Luna Leederville, Art Deco movie theater in Leederville, Australia.
Luna Leederville is an Art Deco cinema occupying a corner site where Oxford Street meets Vincent Street, with two indoor screens and an outdoor cinema area. The spaces are designed for screenings of different sizes and formats.
Designed by architect Samuel B. Rosenthal and built by E. A. Allwood, the New Oxford Theatre opened in March 1927 before a capacity audience of 1,286, with vaudeville, an orchestra and a appearance by Beryl Mills, the first Miss Australia. It was the first suburban theatre in the area to install sound, in September 1929. Renamed several times, it became Luna Leederville after the Luna Palace group took over in 1999.
The cinema's name changed with its audiences: it showed mainly Greek and Italian films as the Olympia from 1972 to 1979, reflecting Leederville's changing community. In 1982 the upstairs lounge became the 150-seat Star Theatre, and Sunday afternoon live music began around the time The Gods Must Be Crazy ran for three years. A 2009 documentary, The New Oxford Project, traced the site's place in Leederville life.
The cinema sits at the corner of Oxford and Vincent streets, with the entrance on Oxford Street; the upstairs lounge became a second, roughly 150-seat screen. The outdoor picture garden behind the shops at 163–167 Oxford Street seats 200 and is reached through the main building. The building is not on the State Register of Heritage Places but is recommended for inclusion.
During summer months, the outdoor area transforms into an open-air cinema where viewers watch films beneath the Australian night sky. This seasonal offering combines traditional cinema with the different experience of watching outside.
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