Capitol Theatre Revisited – Part 2

This is a continuation of our visit to explore the innards of the Capitol Theatre of Singapore. You can read the first part of the writeup here.

On one of the visits we decided to venture backstage, which was accessible via a door from the outside of the building. Nothing much to see here, apart from some scaffolding and supports.

At the back of the stage.

Venturing upstairs, we arrive at the control room. Lots of switches, wheels and stuff which probably control the lights and curtains. Being a very old theatre, a lot of the equipment is manually operated.

The control room of Capitol Theatre.
Close-up of one of the control panels, showing an array of old-school switches. These probably controlled the stage lighting.
Another control panel, with circuit breakers and power sockets. Some of the equipment appears to have been removed.

Taking the stairs all the way up leads us to a corridor facing the back of the stage. From here, we can see the hoisting equipment, cables, and other gear for controlling curtains and other stage gear.

A narrow corridor facing the backstage. The open door leads to an open rooftop area.
View of the backstage from the top.
Old wall facing the backstage.
An old wooden door which leads to the rooftop area outside.

After this trip, we tried to gain access to the theatre again. However, this time there’s a security guard who chased us out and we were unable to continue shooting. There were also another group of photographers doing model shoots inside.

By this time, some of the chairs have been removed as are most all the wall panels. It’s sad to see it in such a state which is worse off than when I first discovered the theatre.

Outside the theatre, we did a stitched shot of the building. The one below is made up of 22 individual shots and stitched in Photoshop.

A 22-shot panorama shot of the side of Capitol Theatre. The wide-angle lens used as well as the proximity to the building has caused some fisheye-like distortion after stitching.

Nearby, demolition works has begun on the Capitol Centre, which once housed private schools and a Gramophone CD shop which I used to frequent. It was also once the home of the Design Centre.

The Capitol Centre next to the Capitol Building/Theatre being demolished to make way for new developments. This was shot “blnd’ through an opening in the safety net.

Leaving the location, I hope that whatever work is done to restore it can bring it back to its former glory.

2 comments

Leave a Reply to Capitol Theatre Revisited – Part 1 | CK Photography Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *