Disappeared Theatres & Cinemas
This is the first article in this blog that features buildings that really disappeared forever, and in our last article, we featured architect Chen Kun Pei (陈昆培), and briefly about his life. Most of his buildings are quite well-known in Macau, so let’s talk about some that have gone.
Nam King Theatre
The theatre was set up in Tarrefeiro Market in the 30s. Renovated as the Worker’s Entertainment House and Theatre later. It has been shut down for a couple of years, and when I went to see it in August 2006, it was torn down to give way to some other buildings.
Imperio Theatre (1953-1982)
Originally called Teatro Broadway. Was shut down on 1st June 1982 and a residential compound was rebuilt on the site and is also known as “The Broadway Centre”.
Cedade de Ouro Theatre
An Oriental theatre without much description even in the archives… …
Taipa Theatre (1965-1975)
Situated at Largo do Camoes. The theatre had 760 seats and inaugurated by Barros, the director of the Administration Bureau of the Islands. Its owner were Leung Gung Fu and Yeung Hin. It was closed down in 1975 and the land was sold to somebody else. Some years ago, according to the archives, the building is used as a warehouse for construction Materials. I was not able to visit the site myself due to the limited time during my visit, and shall anyone sees it, please contact me. Thanks.
Miscellaneous……
The cinema below has not disppeared yet; instead it’s one of the protected Monuments! It’s Kuok Wah Theatre.
Established in 1931 and located at Rua de S. Domingos, with a total of 837 seats; it was at first a joint venture between Chinese and Portuguese capitals and excelled its kind in comfort and sound equipment. It’s inauguration was held on 13th April 1931. The first movie showed was the Love Parade (爱的巡礼). It suspended it sbusiness between the end of July and the middle of September due to discrepancy in the opinion of shareholders. It showed mostly Mandarin Chinese films produced by the Shaw’s and first run Cantonese and Western films in the 60s.
It ceased its business from 1st August 1987 and was converted into a shopping mall, keeping the outlook of a thwatre. The mini cinema installed on the top floor was reopened in 1991 but shut down on 1st September 1997 until now. It was the only cinema building listed on the cultural heritage preservation scheme, due to its representative outlook of the cinema in the 20s.
The information provided in this article is based according to the archives in Central Library.
January 7th, 2007 at 7:51 pm
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