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Keep him tied up 'til he's stinking (etc.) at the Winter Garden? Please, the space is too beautiful to be sullied that way.


Anyway...

One of the reasons that theatres remain dark for a part of the year is that different productions work better in different venues: a small theatre company putting on a modest work does not need an 1,800 seat hall to show in, and in fact the vast size will detract from the show significantly. And a big show that's filling 1,200 seats a night in an 1,800 seat theatre will feel like a failure, being 1/3 empty, whereas in a 1,200 seat venue it will feel like a smash hit.

There are a number of new auditoria just opening or under construction in the city right now, and these new theatres are purpose built for certain types of presentations: Soulpepper and George Brown College have their mutli-stage Young Centre in the Distillery where smaller more intimate works can be shown, and where students can learn their craft, the Canadian Opera Company (along with chief tenant the National Ballet) are building a hall that will maximize sight lines and acoustics that are meant to showcase their presentations, the Royal Conservatory of Music is building a space that will showcase their students' offerings.

Meanwhile, some smaller spaces are being redeveloped shortly: the Poor Alex is gone, Artword is going, I think I heard the Theatre Centre is gone...

It's a big city. Shows come and go. The Winter Garden will be booked again. The Film Festival will need the Elgin in September. Promoters will bring shows if you buy tickets.

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Hasn't "Umoja" been playing at the Elgin for a while? "Golda's Balcony" with Valerie Harper is coming to the Elgin in June I believe too. Also, I've seen several productions at the Wintergarden, including "Copenhagen", and the venues are used at Christmas for the panto and also during the film festival. Granted, they could be better used but they're not dark all the time. I think the problem has been the poor state of commercial theatre in Toronto overall, although it does seem to be rebounding a bit with "Lord of the Rings" and "Hair" settling in for promising runs.

On a side note, I saw "Our Town" at the Yonge Centre yesterday and have to say it was incredible. The venue is totally awesome and it and Soulpepper are a true credit to this city. Their season looks great this year and I can't wait to see more!
 
There is a place, in the world of theatre, for remounting the classics rather than producing new works, and Soulpepper occupies that place, symbolically and literally, rather effectively in our town.
 
Toronto Theatre

I do believe that the lack of professional managemnt does not help to fill the Elgin & Winter Garden theatres, but the theatre busines in geneal is not a constant 12 month business. In the summer of 2005, all our main stages were dark all summer.With the closing of Lord of the Rings (thanks to the undeserved bad reviews of the Toronto press), the Princess of Wales will be dark for many months to come. If the 8 main stages of Toronto did 8 performances a week it would take approx. 135,000 ticket sales to fill them. Toronto cannot support this number, we do not have a 12 month tourist business. In addition we are still recovering from CNN telling the world we were dying in the street from SARS. The Elgin & Winter Garden Theatre Centre does a lot of business apart from stage production.
 
Re: Toronto Theatre

Elgin could always go back to doing what it did in the 70's; showing B movies and soft-core porn.
Click to expand...

It was the Yonge Theatre back then. Renamed the Elgin after a faux-reno around 1978/79
 
Do we suck that much?

It's amazing how London and New York can keep 50 or more large theatres running and Toronto has problems with it's few. When was the last time we saw an original Toronto production (created in Canada) running in a large theatre? Are we incapable of creating original, popular shows ourselves? I obviously don't know much about the business of theatre but if NYC and London can do it, why can't we? (I know London and NYC have larger populations and gazillions more tourists) I thought Toronto was a more creative city.
 
Re: Do we suck that much?

maybe because all the hype around theatre seems to revolve around musicals?

I like how some of the indie cinema theatres spotted a gap in the market and became editing studios during the day. It would be nice to see some of these theatres being innovative. If Heritage Ontario is getting in the way of theatres paying their way they should be called to account.
 
Re: Do we suck that much?

If Heritage Ontario is getting in the way of theatres paying their way they should be called to account.
Click to expand...

There's no such "getting in the way"; it's just misinformation by real estate etc. interests who want to frame the heritage community as uncompromising anti-free-market/anti-free-will freeze-everything-in-amber meddling obstructionists (probably on behalf of vulgarian clients w/a non-constructive "this is a freaking Heritage Building? f__k this" attitude).

Accomodating editing-studio facilities is practically nothing, and it's the sort of thing all but the most lunatic heritage buffs would approve of...
 
Re: Do we suck that much?

"I know London and NYC have larger populations and gazillions more tourists) I thought Toronto was a more creative city."

I think you've just answered your own question.
 
Re: Do we suck that much?

^I was thinking the same thing. For the size Toronto is, I think it does pretty well. I agree, there doesn't need to be any more active encouragement of building more theatres. Didn't the Winter Garden and Elgin go through refitting less than ten years ago, or am I crazy?
 
Re: Do we suck that much?

What we have is too many musicals. When I go to the theatre, I want drama, suspense, emotion and comedy, but not singing.
 
Re: Do we suck that much?

The Princess of Wales is also barely a decade old.
 
Re: Do we suck that much?

Abeja - there are plenty of productions in the city that aren't musicals - they may not be so high profile, but there are lots. Some of the companies that present full seasons of plays include the Factory Theatre, Theatre Passe Muraille, Soulpepper, Canstage, Buddies in Bad Times...

One could easily go to a live show a month in this city and not have to choose a musical.

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