Pizza Showtime

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Pizza Showtime
Restaurant information
Established1980
Closed1984
Previous owner(s)Allied & Leisure Industries
Street address148 Murray Street
CityPerth, Western Australia
CountyAustralia

Pizza Showtime was a family restaurant and entertainment centre operating in Perth, Western Australia from 1980 to 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 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]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Pizza showtime debuts in Perth, In Leisure Line, September 1981, pp. 14–18, retrieved 15 September 2016
  2. ^ a b "Grand Theatre : 164-168 Murray Street, Perth". Cinema Treasures. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  3. ^ Box office and foyer of the Grand Theatre, 164-168 Murray Street, Perth, SLWA Online Catalogue
  4. ^ "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. ^ a b c d "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.