I have a real soft spot for suburban movie theatres. I highly recommend the Hollywood in Avondale if you're in Auckland. One thing I really like about them is their lovely old-fashioned names and I reckon the (abandoned?) Crystal Palace in Mt Eden has one of the best names. I took some photos of it the other day, and wondered what goes on in there now. I think the last thing I saw there was Muriel's Wedding in oh, about 1995. They played a medley of Elvis songs before the main feature, had great velvet curtains and an intermission. These days I fear it's not as grand as its name suggests.
You certainly have found some interesting angles of the Crystal Palace. The photos of the tiles looks better than the actual tiles. I like your seedpods too. I'm sure you will find some interesting images of Auckland today for "photo day".
ReplyDeleteWe should reclaim that theatre and show art flicks, Z grade horror movies and other left over bits that the bigger companies decline. We could throw away the theatre seats and have comfy couches instead, or take it back to its heyday through some subtle redecorating.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a plan! Maybe we could get people to sing at the start of the movie as well, a good old round of God Save the Queen or something like that?
ReplyDeleteI love your photos. I grew up in the Crystal Palace in the 70s/80s as my dad was the manager. Haven't seen the building in over 15 years, but your photos bought memories flooding back - thank you for that. I hope that someone buys the building and restores it - the family who own it never had plans to refurbish it sadly. There is some amazing architecture inside that's never been touched - a treasure trove of 1920's/30's architecture.
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