Toronto Centre for the Arts, Performing arts center in North York, Toronto, Canada
The Toronto Centre for the Arts, now the Meridian Arts Centre, is a performing arts venue in North York designed by Canadian architect Eberhard Zeidler and opened on October 16, 1993. It originally held three theatres: a 1,727-seat Main Stage, the 1,036-seat George Weston Recital Hall and a 200-seat Studio Theatre. Renovations from 2014 to 2016 split the Main Stage into the 296-seat Greenwin Theatre, built on the original stage and backstage, and the 576-seat Lyric Theatre in the former auditorium.
Opened on October 16, 1993, as the North York Performing Arts Centre, the building was designed by Canadian architect Eberhard Zeidler. North York handed management to Livent, which sold the naming rights to Ford Motor Company of Canada in 1994, making it the Ford Centre for the Performing Arts. After Livent's 1998 bankruptcy, the City of Toronto took control; the venue later dropped the Ford name and, in September 2019, was rebranded the Meridian Arts Centre under a TO Live deal with Meridian Credit Union.
The Main Stage hosted the Canadian production of Jersey Boys from August 2008 to August 2010, after earlier runs of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard in 1995 and a 1993 Show Boat that transferred to Broadway. The building's name changed with its sponsors: Ford in 1994, then Meridian Credit Union in September 2019.
The venue is easily accessible by public transit and offers parking for visitors. It helps to arrive early to explore the lobby areas and get oriented before performances begin.
The Lyric Theatre, seating 576, has LED backlit acoustic panels that change colour in step with the lighting design. The room was carved out of the former Main Stage auditorium during the 2014–2016 renovations, while the Greenwin Theatre (296 seats) took over the original stage and backstage areas.
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