Capitol Theatre

One of Capitol Theatre’s most notable features was its retractable domed ceiling: on nights with good weather, the ceiling opened and movies were screened under the night sky. Commissioned in 1929 by Persian businessman Mirza Mohamed Ali Namazie, who partnered with Indian-Muslim merchant S. A. H. Shirazee and South African brothers Joe and Julius Fisher from First National Pictures, the theatre opened on 22 May 1930 with the musical comedy Rio Rita and was hailed as having the most modern auditorium with the largest capacity in the Far East. During the first screening at 6.15 pm, a mechanical fault caused faulty sound projection, which was corrected by the 9.15 pm show. In 1944, anti-Japanese bombing damaged the building, forcing a temporary closure. Shaw Organisation bought the theatre in 1946 for $3 million, and the first ice-skating show in Malaya was performed there in 1951. In 2015, the theatre reopened after a four-year restoration, proving that some stories are better told with a retractable roof.