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{{More citations needed|date=May 2023}} |
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{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}} |
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{{EngvarB|date=September 2019}} |
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{{Infobox venue |
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| name = Rex Cinemas Mackenzie |
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| nickname = |
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| native_name = |
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| native_name_lang = |
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| fullname = Rex Cinemas Mackenzie RD |
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| former names = Rex Theatre <br> TJ Live House @ The Rex <br> Rex Cinemas |
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| logo_image = |
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| logo_caption = |
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| image = |
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| image_size = |
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| image_alt = |
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| caption = |
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| pushpin_map = Singapore |
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| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Singapore |
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| pushpin_label_position = |
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| address = 2 Mackenzie Road, Singapore 228673 |
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| location = Singapore |
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| coordinates = {{Coord|1|18|17.3|N|103|51|00.0|E|display=inline,title|region:SG_type:landmark}} |
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| type = Movie theatre |
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| genre = |
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| broke_ground = |
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| built = |
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| opened = {{Start date|1946}} |
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| renovated = 2009 |
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| expanded = |
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| closed = 1983 (as Rex Theatre).<br>2018 (as Carnival Cinemas Mackenzie) |
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| reopened = 2009 |
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| demolished = |
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| owner = Malayan Theatre Ltd (former) <br> [[Shaw Organisation]] (former) <br> [[Rex Cinemas]] (former)<br> [[Carnival Cinemas]] |
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| operator = Malayan Theatre Ltd (former) <br> [[Shaw Organisation]] (former) <br> [[Rex Cinemas]] (former)<br> [[Carnival Cinemas]] |
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| surface = |
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| production = |
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| project_manager = |
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| structural engineer = |
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| services engineer = |
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| general_contractor = |
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| tenants = Fuji Ice Palace (former) <br> Foo Chow Methodist Church (former) <br> TJ Live House (former) |
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| embedded = |
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| website = {{URL|www.carnivalcinemas.sg}} |
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| publictransit = {{SMRT code|NE|7|DT|12}} [[Little India MRT station|Little India]] |
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}} |
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'''Rex Cinemas Mackenzie''', formerly '''Rex Cinemas''' and '''Rex Theatre''', is an [[Art Deco]] style cinema building in Singapore. the cinema was adjacent to Ellison building along Mackenzie Road. The cinema was bounded by major road, [[Bukit Timah Road]] and secondary roads Mackenzie and Selegie Road. |
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The first film screened in Rex Cinema was an English film, “[[The Jungle Book]]”. As its peak popularity in 1976, Rex Cinema attracted the largest crowd they could ever imagine when they screened “[[Earthquake (film)|Earthquake]]” which came alongside with new “[[sensurround]]” sound effects that sent simulated vibrations around the cinema seats, depicting a real earthquake. The last film being screened in Rex was “[[Jaws 3-D|Jaws 3D]]”. |
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Rex Cinema has a renowned social history from 1946 till today. |
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== History == |
== History == |
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Built on the former site of the Singapore Boxing Stadium which was closed and demolished in 1946, the theatre opened in 1964. It started out as a cinema, a concert venue, then an ice skating rink, into a church, a [[disco]] and back to being a cinema again. |
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The theatre hall was different from the other cinemas in Singapore in terms of its layout organisation. The front and back stalls seats of the cinema hall sloped downwards to meet each other. This gives movie watchers seated in the front to have a better view of the screen without straining their necks. |
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===Timeline=== |
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'''1924 - 1946''', Singapore Boxing Stadium |
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The first film screened in Rex Theatre was an English film, ''[[The Jungle Book (1967 film)|The Jungle Book]]''. |
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'''1942 - 1945''', World War II |
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In 1967, [[Shaw Organisation]] took over the cinema. |
