The theatre is not just for playing movies; it also doubles as a venue for stage performances, sometimes to entertain VIPs from overseas, especially when there were only so few performance venues around.

Classical and Pop Concerts

Big theatres in the past could easily accommodate 1,000 people, with seats divided into stalls, circle, and upper circle on multiple levels, making them perfect venues for music events. Empire Theatre continued to thrive as a concert hall when it was renamed State Theatre after renovation. As for pop music, the Beatles took the city by storm with two shows at Princess Theatre on 8 June 1964. Lee Theatre, the premier venue for live performance, was home to a vast array of entertainment from orchestral galas, musicals, Chinese operas to pop concerts in the 1970s to 1980s.

Film Shows and Live Performances

Many early theatres in Hong Kong catered for both film and live performance, Lee, Tai Ping, Ko Sing, Astor, Prince's, State and Sunbeam all showed motion pictures and staged Cantonese operas side by side. Queen's Theatre and Princess Theatre once invited performing troupes from Japan to grace the stage. In the 1940s and 1950s, some smaller theatres even tried to boost sales with "special double bills", offering alongside film screenings a range of live performances from magic shows, acrobatics to erotic dance.

Overseas Guests and Receptions

Chinese opera is a distinctive form of art and the theatre naturally became the one location where foreign guests were given a taste of the local cultural legacy. As early as March 1890, the Duke of Connaught was treated to an opera at Ko Sing Theatre during his visit. In November 1961, Princess Alexandra enjoyed The New Legend of the White Snake by Sin Fung Ming Opera Troupe at Lee Theatre. Diva Pak Suet Sin even presented the Princess a jade statuette of the White Snake as a memento.