Old cinemas/theatres

Teatro Nan King

The Teatro Nan King was a large neighbourhood cinema, located on Rua de Cinco de Outubro at Rua do Visconde Paço de Arcos. It was opened in the 1930's on the first floor of the building, with a meat, fish and vegetable market on the ground floor. The Teatro Nan King closed in the early-1950's. 966 seats. It stood empty for a few years, and was converted into a workers leisure hall. Second-run films were screened. Demolished in the 1990's, in March 2010, the site is still an empty plot of land, with the outline of the building still marking adjacent buildings.

Text by Ken Roe

Teatro Oriental

Located in a side street in the historic centre of Macau. The Teatro Oriental opened in the 1950's, and screened mainly first-run Cantonese films. 1020 seats. The street where the cinema was located was re-named after the cinema, but old street signs are still on the street today. The Teatro Oriental was closed on 28th February 1973, and in the late-1970's it was demolished and the Oriental Centre office block was built on the site.

Text by Ken Roe

Teatro/Cinema SankioThe Teatro Yue Lok was a small neighbourhood cinema in the building of Sankio Market in Macau in the 1930's and 1940's. The cinema later renamed as the Teatro Sankio. Sankio[Nova Ponte]is the name of a district in Macau. Sankio is the Cantonese pronunciation of its Chinese name, literally meaning new bridge. The exact opening and closing date of the cinema is unavailable. According to "Study Project A Review of Cinemas in Macau" published by Museu de Macau in April 2000, the cinema showed Cantonese and Mandarin films as its main programmes, and its ticket office was at the Teatro Apollo. As advertised by the flyer of the cinema, the cinema had equipped with talkie apparatus, and besides talkies, silent films were also shown. Interpreters were hired by the management of the cinema for interpretation. The cinema was reportedly destroyed by a fire in 1942, and a church and school was built on the site of the cinema and market.

Contributed by Raymond Lo

Cinema/Teatro Taipa

Located on the Taipa Island district of Macau. The Teatro Taipa was opened in 1965, the first film being "Happiness in the Hall". The Teatro Taipa was closed in 1975, and was later stripped of its fittings and seating and began use as a storage facilitiy for construction materials.

Contributed by Ken Roe

Cinema/Teatro Vitória

Located in the historic centre of Macau. The Teatro Victoria (806 seats) first opened on 8th January 1910, and screened its first film the following day. The building was made of wood, and was located on the Calcada Oriental. It had an unusual placement of the screen, which was hung in the centre of the auditorium, with seating on both sides, and a narrator describing the film from the side of the screen. The cheaper seats behind the screen saw the image in reverse. A new Teatro Victoria was built in 1921 on the corner of the main road Avenida Ameida Ribeiro, with an entrance on the narrow Rua dos Mercadores. It became the first cinema in Macau to be equipped for 'talkies' from 28th March 1928. Closed in July 1934, due to out-dated equipment and bad hygienic conditions, it was renovated and re-opened in 1935. The building now boasted a modern cinema, a casino, nightclub and a restaurant. The cinema was again renovated in 1938. The Teatro Victoria was closed on 25th November 1971, and was later demolished. A Tai Fung Bank building now stands on the site.

Contributed by Ken Roe

Teatro D. Pedro V

The Teatro Dom Pedro V was built in 1858. It is the oldest theatre in Macau, and also claims to be the first Western-style theatre in China. The architect of this theatre was Macauese Pedro Marques and is in Portuguese design. The theatre is located on Calcada do Teatro at the corner of Largo de Santo Agostinho, so local people used to call it Teatro de Santo Agostinho or Cinema de Santo Agostinho. With total seating of 360 seats, it is today functioning as a concert hall. From the end of 19th century to the early 20th century, the theatre was a venue mainly for drama, opera and concerts. It was also a "hot spot" for local high society activities. From 1915-1929, the theatre was rented to show movies and changed its name to the Teatro Ma Gau. It later was renamed the Cinema Macau. By the 1930's, when more and more modern cinemas were built, the theatre once again returned to live performances. Until early-1980's, the old, broken theatre became the "Crazy Paris Shows", featuring adult entertainment. After the restoration by the government, this theatre was listed as one of the historical buildings of the Historic Centre of Macau, which was listed on the World Heritage list by UNESCO in July 2005.
Teatro Hoi Kiang

Teatro Hoi Kiang was a small neighbourhood - Praia do Manduco - cinema in Macau. According to "Study Project A Review of Cinemas in Macau" published by Museu de Macau in April 2000, the cinema was in business in the 1930's and 1940's. The exact opening and closing date of the cinema is unavailable. Hoi Kiang is the Cantonese pronunciation of its Chinese name, literally meaning Sea and Mirror.

