Play by play
The storied history of the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre Centre.
Photo: Ontario Heritage Trust
1913
The Elgin (then known as Loew’s Yonge Street Theatre) opens for vaudeville performances and silent films. The Winter Garden Theatre stacked above the Elgin opens two months later. Architect Thomas Lamb fashions completely different personalities for the two spaces: the Elgin is richly bedecked in red and gold, while the frescoed Winter Garden resembles a fantastical garden with twinkling lanterns.
1913 - 1928
The double-decker theater is the flagship of the Loew’s theater chain, hosting big-name stars such as George Burns, Milton Berle and Bill “Bojangles” Robinson.
1928
Vaudeville is out; “talkies” are in. The Elgin is rewired as a movie theater and the Winter Garden is sealed up. Over the years, the theaters gradually fall into disrepair.
1981
The Ontario Heritage Trust buys the building and drafts plans for refurbishing the theaters.
1984 - 1987
The Elgin gets a quick makeover for a two-year run of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats. The Corinthian-columned lobby is restored and the Elgin is retrofitted for live theater.
1987 - 1989
The Elgin and Winter Garden undergo a two-and-a-half year, $29-million restoration during which 28 layers of paint are removed from the walls, 300,000 sheets of aluminum leaf are used in the regilding process and 65,000 sq. ft. of new space are added. In the Winter Garden, 5,000 real beech leaves are suspended from the ceiling. During the renovation, the world’s largest collection of original vaudevillian props and scenery is discovered backstage.
Today
The Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres are sitting pretty as the last operating Edwardian double-decker theater in the world. Recently, they’ve hosted film premieres at the Toronto International Film Festival, tapings of live shows like Late Night with Conan O’Brien and concerts by Michael Bublé and Celine Dion. Guided tours of the theaters – including the preserved dressing room – are available year-round.
Getting here
The Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre Centre, 189 Yonge St., 416-314-2901, www.heritagefdn.on.ca
Toronto Tourism, 1-800-499-2514, torontotourism.com
Ontario Tourism, 1-800-ONTARIO (1-800-668-2746), ontariotravel.net
