Ok... I believe in post-work. A little. I decided to try this in Carrara Pro. I wasn't having much luck with the "photo" feel in C4D. So... here's my next attempt. The reference photo is here:

http://www.reighn.com/theaterdesign.html

I tweaked a few of the materials, reflection, luminance, etc. Tried different lighting setups, finally decided on the one-light approach. Then I added the noise with GIMP. Postwork, yech! The noise did add the "effect" tho.

Also, not my model. Not sure I want to model. I like lighting. Original model(s) by Sean Robertson.