Regent Theatre, Melbourne, Grand theater in Collins Street, Melbourne, Australia
The Regent Theatre is a live theatre on Collins Street in Melbourne, built in 1929 and restored in 1996. Its facade in tan stone is symmetrical about a round-arched window carved with "THE REGENT", with paired columns and balustraded sills; the auditorium interior has a coffered cream-and-gold ceiling with quatrefoil patterns and a large metal chandelier.
The building opened in 1929 as a cinema and variety venue and quickly became an important performance address in the city. A major fire in 1945 destroyed the auditorium while the lobbies and stairwells survived, later integrated into the reconstruction.
The name echoes London's Regent Street and reflects Collins Street's status as the city's most fashionable address when construction began. Today theatregoers come for major musicals and experience the mix of period styles visible in walls, ceilings and staircases throughout.
The main entrance is a deep arched recess on Collins Street, between the paired columns of the facade. The theatre sits in the East End Theatre District, within walking distance of Parliament station and Collins Street tram stops. The Plaza Ballroom occupies the basement level, reached separately from the main auditorium.
Below the main auditorium sits the Plaza Ballroom in the basement, which functions as a separate event space for concerts and receptions. This second level expands the programming options and allows parallel events to run in the same building.
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