Burton Cummings Theatre, Theatre in downtown Winnipeg, Canada
Burton Cummings Theatre is a pale stone theatre on Smith Street in downtown Winnipeg, Canada. Its flat, stepped roofline and plain side walls survive from a larger hotel and retail complex that was never built. A tall green-and-white "CUMMINGS" sign and a dark marquee canopy mark the entrance.
Local impresario Corliss Powers Walker built the theatre in 1906–07 as the Walker Theatre, and it opened on 18 February 1907 with Puccini's Madame Butterfly. It closed in 1933 during the Great Depression, was seized by the City of Winnipeg in 1936, and became a cinema in 1945. After restoration it reopened for live performances in March 1991 and was renamed for Burton Cummings in 2002.
The theatre takes its name from Burton Cummings, a singer from Winnipeg best known as the frontman of The Guess Who. This connection to local music history gives the building a personal meaning for many people who grew up in the city.
The theatre sits in the heart of downtown Winnipeg and is easy to reach on foot or by public transit. Booking ahead is a good idea since shows run year-round and popular performances tend to fill up quickly.
When it opened in 1907, the building was one of the first fireproof constructions of its kind in Canada, inspired by theatre designs from Chicago. The Italian marble and crystal chandeliers in the interior date from that original build and have been kept in place ever since.
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