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47-645: (Redirected from Uptown Theater ) Uptown Theatre or Uptown Theater may refer to: Uptown Theatre (Toronto) , demolished Uptown Theatre (Chicago) , closed Uptown Theater (Napa, California) Uptown Theatre (Milwaukee) , demolished Uptown Theater (Kansas City, Missouri) Uptown Theater (Minneapolis) Uptown Theater (Philadelphia) Uptown Theater (Washington, D.C.) Uptown Theater (Racine, Wisconsin) Uptown Theatre (Winnipeg) , now Uptown Lofts See also [ edit ] Barrie Uptown Theater , Barrie, Ontario, Canada Topics referred to by

94-588: A controlling stake in the company. After finding what were considered "serious accounting irregularities", Drabinsky and Gottlieb were suspended and Livent was forced to file for bankruptcy protection. On October 31, 1999, the Canadian production of The Phantom of the Opera closed at the Pantages Theatre. The show played for over a decade and 4,226 performances. In 1999, Livent was forced to sell off their assets, with

141-592: A government investigation lasting almost a year, six charges were laid in the incident including failure to take the reasonable precaution of ensuring that a competent person inspected the internal roof structure before removing the main roof truss. The Uptown Residences, a 48-storey, 284 suite condo was completed on the site of the former theatre in 2011. A small portion of the lobby facing Yonge Street remains. 43°40′10″N 79°23′12″W  /  43.669490°N 79.386744°W  / 43.669490; -79.386744 Ed Mirvish Theatre The Ed Mirvish Theatre

188-412: A lease agreement with Live Nation in 2001. This agreement allowed Mirvish to present productions at the venue and awarded him naming rights to the theatre. A key part of the agreement was that the deal gave Mirvish Productions the right of first negotiation should the theatre ever be put up for sale. In September 2001, Mirvish Productions started their tenancy at the theatre, which then became known as

235-447: A roof truss. The roof suddenly collapsed onto the balcony structure below, pushing out the brick exterior walls. No workers were hurt, but parts of the brick walls fell on the neighbouring Yorkville English Academy. Fourteen people in the school were injured and one, Augusto Mejia Solis, a 27-year-old Costa Rican , was killed. In April 2004, five civil lawsuits were filed against Priestly Demolition and property owner Marco Muzzo. After

282-585: A separate entrance and box office on Balmuto Street. The Uptown 1, 2, and 3 played all the major releases, while the Uptown Backstage 1 and 2 usually played "art" films, such as extremely long runs of A Clockwork Orange and The Gods Must Be Crazy during the 1970s. Eventually the Backstage dropped the word "Uptown" and was considered a separate cinema. In the mid 1970s, Nat Taylor sold his chain of theatres known as "Twentieth Century Theatres" (no relation to

329-471: A stay on all activities in the theatre on December 7, 1987; the next day, however, District Court Judge Drew Hudson said renovations and planned opening could go ahead with the approval of the Toronto Fire Department . However, on the theater's planned premiere night, December 10, 1987, approximately 500 people, mainly Cineplex Odeon employees and stockbrokers, saw dozens of workmen file In and out of

376-526: Is a historic performing arts theatre in Toronto , Ontario , located near Yonge–Dundas Square . Owned and operated by Mirvish Productions , the theatre has approximately 2,300 seats across two levels. There are two entrances to the theatre, located at 263 Yonge Street and 244 Victoria Street. Opened in August 1920, the theatre was designed by Thomas W. Lamb to host vaudeville performances and films . The theatre

423-518: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Uptown Theatre (Toronto) The 3000-seat theatre opened as Loew's Uptown Theatre in 1920, originally serving as a venue for both vaudeville and films. It was designed by acclaimed theatre designer Thomas W. Lamb . Although built for different chains, the Uptown Theatre and Pantages Theatre (today's Ed Mirvish Theatre) were sisters, designed by

470-478: The Canon Theatre as part of a naming rights agreement with Canon Inc. . The first production presented was a touring production of Saturday Night Fever , which played at the theatre between September 5 and October 14, 2001. On January 24, 2008, Key Brand Entertainment , owned by British theatre producer John Gore , announced that it had acquired all of Live Nation's North American theatrical assets. Under

517-473: The 1973 renovation, was restored. Architects and designers carefully ensured they were replicating the original design to restore the theatre, which including recreating the grand staircase, Yonge Street ticket box, and the marquee and canopy on Yonge Street. In 1989, the original Pantages Theatre name was restored, with a seating capacity of 2,200. On September 20, 1989, the theatre officially re-opened. The theatre's first legitimate live theatrical production

