Pizza Showtime

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.

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

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

References
  1. Pizza showtime debuts in Perth, In Leisure Line, September 1981, pp. 14–18, retrieved 15 September 2016
  2. "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". 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. "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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