National Theatre Singapore 60s & Other Venues

The National Theatre, Singapore, was one of the the places where it all happened and when guitars, singers and audiences screamed in unison.

This blog IS a place to reminisce and contribute photographs. One of the objectives is to show what happened during our rock n roll days at the:

(a) West Point in Pasir Panjang,
(b) Ambassador Hotel roof garden opposite Katong Park,
(c) Palace Cinema at East Coast Road,
(d) Celestial Room at Orchard Road,
(e) Rosee D'or beside Scotts Road,
(f) Golden Venus all at Orchard Road,
(g) Paya Lebar Airport night club,
(h) Ocean Park Hotel night club at East Coast Road,

(i) St John's Ambulance Brigade Hall at Beach Road,
(j) other dance floors where our bands brought the ceilings down!

"The National Theatre (add on/4th August, 2010)

A landmark for the performing arts:

FROM the 1960s to the 1980s, the performing arts here were synonymous with the National Theatre, a local landmark in its heyday.Situated at Fort Canning Park in River Valley Road, the 3,420-seat theatre was the biggest performance venue in Singapore then, and had a revolving stage.

By the people, for the people:

The theatre was dubbed 'the people's theatre' because Singaporeans from all walks of life had contributed to its construction.The plan to build a theatre to commemorate Singapore's self-governance was announced in 1959. A year later, then culture minister S. Rajaratnam urged every citizen to contribute to the theatre fund in a dollar-a-brick campaign.Donations poured in from all sectors - besides cultural associations and trade unions, the man in the street contributed as well.

Shopkeepers, hawkers and labourers pooled their money, while schoolchildren broke their piggy banks - all to help build the theatre.A total of $850,000 was raised for the $2.2 million building, which was officially opened on Aug 8, 1963 for the South-east Asian Cultural Festival.

Plagued by problems

However, the fanfare over the theatre soon gave way to criticism. Audiences complained that the open-air venue was impractical, letting rain and surrounding traffic noise in. It was also home to insects and birds, hardly ideal companions during a classical music concert.More than 20 years after it had opened, a team of engineers found the theatre structurally unstable. Its 150,000kg steel cantilever roof, suspended without pillars, needed reinforcements.

But renovating and enclosing the theatre would mean parting with at least $12 million, a cost that was deemed too steep.Plans for an extension of the Central Expressway next to the building further stacked the odds against its survival.The theatre had its last curtain call after an Indian musical on Jan 15, 1984 and was demolished two years later, despite pleas for its retention from sentimental Singaporeans."

Information from:

http://forums.vr-zone.com/chit-chatting/56250-historic-buildings-singapore-were-torn-down.html

(I couldn't find the author's name, so wherever you are, if you read this, please allow me to acknowledge your article above by providing me your name. Thank you.)