The Capitol in Melbourne, Victoria’s oldest picture palace, celebrates its centenary today (Thursday, 7 November 2024) – and If you’ve been in there recently, you know it’s almost impossible to resist Instagramming that famous crystalline ceiling with its 400 multicoloured globes.
Australian architect Robin Boyd once described The Capitol as ‘the best cinema that was ever built or is ever likely to be built’. The stunning 580-seat Chicago-Gothic-style theatre is considered the greatest interior design work of the celebrated husband and wife architects, Marion Mahony Griffin and Walter Burley Griffin – also known as the architects of Canberra.
In the early 1960s, proposals to demolish The Capitol sparked one of Australia’s first major heritage conservation campaigns. RMIT University bought the building in 1999. It was closed for a multi-million-dollar refurbishment in 2014, and reopened in 2019. Among its many functions, it’s become a central venue for the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF), as well as serving as a teaching space by day and a hub for theatre, comedy and film by night.
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Fixing up Eliza, the Wurlitzer organ
The 100-year celebration of the Capitol also comes with a push to complete the final detail of the venue’s restoration: the repair and return of the resident Wurlitzer organ, known as ‘Eliza’, which was removed in 1963 and relocated to Dendy Cinemas in Brighton.
Essentially a 1920s version of a synthesizer, Eliza is a ‘mahogany beauty’ with 1,132 pipes capable of replicating a full orchestra and a full suite of sound effects. The organ was integral to the theatre during the silent movie era and made her first entrance in 1924, accompanying the silent film The Ten Commandments.
Marc Morel, manager of the venue said: ‘The Capitol has evolved from a marquee cinema, where films in the 1970s sometimes ran for an entire year, to its vibrant role today under the care of RMIT University. Renovated in 2019 with state-of-the-art digital projection, surround sound and a modernised fly tower, it retains its stunning geometric formalist design.’
Morel said that as a final piece in the revival, ‘RMIT is fundraising to reinstall the original Wurlitzer organ, creating an immersive performance environment where audiences can experience the theatre’s full grandeur’.
Professor Lisa French, Dean of RMIT’s School of Media and Communication, said: ‘Theatre organs are very special instruments; they have a unique sound that is distinct from the ordinary organ. Installed in the Capitol in 1924, Eliza was one of the largest and very first Wurlitzers brought to Australia.
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‘RMIT wants to put her back in her original home. Those who know her and attended screenings back in the day describe a pure sound fidelity when played in The Capitol – no doubt enhanced by the theatre’s crystalline ceiling.’
French said: ‘We imagine a new generation learning to play the organ and finding new ways to use it. Artists will be commissioned to use the sound and light shows for ambisonics. The local film and television industry, and our own screen students, might use it as a stage for recording movie soundtracks. We are only limited here by our imagination, and we’ll be welcoming Australians to join us!’
Find out more or donate to the refurbishment of Eliza here.