Pizza Showtime

Pizza Showtime was a family restaurant and entertainment center operating in Perth, Western Australia from 1980 to around 1984.[1] Similar to the American Chuck E. Cheese chain it was a sit down pizza restaurant complemented by arcade games, and animatronic characters.

The restaurant was located in the now demolished Grand Theatre building[2] located at 148 Murray Street (a site now occupied by Grand Theatre Lane, showcasing a small cafe, and multiple storefronts).[3] It featured 'space invaders' style game consoles built into the customer tables (operated with tokens[4]) and an animatronic stage show featuring a dog named 'Bert Newhound', a piano playing kangaroo[5] known as 'Melton Pom' (next to joey), singing koalas with 'Lottie' being the lead, a wise cracking horse by the name of 'Ned Kelly' a dingo named 'Ringo Dingo', and a fiddle playing American bear who went unnamed. The animatronic robots cost "in excess of $100,000"[6] and are claimed to have had "more movements than any Disney character".[6] Australian actor Jack Thompson provided the voice for the "Ringo Dingo" character.

Pizza Showtime closed down around 1984 and the robot characters were dismantled and sent to Sydney.[6] The restaurant was originally intended as a starter for a chain of 'Pizza Theatres' around Australia, owned and operated by Allied & Leisure Industries, along with Paul Gregory under the supervision of A&L founder Mr. Malcolm Steinberg, who is the current owner of the Timezone arcade game franchise.[6] The building was subsequently converted to an Asian foodhall[7] and was demolished in 1990.[2]

The restaurant was also similar to Chuck E. Cheese's, a restaurant chain in the U.S.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Pizza showtime debuts in Perth, In Leisure Line, September 1981, pp. 14–18, retrieved 15 September 2016
  2. 1 2 "Grand Theatre : 164-168 Murray Street, Perth". Cinema Treasures. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  3. ↑ http://innopac.slwa.wa.gov.au/record=b2613412~S1#.VLNeQ0rXerU
  4. ↑ "Chuck E. Cheese Design History". Chuck E. Cheese Design History. Retrieved 10 April 2009.
  5. ↑ Canning, Marcus (8 July 2016). "A quirky looking back on the making of Perth". PerthNow.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Pizza Showtime". The Worst of Perth. 25 March 2009. Retrieved 10 April 2009.
  7. ↑ "Krantz and Sheldon" (PDF). Private Archives - Collection Listing. Battye Library. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
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