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564-560: The Imperial (now a live theatre, the Ed Mirvish Theatre ). On December 25, 1969, the rebuilt facility opened. The Uptown 1 on the original balcony now sat 1000, and was one of the earliest instances of an all stadium seating auditorium in a cinema. Uptown 2 and 3 were the original main floor seating divided by a partition wall down the middle. Uptown Backstage 1 and 2 were built in the original stage house and could only be accessed through

611-401: The Pantages Theatre being purchased by Clear Channel Entertainment . Once the sale was completed, Clear Channel Entertainment assigned ownership of the Pantages Theatre to their subsidiary, Live Nation , owners of Broadway Across Canada and Broadway Across America . After unsuccessfully attempting to run a theatrical subscription series at the theatre, Mirvish Productions entered into

658-666: The agreement in a Globe and Mail editorial, citing the possibility of confusion between the venues due to their shared naming rights. On May 31, 2022, the Ed Mirvish Theatre re-opened with the Canadian production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child . The theatre underwent an estimated $ 5 million renovation to transform it into an intimate theatre for the open-ended run of the play. The renovations included new faux walls, seating, repainted walls and added decor to create an immersive theatrical environment. The renovation project

705-496: The company considered gutting their half of the building and creating a new multiplex cinema. However, Cineplex Odeon quickly dropped these plans to preserve the grand lobby, staircase, and other parts of the existing interior. Instead, a plan was made to create a single-screen 800-seat cinema with their own entrance on Victoria Street. On December 11, 1987, Cineplex Odeon opened the Pantages Cinema . The first film that played at

752-492: The entrance, into a brightly lit open outdoor square with bright modern marquee panels above on 3 sides. There were 6 television screens airing movie trailers on each side leading to the entrance doors. However, these television screens were later replaced by poster cases due to visibility problems with sunlight washing out the TV screens and technical problems. In 1973, the venue was officially re-opened by Mayor David Crombie . Following

799-451: The iconic signage of Honest Ed's —a former downtown department store that Mirvish had also owned—to the façade at the 244 Victoria St. entrance of the theatre, pending approval from the City of Toronto and further restoration of the sign. On February 11, 2020, the Canadian premiere of the popular Lin-Manuel Miranda musical Hamilton opened at the Ed Mirvish Theatre. However, the show's run

846-461: The interior was retained while dividing the theatre into six cinemas: In addition, the gold leaf and faux marble balustrades were painted over with bolder colours - yellow, red, blue, black, and silver. The walls were now carpeted in red and blue. On the exterior, the Yonge St. façade was replaced with a new aluminum-paneled front signage without a canopy. The sign featured a large circle opening above

893-477: The lease. The following day, Cineplex Odeon seized control of their part of the Imperial Six building. This effectively locked Famous Players out of the theatre offices, some of the projection booths, and some of the cinemas. The Supreme Court of Ontario dismissed Famous Players' application of an injunction blocking Cineplex Odeon's lease on June 2, 1986. Since Cineplex Odeon lacked an entrance on Yonge Street,

940-556: The lobby with electrical equipment and tools, bricklayers scrambling up scaffolding on the outside of the building with buckets of wet cement and a number of city officials, policemen and lawyers marching back and forth from the theatre to a parking lot in Victoria Street. Eventually, an inspection from the Toronto Fire Marshal John Bateman forced the shuttering of the theatre, declaring "it's not ready. The exits are

987-508: The main building on Victoria Street, and they also owned the front half of the main theatre building, from the centre of the dome to the back wall of the stage house. However, the other half of the main theatre building, from the centre of the dome to the north wall of the main lobby, was leased from Edna Rakas, whose family had owned this section of the property prior to the venue's original construction in 1920. On May 24, 1986, Famous Players had accidentally allowed their lease on Rakas' part of

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1034-467: The main problem. There aren't enough of them. No one can go in there tonight." Drabinsky then redirected guests to the nearby Varsity theatre for the Wall Street screening. The theatre installed a complete set of exits the next day, and Drabinsky decided, afterward, to open the theatre at 6 PM. After the opening, Famous Players then filed to have its portion of the former Imperial Six theater demolished;

1081-455: The property to expire. Rakas rebuffed Famous Players' attempts to renegotiate the lease at a rate that was more favourable to the company. Famous Players were convinced that any other company would not be interested in owning only "half a theatre". Shortly thereafter, Rakas approached Famous Players' main rival, Cineplex Odeon with an offer to take over the lease. On May 30, 1986, Cineplex CEO Garth Drabinsky met with Rakas and quickly signed

