Curtain rises on Embassy facelift for LOTR world premiere

By JAMES GARDINER

Take three. The scaffolding is down, the new curtain is up, and the last of the building debris swept away.

Wellington's Embassy Theatre, set to host Monday's world premiere of The Return of the King, the third in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy, had its gala reopening last night after the third in a $7 million series of facelifts.

In fact, the most recent work was more major surgery than a facelift.

The interior has been gutted and rebuilt to earthquake-safety standards, the screen and all the seats replaced, and ornate plasterwork restored or recreated.

The re-opening was the fruit of seven years' toil and vision for a group of cinema enthusiasts who formed the Embassy Theatre Trust, saved the 1924 neo-classical heritage building from the wrecking ball, then raised the money to restore it to its former glory.

One of the trustees, David Carson-Parker, said he was delighted with the contribution so many Wellingtonians - volunteers, specialists and financial backers - had made.

"It's absolutely wonderful now. When you come in you've got this presentation to make the film something special," he said yesterday.

The trustees and architects pored over old photographs of the original opening in a desire to re-make what was and do away with 1940s and 50s modifications that detracted from the theatre's style and grandeur.

The first stage of the upgrade was the exterior, at a cost of $560,000 in 1998; the second, the foyers and stairs, for $1.1 million two years ago; and last night the doors were opened to invited guests for the real deal, the $4.6 million auditorium.

Completely rebuilt, with wider aisles and stairways, the theatre is one of New Zealand's largest despite no longer having the 1500-seat capacity of the original.

Turquoise tiles lining the walls of the auditorium have been stripped of paint. Two large plastered domes seen, in photographs, above the emergency exits on either side of the screen have been created anew.

Ceiling frames, for years painted in Russian bordello-style blue and gold, also have been stripped back. Now neutral eggshell white and beige colours highlight rather than hide the plasterwork.

Even the carpet pattern matches the original.

A lift gives disabled people access to the 758-seat theatre for the first time, and there also are more toilets.

Another addition is the proscenium arch, with plaster columns matching the rest of the interior.

The original screen, behind the new one, has not been large enough since widescreen movies arrived.

Technically state-of-the-art, the theatre has seven-track surround sound and one of the largest screens in Australasia.

But it's the new seats that are likely to appeal most to theatre-goers.

They all have exceptional views and the majority are built like luxury armchairs, well padded and comfortably angled, with plenty of legroom.

In the centre are 79 "platinum' seats, which are wider again and leather-upholstered.

Mr Carson-Parker thinks the new Embassy is a really good event theatre - one to do the premiere proud.

Herald Feature: Lord of the Rings