Victory Theatre
287 Spadina Avenue,
Toronto,
ON
M4J 1N4
287 Spadina Avenue,
Toronto,
ON
M4J 1N4
3 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Architects: Benjamin Brown
Functions: Drugstore
Previous Names: Standard Theatre, Strand Theatre, Golden Harvest Cinema, Mandarin Cinema
Nearby Theaters
Located in the Chinatown section of Toronto, the Standard Theatre was opened in 1921. Renamed Victory Theatre in the 1940’s, the balcony was later converted into the Golden Harvest Cinema. It was closed in 1994 It was converted into a Crossfit Tidal gymnasium. That closed and by March 2023 the space was operating as a drugstore.
Contributed by
Jason R
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Recent comments (view all 15 comments)
A recent photo can be found here.
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I was in this unattractive theatre once in the late 60’s. The place was rundown and so were the ladies of burlesque gracing the stage. But I do remember that they had great hot dogs.
Scroll down on this webpage to see a 1941 picture of the Victory before it became a burlesque house.
Have fond memories of the Victory when I was a young man in the sixties. Still have fantasies of ‘Terry Darnell’’s erotic performance.Wonder where she is now? Would have to be about 75 but still sexy I bet.Loved the comics?emcee’s who I think passed about 10 recycled jokes between themselves.
Is / was it haunted? It was featured on TV today….one of those hauntings shows
@Jon Lidolt…That “unattractive theatre” brought much joy to many ladies who worked there. I was one of them back in the early 70’s and I thought it was beautiful, what with all that history! Lots of exciting moments with the 3 ghosts too. Do you realize that many of those “rundown” ladies that you speak of were working their way through college or university. Some became doctors, teachers and other professionals (and no..I don’t mean hookers). Please watch who you look down your nose at. Most of those ladies were awesome women that would give you the shirt off their back…now THAT was funny!
Apparently, the auditorium still exists and is in decent condition as of June 2015. Interior photos here
@SandyDoodah … Good for you! Nice to hear someone say something nice about the Vic! My father owned it back in the early 70’s, although he changed it into a music venue … Buddy Rich, Kiss, New York Dolls, Spirit, Rush, and Peter Frampton. I was only a teenager back then, but I still saw some of the shows!
Closed in 1994. Full chronological history with photos in below link.
https://tayloronhistory.com/2015/06/29/torontos-sinful-victory-theatrenew-photos/
According to current Google Maps views and information, the gymnasium is no longer in the Victory Theatre building, which has since been converted into office and retail spaces, including a Rexall drugstore on the main floor which opened around 2017. The current Rexall space was also previously the location of a Royal Bank branch before that branch relocated prior to 2016.