White, who based his work on that of American theatre architect John Eberson, and was invited to work with him on this theatre in Australia. The theatre building has Gothic-style street facades and an elaborate late Gothic street lobby complete with fan vaulting, a Neoclassical domed stairhall, elaborately detailed foyers and lobbies, while the main auditorium is a richly detailed Baroque styled space with three tiers of seating and a coffered domed ceiling. The first sound film screened was Paramount's  A Dangerous Woman  on 29 June 1929. The last all silent film screened (before later revivals) was United Artists' Evangeline on 6 December 1929.
  Other attractions included Australian soprano Rene Maxwell and the State Beauty Ballet billed as "a beauty bevy with amazing ability". The stage had then been set for many performers and films to transport and entertain future customers. After providing an outlet and a venue for entertainment during the Great Depression of the 1930s, the next decade saw the events of World War II. Leading up to and during the war, patrons were able to view the latest news through the theatre's regular screenings of the Movietone newsreels. The State played its part by continuing to provide an escape for all those directly and indirectly involved in the conflict, entertained by actors such as Cary Grant, Ronald Colman and Joan Crawford.
  A newsreel theatre, the first in Australia, was opened in the basement of the building in 1932. It later became a screening room.
  Post-1945, the State once again became the place where Sydneysiders were emphasised. This decade saw the beginning of Australian multiculturalism with the first wave of post-war immigration. Increasing affluence and economic stability fuelled the rapid expansion of new outer lying suburbs and helped to create the so-called "baby-boom" generation. As television was far from an everyday reality, people went the State to fulfill watching live film entertainment. A new generation of Hollywood and local actors had arisen during this decade. Film attractions appearing in this decade included James Stewart in Bend of the River and Virginia McKenna starring in an adaptation of Neville Shute classic book A town like Alice.
  The 1960s saw Australia 
caption: The State Theatre street lobby
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