The Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace in Cremorne is entertainment for grown-ups. At 73, this Grande Dame of a theatre is a lady of the Jazz age, bedecked in the jewels of Art Deco. She is a cinema for the mature and the mature at heart.
Enter her blue-lit lobby with its extraordinary stained glass gas lights and you will find yourself longing for a fur stole across your shoulders and a cigarette holder to dangle languidly from your be-gloved, diamond encrusted hand as you sip a cocktail before the show.
"Classy entertainment with classy ambience," declares Paul Dravet, Managing Director of the Hayden Orpheum, from within the ornate cinema's office when asked to describe her ethos.
"First class entertainment in a first class setting. Adult entertainment. How's that?"
It's not that kind of adult entertainment but there is a certainly a sensuality to the Hayden Orpheum, a sensuality that harks back to her youth as a 1930s cinema doyenne, and despite her 1980s face lift she is as sumptuous as ever.
She retains her velvet curtains, luxurious chairs and Wurlitzer organ - brought all the way from California to accompany the silent movies first played in her theatre. It still presides over cinema four, The Orpheum, the dress circle of the original theatre.
And each of the six current cinemas lovingly reproduces her original Art Deco style, from the stained glass dome in cinema three, The Lounge, to the leadlight lady on the wall of cinema six, The Hayden, every cinema is different, yet each is an astounding representation of the 1930s jazz style. She is, says Dravet, the best example of Art Deco in Australia and patrons are constantly astounded by her authenticity, despite several of the cinemas being only a decade old.
As for the films themselves, they are as sophisticated as the décor; no popcorn and blockbusters here. A look at the Orpheum's 'now showing' list is a roll call of foreign language, art house and Australian films.
“We lean towards a specialised market,” said Dravet. “We've stuck with that through thick and thin at it's paid off.
Dravet, who has been with the Orpheum for 20 years, has the enviable job of choosing the films, which he says is a matter of following a film's overseas performance, tracking down trailers and surfing websites. He'd like to watch every offering but it's just not possible, instead he relies on his instinct to know what will be right.
"You've got to surprise people, not stick to the safe stuff," he says,
She is aging well, the Orpheum, and opening her arms to a broader spectrum of entertainments. Sunday Jazz treats are a regular affair. Book signings and speakers are also becoming features as this Grande Dame continues to challenge her devotees with an interesting, different cinema experience.
Photos by Catherine Alcorn
