Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace — Attraction in Sydney

I've heard big things about this cinema and been meaning to make the journey to come and see it.

I'm a self appointed cinephile and having been a photographer for now 10 years, I appreciate a quality screen.

Having heard big things, and being one of the few operators in Sydney showing Oppenheimer in 70mm projection I knew this would be the time to actually journey out.

Being from out of the area (good ol western Sydney, Parramatta) it was completely different experience to that of just going to the movies at the local event cinemas. I actually felt like I was somewhere, about to watch something special.

The friendly staff and ambience made the whole process of getting in really enjoyable.

Unlike other cinemas, I wasn't sitting there for half the movie asking "Is this in focus or is it my eyes?". I feel like whoever's in charge of the technical side of things actually takes pride in their work and judging by the ads, their given target market being that on the older side, they wouldn't even need to care that much 😜 but I digress.

This cinema, is first date material, something to dress up too, and enjoy with someone special after dinner. But why I am talking about that, I'm single.

The ONLY criticism I have of the whole place, and really this is ALL cinemas, the seats could be a bit more comfortable, especially for a such a long haul movie like Oppenheimer. However, it did make me engage for the whole the film.

Anyways, keep doing what you're doing, I think I've found a new favourite cinema for viewings I actually care about.

Will probably come down for the Jurassic Park 30th anniversary, would love to see my favourite on that screen.

P.s that little light show before the screen is revealed is so cute, it actually gave me the biggest...

LOVE the Orpheum — 5 stars ofc. BUT, I ordered a small wine and a small popcorn and the wine is served in a very little cup, filled damn near to the top, then you got the popcorn in the other hand, obviously loaded to the brim which is all fine and good but blimey it makes for a bit of a challenge as you try make it to your seat, maybe awkwardly getting by someone already seated, without spilling wine and popcorn all over the place.

In hindsight, I probably could have asked them to pour it into the larger wine cup but my suggestion would be making small pours into large cups the standard. And yknow can't complain too much about the filled-to-the-brim popcorn but it's not so big a deal spilling a bitta 'corn on some fellow patron. For the record, I did NOT spill wine on anyone. I did spill a bit on the floor. I did stress while walking around with my two full receptacles.

But why waste time complaining? The nightmare of carrying the wine and popcorn becomes a distant memory as soon as you take your seat, take in the sights of this magnificent art deco theatre and dive into the magical world of cinema. And nothing short of magic was on display when I viewed LAWRENCE OF ARABIA on 70MM — my word! What a picture. And what a valuable, sacred institution that is willing to celebrate the history of cinema like the Orpheum.

The staff are angels, the decor is miraculous and the overall experience is nothing short of sublime, made only slightly worse by that damn little wine cup...

Thank you for all you do. If they ever try to close down the Hayden Orpheum Picture I swear...

Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace - ELVIS-THATS-THE-WAY-IT-IS

What a great Elvis show and heritage cinema at the Hayden Orpheum.

ELVIS-THATS-THE-WAY-IT-IS was such a great memory of Elvis’ talent and humour captured in 1970 at Las Vegas. Enough to say that I took my wife who is a long time Elvis fan and she couldn’t have been happier, so I was really pleased.

It starts with Elvis and his closest band members rehearsing at MGM Studio, he looked relaxed and full of humour. This was filmed over 3 days. It then cuts to his backup singers rehearsing to recoded music. Then it moves to a full rehearsal on stage at The International Hotel at Las Vegas. The remainder is his on-stage performance where they combine scenes from 6 of his 1970 shows so you also see different outfits and a great selection of his music. It was almost like being there.

The heritage listed Hayden Orpheum is a grand old building with really helpful and polite staff. It includes 6 cinemas with the Hayden Orpheum being the largest. The cinemas also present live band performances. One of the Candy Bars is in the Lobby and nearby is Legends Lounge, a collection of photos of many of the greats. The Piano Bar is next to the Orpheum cinema and nice for a pre-show...