TORONTO – The Honourable Madeleine Meilleur, Minister of Culture, unveiled today an Ontario Heritage Foundation plaque to celebrate the 90th anniversary of Toronto's historic Elgin and Winter Garden theatres.

"The Elgin and Winter Garden theatres stand as testaments to the importance of heritage preservation for the city and for the province," Minister Meilleur said. "The provincial plaque recognizes the theatres' contribution to the vitality of Ontario's cultural sector."

"The Ontario Heritage Foundation is delighted to commemorate this National Historic Site as part of our Heritage Week celebrations," said Allan Gotlieb, Chairman of the Ontario Heritage Foundation. "After nine decades, the theatre complex – the last operating double-decker theatre of the vaudeville era – continues to play a vital role in Toronto's arts and cultural community."

The Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre Centre (formerly Loew's Yonge Street and Winter Garden Theatres) was the first double-decker theatre in Canada. The "stacked" theatres – designed by renowned architect Thomas White Lamb – were the Canadian flagship of Marcus Loew's legendary theatre chain.

The lavishly decorated lower theatre, Loew's Yonge Street Theatre (now The Elgin), opened on Monday, December 15, 1913. Opening night performers included Weber and Fields and Irving Berlin. The enchanting Winter Garden Theatre – with its walls decorated with garden murals, columns disguised as tree trunks, and leaves, branches and lanterns suspended from the ceiling – opened two months later on February 16, 1914. Vaudeville-era greats graced the stages, including: Sophie Tucker, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, George Burns, Gracie Allen and Milton Berle.

Over the years, the theatre complex presented vaudeville acts, silent films and first-run movies before eventually falling into disrepair.

In 1981, the Ontario Government saved the historic theatres from demolition. The Ontario Heritage Foundation acquired the complex and undertook a $29-million restoration. The complex, which reopened in 1989 as the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre Centre, is now operated by the Foundation.

Since re-opening, a variety of productions and performers have appeared at the Theatre Centre, including: King Lear with Kenneth Branagh, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat with Donny Osmond, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Maureen Forrester, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Stomp, Holly Cole, The Who's TOMMY, Bea Arthur, The Full Monty, Scaramouche Jones and Sandra Shamas.

Shamas, who has performed at the Winter Garden Theatre several times, attended the Heritage Week celebration. She spoke about her close association with the Theatre Centre.

The theatres have hosted many popular and critically acclaimed shows by Mirvish Productions, Opera Atelier, Ross Petty Productions and the Canadian Opera Company, as well as screenings from the Toronto International Film Festival. The multi-use facility also hosts corporate events, receptions and is used for filming commercials, television shows and feature movies.

In celebration of Heritage Week, the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre Centre will be offering free public tours on Thursday, February 19 at 5 p.m. and Saturday, February 21 at 11 a.m. The Theatre Centre is located at 189 Yonge Street, across from the Eaton Centre. Reservations are not required.

This unveiling is part of the Foundation's Provincial Plaque Program that commemorates significant people, places and events in Ontario's history. The Foundation has unveiled more than 1,150 of these distinctive blue and gold plaques.

The Ontario Heritage Foundation is a not-for-profit agency of the Government of Ontario, dedicated to identifying, preserving, protecting and promoting Ontario's heritage.

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Contacts:

Shannon McFadyen
Telephone: 416-325-5032
E-mail: shannon.mcfadyen@heritagefdn.on.ca

Arnie Lappin
Telephone: 416-314-2874
E-mail: arnie.lappin@heritagefdn.on.ca