The Majestic Theatre was built in 1928 by
Eu Tong Sen for his wife who was an opera fan and once was refused to enter an
opera. He also formed an opera troupe for her, and bought the street (Eu Tong
Sen Street) on which the theatre sat. Swan and Maclaren, the leading
architectural firm at that time, designed the building. The same firm also
built Raffles Hotel and Victoria Memorial Hall.
The Majestic Theatre was originally known
as the Tien Yien Moh Toi Theatre and was a performing Cantonese opera until
1938, when it was converted into a cinema.
When the Japanese occupation of Singapore started in 1942 during World War II, the theatre
was renamed Tai Hwa Opera House. It was used to screen Japanese propaganda films.
No comments:
Post a Comment