Ed Mirvish Theatre, Historic theatre in downtown Toronto, Canada
The Ed Mirvish Theatre is a heritage-designated performance venue in downtown Toronto, designed by architect Thomas Lamb in 1920. The interior shows ornate arches, plaster moldings, and detailed woodwork across two levels that together hold about 2,300 seats.
Opened as the Pantages Theatre in 1920, the building first presented vaudeville shows and soon grew into Canada's largest cinema with more than 3,300 seats. The renaming to Imperial Theatre came in 1930, and after decades of film use the building returned to live entertainment in 1989.
The name honors Ed Mirvish, a Canadian businessman and patron of the performing arts who restored and reopened the building in 1989. Visitors today watch musical productions and live performances in a space that recalls the golden era of North American theater.
The two entrances at 263 Yonge Street and 244 Victoria Street lie within a few minutes' walk from Yonge-Dundas Square, with subway and streetcar lines nearby. Visitors should allow enough time to find their seat before a show starts and take in the interior details.
The Canadian premiere of The Phantom of the Opera in 1989 brought Irish tenor Colm Wilkinson to the stage as the Phantom. That moment marked the beginning of a new chapter for the restored building and drew international attention to Toronto.
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