Roxy Theatre

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Roxy Theatre 26 Bay Road, Melbourne, VIC

The Sandringham Theatre – In 1921 a syndicate was formed to acquire land in Bay Road for the erection of a picture theatre. By the end of 1922 a reinforced concrete theatre with ground floor seating for 722 people, and balcony seating for 478 had been built. The theatre officially opened on Feb 7, 1923. Owned by shareholders and said to be an architectural asset to Bay Road, with a frontage of 60 feet. The Sandringham Theatre became a popular source of entertainment when few people owned cars. With a change of program each week and the price of seats ranging from 2 shillings to nine pence, the ‘flicks’ became very popular. “Talkies” were being introduced by 1929 and the theatre was redecorated and renovated, including new sound equipment. Heating was installed in 1931.One of the first shows features “Hopalong Cassidy”.

Name change to Roxy*

The Sandringham Picture Theatre at 26 Bay Road became The Roxy Theatre in 1936. The Last Outpost starring Cary Grant was the opening feature. It was named after the famous Roxy Theatre in New York and kept entertaining people until television arrived in 1956. Attendances dropped off an the theatre closed in 1961. The building was demolished in 1982 – Contributed by Greg Lynch –