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'''1946''', Rex Cinema first open its doors by Malayan Theatre Ltd, filmed a spectrum of multi-genre and multi-racial [[film]]s |
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As its peak popularity in 1976, Rex Theatre attracted the largest crowd when they screened ''[[Earthquake (1974 film)|Earthquake]]'' which came with new [[sensurround]] sound effects that sent simulated vibrations around the cinema seats, depicting a real earthquake. |
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'''1967''', Ownership of cinema changed hands and it came under [[Shaw Organisation]] |
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Due to the rise of home video and videotape piracy, the cinema closed in 1983 with ''[[Jaws 3-D]]'' being the last film shown at Rex.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |title=Going back to the movies at Rex |work=AsiaOne |url=http://www.asiaone.com/singapore/going-back-movies-rex |access-date=11 April 2018}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Johnson |first=Jason |date=14 September 2009 |title=Raising the REX |pages=18–19 |work=[[The New Paper]]}}</ref> |
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'''1976''', Gain its peak popularity. |
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In 1985, Rex Theatre was converted into a performance house with famous singers from [[Taiwan]] and Hong Kong. They held their concert there and attracted a lot of people. |
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'''1983''', Rex cinema shut down its doors due to rampancy of [[videotape]] piracy and eventually the business plunged. From then on there were no cinemas in the district. This also marked the end of people’s memories of Rex Cinema. |
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In 1989, the theatre was converted into an [[ice rink]], Fuji Ice Palace. It ceased operations in 1993. |
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'''1985''', Rex Cinema was converted into a performance house with famous singers from [[Taiwan]] and [[Hong Kong]]. They held their concert there and it had attracted a lot of people. |
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Foo Chow Methodist Church step in and took over Rex Theatre in 1999 for a year to hold worship services.<ref name=":0" /> It functioned as a temporary church as the original church along 90 Race Course Road was undergoing reconstruction and upgrading when it was discovered to be unsafe for operation due to tunnelling works for an [[Mass Rapid Transit (Singapore)|MRT]] line.<ref name=":0" /> A year later, the church then moved back to its own premises.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Singapore |first=National Library Board |title=Old racecourse (Farrer Park) {{!}} Infopedia |url=http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_1111_2007-07-19.html |access-date=11 April 2018 |website=eresources.nlb.gov.sg}}</ref> |
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'''1989''', The performance house made way for Fuji Ice Palace, an [[ice rink]] which ceased operations in 1993. |
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In 2000, it was reopened as a disco known as ''TJ Live House @ The Rex''. |
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'''1999''', Rex Cinema housed [http://www.foochowmc.org.sg/ Foo Chow Methodist Church] for a year. |
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In 2007, Rex Theatre was left abandoned after its previous tenant, Indian nightclub Amaran, closed down.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> |
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'''2000''', It turned into TJ Live House @ The Rex, a disco |
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In 2009, Narayanasamy Muthu, with his son, Senthil Kumar, who managed jewellery chain, [[Kamala Jewellers]], and his Malaysian business partner, Murugan Soppurayan invested more than $3 million to renovate Rex cinemas.<ref name=":1" /> It has three cinema halls with the main hall having 700 seats<ref name=":1" /> with the capacity reduced to 570 seats over the years and two smaller halls with 82 seats each.<ref name=":0" /> |
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'''2007''', Rex Cinema was left abandoned. |
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The cinemas mostly shows Tamil and Hindi movies while also showing Malay films.<ref name=":0" /> |
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'''2009 - Today''', Rex was finally back on its feet. It was converted into a 3 hall modernized cinema |
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In August 2017, the premises was acquired by [[Carnival Cinemas]] and renamed as Rex Cinemas Mackenzie.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Laghate |first=Gaurav |date=25 August 2017 |title=Carnival Cinemas acquires 4 screens in Singapore, eyes expansion in other international markets |work=The Economic Times |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/media/entertainment/carnival-cinemas-buys-two-cinemas-in-singapore/articleshow/60214130.cms |access-date=11 April 2018}}</ref> The cinema ceased operation in July 2018.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rex Cinemas |url=https://www.roots.gov.sg/en/places/places-landing/Places/surveyed-sites/Rex-Cinemas |access-date=2023-05-25 |website=www.roots.gov.sg}}</ref> |
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== Surrounding Spaces == |
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===Street Hawker Food=== |
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Rex Theatre was once brimmed with hawker food, a uniquely Singaporean identity that ought to be embedded in the social history of Singapore. The side lane of Rex Theatre was once a thriving place for cheap and scrumptious hawker food. Patrons could be seen hanging outside the left lane of the cinema mingling and socializing with each other and indulging in street hawker food. |
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===Old Chang Kee=== |