1128-623: The renovations, the theatre was renamed the Imperial Six . Throughout the 1970s and into the early 1980s, the Imperial Six was a financial success for Famous Players. The theatre played all of the big theatrical releases, which included all of the James Bond and Rocky movie releases. The Imperial Six was located on three separate lots, with two different owners. Famous Players owned the Yonge Street entrance, which bridged an alley and connected to

1175-543: The request was denied by the Toronto Historical Board , which wanted it preserved. In August 1988, Famous Players agreed to sell their portions of the property (including the Yonge Street entrance) to Cineplex Odeon, on the condition that Cineplex Odeon never again present a film at the theatre. As a result, the last film to ever play at the Pantages Cinema was Die Hard , starring Bruce Willis . The theatre

1222-451: The sale. On August 19, 2008, the request for an injunction was dismissed. By September 2008, Mirvish Productions formally closed a deal to purchase both theatres from Key Brand Entertainment. On December 6, 2011, following the expiration of Canon's sponsorship, the theatre was renamed the Ed Mirvish Theatre in honour of Mirvish Productions co-founder Ed Mirvish , who had died in 2007. In February 2017, plans were announced to relocate

1269-522: The same architect, and opened less than a month apart. The Uptown was smaller than the Pantages and with a much smaller lobby, but the two had similar Yonge Street entrances and their auditoriums were of the same style. The original paint colours for the auditorium were rose, grey and gold. For several years noted choreographer Leon Leonidoff was employed by the theatre. It was at the Uptown that Leonidoff developed

1316-425: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Uptown Theatre . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Uptown_Theatre&oldid=1033468124 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

1363-556: The studio) to Famous Players, including the Uptown and the Yonge Theatre (later renamed the Elgin). Mr. Taylor would later found a new chain of multiplex cinemas in 1979 with Garth Drabinsky , called Cineplex Entertainment . The Uptown was a favourite place to see films, always doing good business. It was the last remaining large-audience big-screen, old-style movie theatre still operating in downtown Toronto for Famous Players. In addition to

1410-413: The style that he would later give Radio City Music Hall 's Rockettes . The name Uptown was fitting for its time, as downtown Toronto in 1920 did not extend much north of Queen Street. In 1960 the Uptown was damaged by fire, fueled by extremely flammable material on the seats. The theatre was quickly restored, but all the original ornate plasterwork in the dome, proscenium arch, boxes, and organ grilles

1457-466: The successful run that Cats had enjoyed earlier in the 1980s. The architect for the 1988-1989 renovation was David K. Mesbur. Interior demolition work removed all the 1973 partition walls, floors, fire exits and passageways. The basement underneath the original theatre floor was excavated to allow for deeper below grade spaces to accommodate modern live theatre amenities. All of the original plasterwork, some of which had been hidden behind drywall during

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1504-633: The sudden closure of another major downtown historic Famous Players movie theatre, the Imperial Six, in 1986, many other Famous Players theatres in the Yonge and Bloor area closed during the 1980s, including The Plaza 1 and 2 Cinemas in the Hudson's Bay Centre and the University Theatre on Bloor Street West. Following the loss of the Imperial in 1986, the Uptown became the theatre of choice for many movie goers in downtown Toronto and regularly played midnight shows on

1551-630: The terms of the financial agreement, Key Brand Entertainment placed both the Canon Theatre as well as the nearby Panasonic Theatre up for sale. This triggered Mirvish's legal right to make an offer to purchase the theatres, which the company did successfully in April 2008. This sale prompted Aubrey Dan , owner of rival Toronto theatrical company Dancap Productions and minority shareholder in Key Brand Entertainment, to seek an injunction blocking

1598-527: The theatre was Wall Street , starring Michael Douglas and Charlie Sheen . Meanwhile, the lapse of the lease caused tumult within Famous Players, with long-time President George Destounis being ousted. Famous Players continued to run movies out of the cinemas that they were still able to access at the venue. After Famous Players complained about a fire risk posed by the renovations made by Cineplex Odeon, Toronto building commissioner Michael Nixon imposed

1645-486: The theatre was commissioned by Famous Players founder Nathan L. Nathanson, Pantages managed and booked performances for the venue. The Pantages Theatre officially opened on August 28, 1920 as a combination vaudeville and motion picture venue. During the first week of the theatre's opening, there were six acts that performed, which included Sick Abed , High and Dizzy , and On the High Seas . By 1929, Pantages

