Built in 1929 on a site always owned by the people of Auckland, the Civic Theatre - with its distinctive Indian decor, featuring elephants and Abyssynian panthers - was a movie house and live entertainment venue until the 1950s. Refurbished, it is now run as part of the Edge complex.
The building was listed by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust in 1997, and the refurbishment has kept the art deco shop façades, while next-door the new IMAX cinema has opened. The original Wurlitzer organ was sold to the Southward Vintage Car Museum, Paraparaumu (along with the silken "flamingo" curtain), where it still plays at special concerts.
The main auditorium seats 2379 - ideal for big musicals - but there are many other smaller venues in the building, including the Winter Garden, the Safari, Taj Mahal, Civic Board, Abyssinian and Maharajah Rooms as well as the Elephant Bar and Boro Bodur.
The main auditorium seats 2379 - ideal for big musicals - but there are many other smaller venues in the building, including the Winter Garden, the Safari, Taj Mahal, Civic Board, Abyssinian and Maharajah Rooms as well as the Elephant Bar and Boro Bodur.
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