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[[Old Chang Kee]] curry puffs was one of the food which played a significant memory for movie patrons. The aroma of the [[curry puff]]s has won the hearts of many people back then. Old Chang Kee is a food retail chain best known for its Hainanese-style curry puffs, which were first sold in 1956. It’s first stall was open at Koek Road in between what lies today Orchard Point and Orchard Plaza, by a Hainanese immigrant Chang Chuan Boon. He then moved to Albert street which was acclaimed for its hawkers’ stalls until 1980s. In 1973, Chang then opened his second stall at a coffee shop on Mackenzie Road, near the Rex Cinema. The curry puffs were so famous it became known as “Rex” curry puffs. |
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===Singapore Traction Company=== |
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Public Transportation was one of the vital factor which brought people from different parts of Singapore to the vicinity of Rex Cinema. In 1950s, the bus depot belonging to [http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/history/events/51e3da00-2cdf-43a2-a548-5581d2db3e64 Singapore Traction Company] was situated right beside Rex Cinema, which today is an open air-carpark. It was one of the biggest bus operator that ran trams operated by overhead electric cables. The location of the bus depot was so convenient for movie patrons where they could alight right at the doorstep of Rex Cinema. This ended when the bus company went bankrupt in 1971. |
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===Foo Chow Methodist Church=== |
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Foo Chow Methodist Church step in and took over Rex Cinema in 1999 for a year to hold worship services. It functioned as a temporary church because the original church along 90 [http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_1111_2007-07-19.html Race Course Road] was undergoing reconstruction and upgrading due to bad foundation in the earth. It was found to be unsafe for operation due to tunneling works for an [[Mass Rapid Transit (Singapore)|MRT]] line. A year later, the church then moved back to its own premises. It is interesting to see how a theatre space could be used as a church to hold worship services. The old Rex Cinema hall was different from the other cinemas in terms of layout organisation. The front and back stalls seats of the cinema hall sloped downwards to meet each other. This gives movie watchers seated in the front to have a better view of the screen without straining their necks. The church has undergone various stages of expansion and reconstruction to what it is today. |
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== Current Usage == |
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The revival of Rex Cinema in 2009 was all thanks to a humble man named Kumar alongside with his father who runs jewelry businesses in Singapore. They decide to breathe new life into Rex Cinema by chipping in $2million. They had an interior make over with an addition of 2 smaller halls upstairs and the main hall filled with 570 seats while the other two, could hold 82 patrons each. A majority of Indian and [[foreign worker]]s patronizing Rex Cinema due to its Hindi and Indian films. The vicinity around the cinema encourages people to interact and socialize with each other. There are Indian Muslim shops selling food where it hopes to bring back memories of hawker stalls along the side lane of Rex back then. |
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[[Urban Redevelopment Authority|Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA)]] master plan citing was thinking of redevelopment in the area. A part of the historical 1924 Ellison Building beside Rex Cinema would be affected due to the tunneling works by [[Land Transport Authority|Land Transport Authority (LTA)]]. They are finding measures on how to minimise impact of the upcoming tunnel works. Authorities also mentioned in August 2017 that one of the building’s nine units would be demolished to make way for the [https://www.lta.gov.sg/content/ltaweb/en/roads-and-motoring/projects/north-south-corridor.html North-South corridor], a 21.5 km expressway. Apparently, this poses a threat to Rex Cinema being Singapore’s last stand alone theatres. |
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== References == |
== References == |
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{{Reflist}} |
{{Reflist}} |
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[[Category:Cinemas in Singapore]] |
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<ref>Remember Singapore. (2012, August 2). Retrieved from http://remembersingapore.wordpress.com/2012/08/02/singapore-cinemas-history/</ref> |
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[[Category:Former cinemas]] |
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<ref>The Lion Raw. (2014, June 4). Retrieved from http://lionraw.com/2014/06/04/admiring-art-deco-architecture-in- |
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[[Category:Theatres in Singapore]] |
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singapore/</ref> |
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[[Category:Landmarks in Singapore]] |
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<ref>B. S. Rajhans. (2014, September 26). A Twist of Fate (1952). Retrieved from |
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[[Category:1946 establishments in the British Empire]] |
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https://sgfilmlocations.com/2014/09/26/anjoran-nasib-1952/</ref> |
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[[Category:1946 establishments in Singapore]] |
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<ref>Memories of Rex Cinema . (2014, September 14). Retrieved from https://cinemaofthepast.wordpress.com/</ref> |
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<ref> |
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Y. C. (2015, February 1). Going back to the movies at Rex. Retrieved from |
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http://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/going-back-movies-rex</ref> |