1692-766: The theatre was renamed the Ed Mirvish Theatre in honour of Ed Mirvish (1914–2007). The name was amended to the CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre in 2021 as part of a naming rights agreement with the regional chapter of the Canadian Automobile Association (CAA). In the early 1900s, theatre magnate Alexander Pantages had steadily built many vaudeville theatres, which became known as the Pantages Theatre Circuit . By 1920, Pantage's entertainment company had owned as many as 30 theaters and controlled several others. All of these venues were located across

1739-534: The venue. The theatre was renamed the Imperial Theatre , and began only showing movies. This continued until 1972, when the Imperial Theatre closed for renovations. The final movie that played at the theatre was The Godfather . In 1972, the Imperial Theatre underwent renovations to be divided into six separate cinemas. The design was managed by Toronto architect Mandel Sprachman. In the theatre, much of

1786-482: The weekend. The Uptown was also an important venue for the Toronto International Film Festival . In 2001 new regulations mandated that the theatre be made wheelchair accessible. Famous Players balked at paying to estimated $ 700,000 expense and announced that they would be closing the cinema. The five screen cinema made little financial sense in the era of megaplexes, especially when the land it

1833-663: The western United States and western Canada. Seeking to expand into eastern Canada, Pantages became interested in building a vaudeville venue in Toronto. The Toronto theatre was the easternmost house of the Pantages Theatre Circuit. The venue, which was named the Pantages Theatre , was designed by theatre architect Thomas W. Lamb and was the largest cinema in Canada at the time (originally 3,373 seats). Although construction of

1880-657: Was abruptly ended on March 14, 2020, when theatres were closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic . In September 2021, Mirvish Productions renewed a sponsorship agreement with CAA South Central Ontario for the CAA Theatre . The sponsorship included naming rights to the Mirvish Theatre, renaming it the CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre . The agreement also allowed for CAA-branded lounges at Mirvish's properties, as well as promotions for CAA members. Theatre critic J. Kelly Nestruck criticized

1927-443: Was closed on August 25, 1988. Ousted from Cineplex Odeon, Garth Drabinsky and Myron Gottlieb retained control of the theatre's property and created their own theatrical production company, Livent . Once the venue was closed, Drabinsky underwent plans to completely restore the theatre back to its original 1920 look. Drabinsky wanted to create another Toronto venue that could attract big successful Broadway shows to Toronto, such as

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1974-441: Was involved in a highly publicized legal battle, in which he was charged with the rape of a 17-year-old actress named Eunice Pringle . Pantages was originally convicted and sentenced to 50 years in prison, but his conviction was overturned on appeal. Despite this, the scandal and legal costs severely harmed Pantages. As a result, he was forced to sell his theatres and other assets. In 1930, Famous Players assumed complete control of

2021-535: Was led by Toronto-based architect Athos Zaghi. On October 1, 1979, the City of Toronto listed the property on the City of Toronto Heritage Property Inventory . This designation preserves the original facades and exterior appearance of the property. On June 13, 1988, the property was designated under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act , resulting in heritage protection for the theatre. Productions are listed by

2068-413: Was lost, being replaced by only smooth plaster and drapery. Theatre owner Nat Taylor closed the cinema on September 5, 1969, and renovated it, dividing the Uptown into five theatres, one of the world's first multiplexes. The architect for the multiplexing project was Toronto architect Mandel Sprachman, who later did many similar projects for rival Famous Players across Canada, including the Uptown's sister,

2115-437: Was on was worth millions of dollars. Despite community protests the cinema was closed on September 14, 2003 immediately after the 2003 TIFF. The last film to be shown there was Undead . The site was sold to developers who planned to replace it with a condo. In December 2003 Priestly Demolition was engaged in demolishing the structure, when a large section of the building collapsed. An operator cut vital steel support beams on

2162-473: Was originally named the Pantages Theatre , after its first manager and theatre magnate Alexander Pantages (1867–1936). From 1930 to 1973, the theatre was named the Imperial Theatre , and, following the 1973 multiplex renovations, was renamed the Imperial Six . In 1989, the original Pantages Theatre name was restored, until 2001 when it was renamed the Canon Theatre under a naming rights agreement. In 2011,

2209-429: Was the Canadian premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber 's musical The Phantom of the Opera . The musical's original cast starred Colm Wilkinson as The Phantom and Rebecca Caine as Christine Daaé. In 1999, Kiss lead singer Paul Stanley played The Phantom for several months, until the show's closing. On April 13, 1998, Drabinsky stepped down as CEO of Livent. He was replaced in the role by Michael Ovitz, who now owned

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