By Ian Pugh
It’s a treasure hidden within a treasure. And most people don’t even know about it.
If you live on the Sunshine Coast, you’re probably familiar with the Majestic Theatre in Pomona – but if you haven’t visited there recently (like in the last two years), you are missing out on something very special – a musical treat that needs to be seen (or rather heard) to be believed.
Most people know the Majestic because it’s been around for so long. In fact, this wonderfully quirky venue (“Queensland’s longest continuously operating picture theatre and the only theatre in the world that continuously screens silent films”) is celebrating its centenary this year. Built in 1921 as a social hall, the theatre has enjoyed (and endured!) a colourful, often tumultuous, 100 years, hosting everything from vaudeville productions to weddings to boxing matches – and of course, movies, especially silent movies. To think the Majestic was hosting silent movies way back in the 1920s (before “talkies” had even been invented!) and is still showing them today.
For many years, the silent films at the Majestic were accompanied by an organ, played by Ron West, who owned the Majestic from 1974 until 2005. That was until the organ was damaged in the floods of 2011, meaning Ron had to switch to a piano. However, all this was to change in 2019 with the unveiling of another organ and it is this very rare and beautiful instrument that graces the theatre today. The organ is a 1937 Compton (only one of four of this model in the world) and how it made it to the Majestic, now restored to its former glory, is largely thanks to the tenacity and dedication of three men, Ron West, Don Clark and John Brooks.
The organ originally came from Chester, England where it was the main attraction at the Regal Cinema in South Shields. Ron explains that it had “only six ranks of pipes back then” but this still gave it a sound big enough to fill the 2,800-seat Regal Cinema. It came to Australia when it was bought by the Linnet family of Brisbane but after the death of Blair Linnet it ended up sitting in their garage for many years. Ron was familiar with the Compton, as was Don Clark of the Brisbane Organ Society – a man with experience rebuilding these types of organs. “There’s not many of us left that know about these bloody things,” says Don with a wry smile.
In 2012, the Linnet family bequeathed the organ to the Majestic but that was when the real work began. It was in dire need of restoration and the multitude of pipes and parts had to be dismantled. “These organs explode into hundreds of pieces when you take them apart,” Don explains. They also had to salvage and restore what they could from the Majestic’s flood-damaged organ. Don remembers removing the previous organ from the chamber and returning a few weeks later to find a “great big termite mound in the middle of the chamber”. Thankfully the termites hadn’t got into the actual structure of the theatre which is now protected by a termite prevention system installed and regularly monitored by Cooroy Termite & Pest Control.
With the help of theatre patron, John Brooks, Don spent the next six years restoring the organ – a massive undertaking that involved re-leathering over 800 pneumatic parts, repairing and adding four more ranks of pipes (“giving it more voices and tone colours”), building an exact replica of the original case, and lovingly assembling the thousands of pieces that make up this very special, complex organ. Along with 750 organ pipes, drums, a violetta, a xylophone, a flute and an array of other instruments, the organ now fills what was previously the theatre’s “supper room”, separated from the auditorium by a beautiful Oregon pine organ grill that originally came from the Roxy Theatre in Parramatta.
“I can’t thank Don and John enough for all the work they did on it,” says Ron. “I’ve been playing these things for over 70 years and this is the first one that I’ve played where everything works. That’s an absolute joy!”
And so is the experience of listening to it. Considering the organ was designed to play in a 2,800 seat auditorium and is now playing in a 200-seater (with four extra ranks of pipes and many other improvements), the quality and richness of the sound can only be described as “cathedral-like”. Happy 100th birthday to the Majestic Theatre – silent movies have never sounded this good!
