Shea's Hippodrome Theatre
440 Bay Street,
Toronto,
ON
M5G
440 Bay Street,
Toronto,
ON
M5G
1 person
favorited this theater
Once one of the largest theatres ever built for vaudeville, Shea’s Hippodrome was opened on April 27, 1914 with 3,200 seats, and was operated by Famous Players.
It was demolished in 1957, along with many other buildings, to make way for Toronto’s modernistic City Hall complex.
Contributed by
Christopher Walczak
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Recent comments (view all 15 comments)
The history of the Wurlitzer organ (Opus 558, 3/15) that was installed in Shea’s Hippodrome in 1922 at a cost of 50,000is a fascinating story. It was rescued and purchased (for a mere $2,000) even as the theatre was being demolished. It was then installed at the Maple Leaf Gardens and expanded in size. It was later removed from the Gardens and stored at the Imperial Theatre on Yonge, and then installed at Casa Loma after again being modified. The complete story can be read here: http://www.theatreorgans.com/toronto/history.html
The Toronto Theatre Organ Society (TTOS), whose members over the years have worked so hard to see that the Shea’s Wurlitzer would be preserved have posted a number of pictures of the theatre, including interior shots at these sites:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27918731@N02/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27918731@N02/page2/
Here are updated links to the pictures I posted on April 13, 2009:
Some pictures of Shea’s Hippodrome:
Under construction, around 1912:
View link
As it was in 1921:
View link
In 1947:
http://ao.minisisinc.com/Webimages/I0004557.jpg
My mother was an usherette at Shea’s Hippodrome on Bay Street, Toronto in the late 1950’s. She met the likes of Gloria Swanson and Gordon Lightfoot.
She recalls a photographer from ??Famous Players? coming in and asking if she’d do some photography of her getting ready to “go on the floor”, and she is wondering what happened to those photos. She recalls him taking photos of her sitting and putting on her hat, fixing her make up, putting on her jacket – all this was taken in the usherettes dressing room. Anyone seen any of these or have a lead where we may find them?
Great vintage shots CWalczak.
Over at Silent Toronto, a winter shot from 1924 advertising a Gloria Swanson flick at the Hippodrome.
I have Shea’s program time schedules for every show from early 50’s to closing. These are the typed timetables of starting/end times and length for News, cartoon, preview, short, feature, etc. and also size of screen when Cinemascope came in. Would anyone know if these have any monetary value to somebody, or how to find out?
I also have NY Paramount “audience troublemakers” reports (mashers, pickpockets, hooligans etc.). Would these have any monetary value?
Jerry
Hey Jerry, drop me a line at — would love to have a look!
A new article at Silent Toronto shows Lee de Forrest’s Phonofilms, featuring Eddie Cantor, playing at Shea’s Hippodrome in 1924.
An ad for “A Devil With Women” starring Victor McLaglen from Dec 22 1930: