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by Michael T Gillies

The title says it all. A beautiful documentary of one of the finest motion picture cinemas to be built in Australia. High quality coffee table publication for browsing, detailed reading or just remembering the glory days of a bygone era. Memories are made of this, from times when a theatre visit was more than just to a performance, it was a total experience. Hard cover, printed in colour on quality art paper. Prestigious book for gift or unique souvenir of Brisbane.

How could a building—just bricks, timber and plaster—generate such extreme feelings of passion in a community?

Why was this building the focal point of entertainment in the city for decades? Find that out and more in this new detailed history of Brisbane’s Regent Theatre, the largest and most ornate theatre and picture palace built in the city of Brisbane, Queensland. The story of the Regent from its conception in 1927 to its partial demolition in 1978 and rebirth in 1980 to its closure in 2010 is one that until now has never been told.

Passionate about the theatre, author Michael Gillies has researched the Regent for more than six years. He has unearthed facts, personal stories and previously unseen photographs sourced from private collections to chronicle its history. The author has left no stone unturned in writing this book.

With chapters on the design, operation and the personal experiences of those who entered its gilded interior, it is the complete A to Z of the Brisbane Regent. There are beautiful photographic plates, historic plans and programs, and intriguing details about the new technologies used, as well as those events which shaped the Regent’s history—the ‘full house’ records, the robbery, the fire, the gun shots, the midnight demolition—it is all here. Also included is a complete list of all feature films and live artists who performed on the Regent’s stage and a reproduction of the 1929 opening program.

This book will be essential reading for those who visited the Regent, for theatre aficionados and history buffs. It is a book for all generations to read and enjoy.

182 pages, 210 mm x 275 mm, hard cover, section sewn. ISBN 978 064691 467 1