The Art Deco-style building is capable of seating 900 people and also features a balcony.

The famed Coliseum Café and Hotel—a favourite haunt of William Somerset Maugham during his stay in British Malaya—are located behind the theatre, just down the road.

After Chua Cheng Bok's demise in 1940, his estate continued to administer the Coliseum until its acquisition in 1973 by a company bought by his nephew Dr Chua Boon Teck and his wife Mdm Khor Joo Saik.

In 2006, the Malaysian government proposed to close the theatre and turn it into a cultural heritage centre, but relented when there was a public outcry to the scheme.

[1] In that year, Dr Chua Seong Siew, elder son of the late owners Dr Chua Boon Teck and Mdm Khor Joo Saik, successfully appealed for the cinema theatre to remain open, and so it continues to operate to this day.