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<ref>About Shaw, Singapore Post War, Rex Cinema, Shaw Theatres, assessed September 15, |
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2014, http://www.shaw.sg/sw_abouthistory.aspx?id=9_1.</ref> |
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<ref>National Heritage Board. Little India Heritage Trial. Singapore: National Heritage Board, 2017. Web.</ref> |
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<ref>Old Chang Kee, Singapore Infopedia, An electronic encyclopedia on Singapore’s history, culture, people and |
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events, assessed September 15, 2014, http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_1671_2010-06- |
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16.html.</ref> |
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<ref>The Rex was not always a cinema in Singapore’s colourful film history, The Straits Times Entertainment, |
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accessed September 13, 2014, http://stcommunities.straitstimes.com/show/2014/01/10/do-not-pub-rex-back</ref> |
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<ref>V. (September 22). THE ARCHITECTURE AND MEMORIES ASSOCIATED WITH REX THEATRE IN |
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SINGAPORE. Retrieved from https://veeramanypsdotcom.wordpress.com/</ref> |
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<ref>T. (2011, September 29). Rex Cinema Then and Now. Retrieved from |
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http://blogtoexpress.blogspot.sg/2011/09/rex-cinema.html</ref> |
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[[Category:Singapore]] |
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Latest revision as of 11:17, 19 April 2024
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (May 2023) |
.svg)  Rex Cinemas Mackenzie Location in Singapore | |
| Full name | Rex Cinemas Mackenzie RD |
|---|---|
| Former names | Rex Theatre TJ Live House @ The Rex Rex Cinemas |
| Address | 2 Mackenzie Road, Singapore 228673 |
| Location | Singapore |
| Coordinates | 1°18′17.3″N 103°51′00.0″E / 1.304806°N 103.850000°E |
| Public transit | NE7 DT12 Little India |
| Owner | Malayan Theatre Ltd (former) Shaw Organisation (former) Rex Cinemas (former) Carnival Cinemas |
| Operator | Malayan Theatre Ltd (former) Shaw Organisation (former) Rex Cinemas (former) Carnival Cinemas |
| Type | Movie theatre |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1946 |
| Renovated | 2009 |
| Closed | 1983 (as Rex Theatre). 2018 (as Carnival Cinemas Mackenzie) |
| Reopened | 2009 |
| Tenants | |
| Fuji Ice Palace (former) Foo Chow Methodist Church (former) TJ Live House (former) | |
| Website | |
| www | |
Rex Cinemas Mackenzie, formerly Rex Cinemas and Rex Theatre, is an Art Deco style cinema building in Singapore. the cinema was adjacent to Ellison building along Mackenzie Road. The cinema was bounded by major road, Bukit Timah Road and secondary roads Mackenzie and Selegie Road.
History
[edit]Built on the former site of the Singapore Boxing Stadium which was closed and demolished in 1946, the theatre opened in 1964. It started out as a cinema, a concert venue, then an ice skating rink, into a church, a disco and back to being a cinema again.
The theatre hall was different from the other cinemas in Singapore in terms of its layout organisation. The front and back stalls seats of the cinema hall sloped downwards to meet each other. This gives movie watchers seated in the front to have a better view of the screen without straining their necks.
The first film screened in Rex Theatre was an English film, The Jungle Book.
In 1967, Shaw Organisation took over the cinema.
As its peak popularity in 1976, Rex Theatre attracted the largest crowd when they screened Earthquake which came with new sensurround sound effects that sent simulated vibrations around the cinema seats, depicting a real earthquake.
Due to the rise of home video and videotape piracy, the cinema closed in 1983 with Jaws 3-D being the last film shown at Rex.[1][2]
In 1985, Rex Theatre was converted into a performance house with famous singers from Taiwan and Hong Kong. They held their concert there and attracted a lot of people.
In 1989, the theatre was converted into an ice rink, Fuji Ice Palace. It ceased operations in 1993.
Foo Chow Methodist Church step in and took over Rex Theatre in 1999 for a year to hold worship services.[1] It functioned as a temporary church as the original church along 90 Race Course Road was undergoing reconstruction and upgrading when it was discovered to be unsafe for operation due to tunnelling works for an MRT line.[1] A year later, the church then moved back to its own premises.[1][3]
In 2000, it was reopened as a disco known as TJ Live House @ The Rex.
In 2007, Rex Theatre was left abandoned after its previous tenant, Indian nightclub Amaran, closed down.[1][2]
In 2009, Narayanasamy Muthu, with his son, Senthil Kumar, who managed jewellery chain, Kamala Jewellers, and his Malaysian business partner, Murugan Soppurayan invested more than $3 million to renovate Rex cinemas.[2] It has three cinema halls with the main hall having 700 seats[2] with the capacity reduced to 570 seats over the years and two smaller halls with 82 seats each.[1]
The cinemas mostly shows Tamil and Hindi movies while also showing Malay films.[1]
In August 2017, the premises was acquired by Carnival Cinemas and renamed as Rex Cinemas Mackenzie.[4] The cinema ceased operation in July 2018.[5]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g "Going back to the movies at Rex". AsiaOne. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
- ^ a b c d Johnson, Jason (14 September 2009). "Raising the REX". The New Paper. pp. 18–19.
- ^ Singapore, National Library Board. "Old racecourse (Farrer Park) | Infopedia". eresources.nlb.gov.sg. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
- ^ Laghate, Gaurav (25 August 2017). "Carnival Cinemas acquires 4 screens in Singapore, eyes expansion in other international markets". The Economic Times. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
- ^ "Rex Cinemas". www.roots.gov.sg. Retrieved 25 May 2023.