The Opera House (Toronto) : History, Other uses Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Opera House (Toronto)

Music venue in Toronto, Canada

43°39′32″N 79°20′56″W / 43.658949°N 79.348752°W / 43.658949; -79.348752TypeTheater/Music VenueCapacity950 (680 Main Floor and 270 Balcony)ConstructionBuilt1909Opened1909Websitetheoperahousetoronto.com

The Opera House is a music venue in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is one of the city's most historic performing venues, opening in 1909.^[1] It has also been a cinema and a live theatre venue. It is located at 735 Queen Street East, east of downtown in the Riverdale neighbourhood.

History

The building opened in 1909 as the La Plaza Theatre, an Edwardian vaudeville stage. Seating almost 700, it was the main entertainment venue in the primarily working-class neighbourhood. As films eclipsed vaudeville, the theatre was turned into a cinema, continuing to use the name La Plaza Theatre until the 1960s, and later under a series of other names.^[2]^[3]

As multiplexes made large single screen venues no longer viable as cinemas, it became a performing arts venue. In the late 1980s, it was home to the successful gospel musical Mama, I Want to Sing!. In the early 1990s, it was renamed "The Opera House" and became a music venue. It has been thing of lore that in 1996, Baby Jane, including band members: Steve Angel, Cam Clark, James Dunning, Kevin Karmody and Nick Pickett played, and won a band competition that is marked as the launching point to their illustrious legacy.

Other uses

The venue was used for the filming of the music video for the Headstones song, "Smile and Wave".^[4]
The venue was used for the filming of the 1998 music video for the Barenaked Ladies song, "Brian Wilson".^[5]
The venue was used for the filming of a scene in the 2000 film Loser in which the band Everclear performed a concert.^[6]
The venue was used for the filming of the music video for The Tragically Hip song, "My Music at Work".^[7]

References

^ Doug Taylor (2016). Toronto's Local Movie Theatres of Yesteryear: Brought Back to Thrill You Again. Dundurn Press. pp. 14, 88, 89. ISBN 9781459733428.
^ "History". Opera House. Retrieved 2013-10-19.
^ "Toronto's la Plaza Theatre (The Opera House) on Queen East". 4 September 2014.
^ "Casting Call Headstones want you Smiling & Waving". Archived from the original on 1997-10-21. Retrieved March 3, 2021.
^ "Barenaked Ladies videoshoot open to fans". Archived from the original on September 3, 2000. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
^ "Everclear shooting film in T.O." Archived from the original on January 9, 2001. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
^ "Tragically Hip Video At MuchMusic Today". Chart Attack. Archived from the original on June 25, 2003. Retrieved May 4, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)