Canon Theatre

Now named the Canon, and Mirvish Productions is in charge of bookings/management.

Some restoration info and pic: http://www.mesbursmith.com/restor2.htm

For a couple of years in the late 80's, Cineplex Odeon renovated the largest theatre of the multiplex (former balcony) and its elaborate orchestra level oval shaped lobby. A secondary 'main" entrance and neon marquee were erected at the back of the building renaming it 'Pantages'. A lease dispute between Cineplex and Famous Players kept the rest of the theatre and its main entrance/lobby dark. The decor of the renovated areas was a rather garrish green and salmon scheme (popular at the time) attempting to recall the grandeur of the past. I saw "Wall Street" here in the huge balcony theatre. When the dispute ended, Cineplex was forbidden from using the building as a cinema ever again. In response, the recent renovations were stripped as the entire building was restored and updated into a live theatre venue. (much of the original decoration and the original entrance lobby were destroyed when multiplexed).
Since the 10 year run of Phantom of the Opera ended under Livent Management, the complex was sold to SFX/ClearChannel Entertainment, to be managed by Mirvish Productions and renamed the Canon (from a corporate donation by Canon Canada). The theatre is now used infrequently and often sits empty.
One of Toronto's most grisly crimes "The Shoeshine Boy Murder" occured a few doors away at 245 Yonge St., above the Charlie's Angels Body Rub Parlor in 1977. Following the murder, the area drastically improved in response to public outcry over the deterioration of Yonge St.
The correct address of the Canon Theatre is 263 Yonge St. (the address above denotes it's rear entrance)
http://www.theatrechannel.com/Producers_CT.htm

The Pantages was renamed IMPERIAL in 1930. The Imperial SIX closed in 1987.

Actually Edward, 244 Victoria Street is the front door of the theatre and the correct mailing address. Most of the building is on Victoria, the box office is on Victoria, and the Yonge Street entrance is merely a very well-decorated bridge across O'Keefe Lane.

The staff (of which I'm one) always gently correct the front/back error when we hear it.

I remember reading about the lease dispute in Variety at the time it was happening. Somehow, the building had two leases, expiring at different times. Famous Players was operating the entire building as the Imperial Six. That slippery individual from Cineplex swooped in and made a deal with the landlord for half the building, unbeknownst to Famous Players. Famous could not access their portion of the building without going through the Cineplex portion, and according to Variety, Mr. slippery had barbed-wire and guard dogs installed in his portion to prevent that from happening. Eventually they ended up in court.

Wow what an amazing story, when I was reading the first post about the balcony theatre I was wondering how that could happen.

does anyone know what would have been playing at the theatre in the 1040s?

When I moved to Toronto in the mid 60's the theater was known as the Imperial operated by Famous Players and was still a single screen venue. Sometime after that it was closed and converted into a multi screen complex. It was a totally horrendous alteration. I recall going there afterward and entering one of the balcony level screening rooms. One wall & ceiling still bore traces of the original elaborate decoration while the screen occupied one portion of the proscenium arch which ended abruptly against a plain plasterboard partition wall dividing it from the theatre next to it. Even that was crudely finished. Seeing the proscenium disappearing into a wall made absolutely no sense whatsoever. There were two more smallish screening rooms hacked out of the original backstage area only accessible from the Victoria St entrance or possibly through the original backstage scenery doors. As far as I know, the original Pantages theatre had only the Victoria St entrance. The Yonge St entry was a later addition.

Oops, I forgot to add that with the conversion to six screens, the name was changed from Imperial to Imperial Six. Also, I'm not sure when the Yonge St entrance was added. It might have been early in the Famous Players years. Someone once suggested that there had been another theater separate from the Pantages running along Yonge St. That theater was converted into stores on Yonge St while the entry and lobby space were retained and connected through to the Pantages. Anyone know anything about that possibility?

www.onstagenow.com/OurTheatres/Canon.html

There is some history and photo's here

This is a photo of the Yonge Street entrance.

Here is a recent photo of the Canon Theater.

Another photo of the Canon Theater can be seen here.

This is another photo of the Canon Theater.

Here is a website for this theater.

Picture of the Upper Lobby during its Imperial 6 Days:

http://www.toronto.ca/archives/acquisitions_sprachmanintro.htm

Three pictures of the Canon as the Imperial 6 can be found on the lower half of this page; one is of the Yonge Street entrance, one is of the Lower Lobby, and one is of the largest theater, essentially the former balcony.

http://www.toronto.ca/archives/acquisitions_sprachman_uptownimperial.htm

Looking at the theater now, in its splendid restored condition, it's hard to believe it was once made to look so garish and "modern".

Actually, Cinema 1 was the theatre they created in front of the former balcony. It was built between the front of the balcony and where the screen was. That's why you only see part of the dome. The other part was in Cinema 2, which was the balcony and for a short time became the Pantages Cinema under Cineplex Odeon unitl they bought out the entire building and restored it.

Interesting; what was underneath Cinema 1's floor?

Cinemas 5 & 6 in the old orchestra section of the original Imperial. Cinemas 3 & 4 were in the old backstage area of the theatre and were reached by a glass enclosed walkway on the side of the building from the main lobby.

I remember the week before the "new" Imperial Six opened, they had an open house where the public could walk in and look around to see all the new theatres. I went twice that week and despite the garish colours (remember this was 1973) it was quite impressive to see how they were able to create all these cinemas in the old building. Through the years I was able to see films in all 6 cinemas several times. It was then downtown Toronto's major "multiplex" theatre. It was done about 4 years after the old Loew's Uptown had been divided into 5 screens.

This is an October close-up view.

Another 2008 photo is here.

The Imperial/Pantages has recently been featured at 32 Elvis Movies. Have a look at an opening week flyer for the Imperial Six and a great ad for the premiere of Mae West's SHE DONE HIM WRONG!

such a gorgeous theatre, wish I could have experienced it as a movie house, I have always been there to see various theatre shows over the years.

The Imperial was the first movie house in Canada to show a film produced in the wide-screen CinemaScope process. And it was one of only a handful of cinemas in the world equipped with large format VistaVision projectors. One of the others was the Paramount in New York. This is not surprising, since VistaVision was Paramount Pictures' big-screen system and they controlled both the Paramount in NY and the Imperial in Toronto.

Here is a recent shot of the Yonge Street entrance.

When Cineplex Odeon ran it as a one-screen theatre, here were some of the theatre's engagements:

Wall Street
The Unbearable Lightness Of Being
Colors
Die Hard in 70mm (the final movie played at the theatre)