Cabaret Le Tulipe
4530 Avenue Papineau,
Montreal,
QC
H2H 1V3
4530 Avenue Papineau,
Montreal,
QC
H2H 1V3
2 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: United Amusement Corp., Ltd.
Architects: Joseph-Arthur Godin
Functions: Cabaret
Previous Names: Dominion Theatre, Theatre des Varietes
Phone Numbers:
Box Office:
514.526.4000
Nearby Theaters
Opened in 1913, the 1,500-seat Dominion Theatre stopped showing movies in 1960 and was rented out to the Jehovah’s Witnesses by Confederated Amusements. In 1967 the comedian Gilles Latulippe bought the Dominion Theatre and renamed it the Theatre des Varietes.
Contributed by
Mike Rivest
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Recent comments (view all 2 comments)
Here is a photo of the Théâtre des Variétés which I took in 1989 or so.
View link
The Dominion Theatre was created by the architect Joseph-Arthur Godin (1879-1949) and built in 1913. On the original drawing, it was named Le Jovial but the name was never retained. It opened in April 1914 and was able to greet 1500 spectators. It was first a silent movie theatre at the beginning and it switched to talking movies in 1929. Then with the golden age of the burlesk, presentations varied from movies to live shows since 1932 until the late 50’s. Then it became again just a movie theatre until around 1965.
The building was then rented to the Jehovas Witnesses for a while and is listed in the phone book of the time as the “Emmanuel Church”. In 1967, Gilles Latulippe finally bought it and returned it to its root of movies and live burlesker shows. Under the name “Théâtre des Variétés”, it will be filled by laughter until it’s closure in 2000.
It was renamed “Théâtre des Nouveautés” afterward, but was closed within the same year. It’s now a cabaret named “La Tulipe” and it has gone under a lots of transformation. Noticeably, all the seats of the orchestra were removed. Only the balcony remains untouched. You can see current pictures of the interior on their site :(http://www.latulipe.ca/latulipe/visite/latulipe_visite.asp)
The number of spectators varied over the years. In 1914, it was announced at 1500, but in 1926 it was down to 908. In 1928, after new safety laws were implemented following the deadly fire at the Laurier Palace (which killed 78 kids), the number of seats was 829. Under Latulippe’s direction, the Variétés had 727 seats. The cabaret now claims 550 seated or 700 standing places.
The civic address also varied as time went by. It opened at 820-822 rue Papineau, changed to 1676-78 rue Papineau in 1922 and became the 4530 rue Papineau in 1926. It still stands at this address today.
You can see pictures on my website (in French) dedicated to this beloved theater at:
http://pattypatwebdesign.net/varietes/index.html