Contributed by Raymond Lo

Teatro/Cinema Império

Located in the historic centre of Macau, the Teatro Imperio was a popular cinema that opened as the Teatro Broadway on 21st March 1953 with "David and Bathsheba" starring Gregory Peck. After being re-named Imperio, it was still locally known as the 'Broadway' cinema. After closing on 1st June 1982, it was later demolished and the Broadway Centre of shops and apartments was built on the site.

Contributed by Ken Roe

Lido: foto de Manuel Noronha

Cinema Lido

Located at the intersection of Avenida do Almirante Lacerda and Avenida Coronel Mesquita. The Teatro Lido (1260 seats) opened on 22nd June 1968. In the 1970's it screened Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese, Western and Japanese films. It was a a very popular cinema in the 1980's. Due to the death of one of the owners, and his partner not wanting to continue operating the Teatro Lido, it was closed on 19th May 1995 with the Hong Kong film "The Queen of Temple Street. There were plans to convert the building into a supermarket, which came to nothing. The seating was stripped out and was sent to mainland China. The three projectors were still in the building in 2000, however the building remains empty and derelict.

Text by Ken Roe

Cinema/Teatro Nam Van

The Teatro Nam Van, situated in the historic central district near the picturesque Praia Grande, was the largest cinema in Macau. It stood on the corner of Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro and Rua do Dr. Pedro José Lobo. It opened to business on 20th November 1964, with Rodolfo Abate in "The Big Business" and Sylva Koscina in "Copacabana Palace". With a 60-foot wide screen, it boasted having the widest screen in Macau. The 1,600-seat auditorium with stadium seating in the rear part was on the ground floor of the theatre building. On 15th March, 1975, a home-made bomb exploded in the men's toilets on the right hand side of the screen after the management of the theatre was blackmailed by gangsters a week prior. It showed first-run Chinese dialect and English films until its closure on 1st January, 1995. It was demolished and a commercial building, the Macau Square Shopping Centre, was built on the site of the theatre.

Contributed by Raymond Lo

Apollo (à esq.): foto Time Life (1949

Teatro/Cinema Apollo (aka Peng On)

The Teatro Apollo situated in the Central district of Macau Largo do Leal Senado). It opened to business on 2nd February, 1935 with the English language motion picture "The Merry Widow". The theatre building had shops and apartments on the front part, with the 1,038-seat auditorium on the ground floor at the rear. It showed first-run Chinese dialect and English films until its closure on 1st February 1993. In the 1940's and 1950's, the theatre was also used as a venue for stage performances. Since the old buildings on the Avenida Ameida Ribeiro have to be preserved as historical heritage, the theatre building will not be redeveloped for the time being. The stalls and the lobby of the theatre have been converted into a shop (Sprite clothing), while the balcony is enclosed as a warehouse.

Contributed by Raymond Lo

Cinema/Teatro Capitol (aka Kok Va)

The Teatro Capitol was the only cinema listed on the cultural heritage list of the Macau SAR Government. It opened to business on 13th April, 1931 with Maurice Chevalier in "The Love Parade", and had an original seating capacity of 837. It had a high arched door at the entrance as typical of the style of the cinemas in Canton, Hong Kong and Macau in the 1910's and 1920's. Teatro Capitol closed on 1st August, 1987, and the interior of the theatre building was rebuilt into a shopping centre, while its exterior was preserved. In 1991, a 380-seat auditorium was added on the second floor of the theatre building. It was closed on 1st September 1997. The building has been converted into a 'low-end' mixed use market and arcade on four levels, which in March 2010 had only the basement in use as as a games arcade and the ground floor shop units, with the remainder of the building unused.

Contributed by Raymond Lo

Teatro Cheng Peng
Located in the historic centre of Macau, in a narrow street off the main Avenida Ameida Ribeiro. The Teatro Cheng Peng (1342 seats) opened in 1875, and presented Cantonese opera. Seating was provided in orchestra stalls and circle areas, and there was a stage and dressing rooms. In 1925, it was equipped to screen films and the first film screened was Lilian Gish in "The White Sister". It was one of the main cinemas in Macau during the 1940's and 1950's, but reverted back to staging Cantonese opera in the 1960's. It was renovated in the 1970's, and given an Art Deco style. Films returned, but it became a 2nd run cinema screening 'B' movies and after over 20 years of bad maintainance, it was closed on 21st August 1992, when the air-conditioning sytem failed. The building was left empty and unused for many years. When seen in March 2010, it was in use as a parking garage, with the interior decoration intact, but deteriorating.

Text by Ken Roe

NA: textos retirados do site Cinema Treasures; esta lista não é exaustiva já que existem ainda referências aos cinemas Jade (Fei Choi), Pak Wai (no antigo bairro Albano de Oliveira, já demolido), Cinema Alegria (Veng Lok), Cineteatro de Macau (no Jardim de S. Francisco e ainda no activo), Cinema Pérola (Meng Chu), entre outros.

Podem ser vistas mais imagens dos diferentes cinemas em diversos post's incluindo este:

 http://macauantigo.blogspot.com/2010/01/antigos-teatroscinemas.html