[3] Honolulu architects Walter Emory and Marshall Webb employed elements of Neoclassical architecture for the exterior—with Byzantine, Corinthian, and Moorish ornamentation—and a rich panoply of Beaux-Arts architecture inside—Corinthian columns, a gilded dome, marble statuary, an art gallery, plush carpets, silk hangings, and a Lionel Walden mural above the proscenium.
[3] The exterior originally had a simple canopy with a small reader board listing the attractions, and a vertical sign lit by electric bulbs.
It had its own full orchestra for live shows and a large Robert-Morton pipe organ used to accompany silent films.
[3] With the shift in entertainment and retail venues away from downtown beginning in the 1960s, theatre attendance gradually declined into the 1970s and early 1980s.
[3] The Hawaii Theatre is once again a popular venue for stage shows and concerts, and continues today as a successful performing arts center.