The Roxy
R-O-X-Y
Let the master cinema-showman man himself show you round…
hitting ducks with drinks n’ dimes
he is tipped to make your name
the name whispered under coasters
frozen into ice cubes,
you and your life the biopic premiering
upon the arthouse silver screen
inside, a season of:
one night only.
We swear to bouncers we are old enough to forget
First night out
I throw back schooners
as the ladies’ bathroom line
becomes the best place to make new friends.
Hiding in cubicles I learned by listening
Walking down George Street
throwing away any thinking
with half eaten midnight Macca-D’s.
By Frances Cholerton
***
69 George
The clouds bounced light
as if someone up there
thought the town was ready for its close-up.
All summer
the only place
you could count on rain
was the cinema
monumental as a Baked Alaska
cruel as a Spanish Mission
the Roxy on George.
A man propped on the corner in snowy shirt & cloth cap
like some kinda cut-rate Maurice Chevalier in
Innocents of Paris. I seen it
so I should know.
I dusted the exhaust from a passing motor
from the strap of one satin shoe and
tossed my bike to the kerb.
To consume the Roxy’s frozen
ice-cream heart in the dark.
I couldn’t wait to get inside.
By Miro Bilbrough
***
Innocents of Paris
25th May, 1929.
A junkman
rescues a boy from drowning
in the Seine.
The boy’s mother
has attempted to kill herself
and her son.
The junkman
takes the boy to his grandfather
and falls in love with his aunt.
Later, the junkman
is heard singing in a flea market
and is hired to sing in a hall.
He sings
‘On Top of The World Alone’
and ‘Yes, We Have No Bananas.’
By Ben Peek
Historical Note: Innocents of Paris was the first film played in the Roxy Cinema. 6th February, 1930.
***
97 Macquarie Street: To continue to the next historic location on the Parracons Poetry Path, turn left onto Horwood Place and continue along it south until you reach Macquarie Street. Safely cross the road to 97 Macquarie Street.