In 1929, Mirza Mohamed Ali Namazie, a Persian businessman of the Namazie family, commissioned the theatre to be built in Singapore, with S. A. H. Shirazee, an Indian-Muslim merchant and community leader, and the South African brothers Joe and Julius Fisher from First National Pictures, joined in to form Capitol Theatres Ltd as its operator.
[4] The theatre had a large projection room located below the balcony and ran the length of the building instead of being traditionally sited in the rear.
Special expensive sound installations costing at least 40,000 Straits dollars were imported from Western Electric Company.
It was also the first to equip multihued lighting system using concealed lamps with a dimmer function, which was never used in other existing theatres in Singapore at that time.
[9] They later brought in the Marcus Show, a revue with a chorus line of 60 dancing girls, thus making the theatre and its various eateries a popular hangouts for the local youths.
In September 1939, the theatre was refurbished, seats were replaced with new upholstered ones, installed an air-conditioning system and had its vestibule redesigned and was completed by 31 January 1940.
[13] The theatre operated until 1944, when a bomb planted by the anti-Japanese resistance fighters exploded, damaging its facade and the Mansions as well.
[14][15] After the war in 1945, Capitol Theatre and Namazie Mansions had since put under mortgage by the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation.
However, under the Control of Rent Act 1953 of Singapore penal code, the Shaw Organisation had to provide compensation to its current tenants which proved a challenge to them.
[25] In 1989, the theatre closed for a two-week renovation with the cost of S$700,000 with rewiring, reequipped with the new sound system and projectors and painting of the cinema hall and reopened 26 October 1989 with Lethal Weapon 2.
[27] In 2000, the Singapore Tourism Board took over the two buildings to explore alternative uses for it, but plans to turn it into a home for an arts group was languished and the cost of refurbishment was exorbitant and was commercially unfeasible.
With Grant Associates working closely with the project's lead architect, Richard Meir and Partners Architects, the project consists of Singapore's largest cinema cum theatre complex, 6 stars luxury hotel & retail shops, with an approximate Gross Floor Area (GFA) of 21,000 m2 (2.1 ha),[32] and on the site of the former Capital Centre, a shopping mall, Capitol Piazza and residential tower, Eden Residences Capitol, with an approximate GFA of 29,000 m2 (2.9 ha).
[33] The Theatre having left vacant for more than 10 years, it was infested with rats, its plaster was falling, ornaments were missing, and water had seeped into its floors.
[29][34] During the restoration process, original design details were uncovered such as "the gilding on the plaster mouldings, and the fine features of the two ‘Pegasus’ reliefs" that were painted over multiple times.
An automated, rotational seating system was installed, allowing the Theatre to turn into a multi-functional venue to accommodate a large variety of events.