The Hummingbird Centre

The Hummingbird Centre is a major performing arts venue in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Download high resolution version (1024x582, 126 KB)Taken by SimonP in April 2005 File links The following pages link to this file: Hummingbird Centre Categories: GFDL images ... Download high resolution version (1024x582, 126 KB)Taken by SimonP in April 2005 File links The following pages link to this file: Hummingbird Centre Categories: GFDL images ... Template:Hide = Motto: Template:Unhide = Diversity Our Strength Image:Toronto, Ontario Location. ...

In 1954, philanthropist, horsebreeder, and developer E.P. Taylor, the head of the O'Keefe Brewing Company and Argus Corporation, offered to build a much-needed performing arts centre for the city. He assigned one of his key executives, Hugh Walker, to oversee the job of building what local wags described as "the house that beer built." (Walker ultimately would stay on as the centre's general manager until 1975.) 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, or reputation to a charitable cause. ...

Three years later, demolition of a cluster of aging warehouses, stores, and office buildings at the corner of Front and Yonge streets began, and Earle Morgan and Page & Steele started construction on the complex which became known as the O'Keefe Centre. The red-carpet opening was held on October 1, 1960 with the pre-Broadway premiere of Alexander H. Cohen's production of the Lerner and Loewe musical Camelot with Richard Burton, Julie Andrews, and Robert Goulet. October 1 is the 274th day of the year (275th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ... Broadway theatre[1] is the most prestigious form of professional theatre in the U.S., as well as the most well known to the general public and most lucrative for the performers, technicians and others involved in putting on the shows. ... Alexander H. Cohen (July 24, 1920 - April 22, 2000) was a prolific American theatrical producer who mounted more than one hundred productions. ... Lerner and Loewe is a designation for the musical comedy writing team of lyricist and librettist Alan Jay Lerner and composer Frederick Loewe. ... The Fantasticks was the longest-running musical in history. ... Gustave Doré’s illustration of Camelot from “Idylls of the King”, 1868 Camelot is the most famous fictional castle associated with the legendary King Arthur. ... Richard Burton CBE (November 10, 1925 – August 5, 1984) was a Welsh actor. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Robert Gerard Goulet (b. ...

Renamed the Hummingbird Centre in 1996 in recognition of a major gift from a Canadian software company, the auditorium was designed to serve a wide range of performing arts, although its size made it ideal for large-scale musical productions with such artists as Ethel Merman, Angela Lansbury, Yul Brynner, Carol Channing, and Pearl Bailey. Other performers who have graced the stage in a range of solo shows, revues, and jazz spectaculars include Petula Clark, Duke Ellington, Marlene Dietrich, Diana Ross, Shirley MacLaine, Judy Garland, Sammy Davis Jr., Liza Minnelli, and Liberace. 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... Ethel Merman (January 16, 1908 – February 15, 1984) was a Tony Award winning star of stage and film musicals, well known for her powerful voice and vocal range. ... Angela Lansbury CBE (born 16 October 1925) is a Tony-winning, Golden Globe-winning, Oscar-nominated, and Emmy-nominated English actress, best-known for playing mystery writer Jessica Fletcher on Murder, She Wrote. ... Yul Brynner (July 11, 1920[1] – October 10, 1985) was a Russian-born Broadway and Academy Award-winning Hollywood actor. ... Carol Channing, ca. ... Pearl Bailey in “St. ... Petula Clark, CBE (born November 15, 1932), is a British singer, actress and composer of Welsh and English parentage, best known for her upbeat popular international hits of the 1960s. ... Edward Kennedy Duke Ellington (April 29, 1899, Washington, D.C.; d. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Diana Ross (born Diane Ernestine Earle Ross[1] on March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress, whose musical repertoire spans R&B, soul, disco, and pop. ... Shirley MacLaine (born Shirley MacLean Beaty April 24, 1934) is an Academy Award-winning American film and theatre actress, well-known not only for her acting, but for her devotion to her belief in reincarnation. ... Superscript text Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922 – June 22, 1969) was an Oscar-nominated American film actress, considered by many to be one of the greatest singing stars of Hollywoods Golden Era of musical film, best known for her role as Dorothy Gale from The... Sammy Davis, Jr. ... Liza May Minnelli (born March 12, 1946 in Los Angeles, California) is an Academy Award-winning and Tony Award-winning American actress and singer. ... Liberace shows off his rings (circa 1980). ...

Frequent visits by out-of-town companies include the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens in addition to a wide array of international dance companies, including Britain's Royal Ballet, New York City Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and the Kirov and the Bolshoi. It was here in 1974 that a young Mikhail Baryshnikov ran from the stage door to a waiting getaway car and freedom. The Royal Winnipeg Ballet, based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, is Canadas oldest ballet company and the longest continuously operating ballet company in North America. ... Les Grands Ballets Canadiens is a Canadian ballet company based in Montreal, Quebec. ... Royal Ballet may refer to: Royal Ballet, London Birmingham Royal Ballet Royal Winnipeg Ballet Royal Danish Ballet There is also an article about the Royal Ballet School in London, England. ... Logo of the New York City Ballet The New York City Ballet is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein originally known as the American Ballet. ... The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is a modern dance company based in New York, New York. ... Kirov can refer to: Sergey Kirov, Bolshevik revolutionary and Soviet communist The north-eastern European Russian city Kirov, center of Kirov Oblast The Soviet warship Kirov, now of the Russian Navy, lead ship of the Kirov class of battlecruisers. ... Bolshoi Theatre The Bolshoi Theatre is a theatre and theater company in Moscow, Russia, which gives performances of plays, ballet, and opera. ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... Alexandra Danilova and Mikhail Baryshnikov, 1976 Mikhail Nikolaevitch Baryshnikov (Russian: ) (born January 28, 1948) is a Russian dancer, choreographer, and actor. ...

The Centre was home to both the National Ballet of Canada between 1964 and 2006, and the Canadian Opera Company, between 1961 and 2006, when they moved to the newly-built Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. Guest artists from the opera world such as Birgit Nilsson, Placido Domingo, and Renata Scotto have sung there. The National Ballet of Canada is Canadas largest ballet troupe. ... 1964 (MCMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1964 calendar). ... The Canadian Opera Company (COC), located in Toronto, Ontario, is the largest opera company in Canada and the sixth largest in North America. ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... The Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts is the future home for both the Canadian Opera Company and the National Ballet of Canada. ... Birgit Nilsson Birgit Nilsson (May 17, 1918 – December 25, 2005) was a Swedish soprano who specialized in operatic and symphonic works. ... Plácido Domingo (born January 21, 1941) is a world-renowned opera singer, conductor, and general manager. ... The Italian opera singer Renata Scotto (born February 24, 1934) is a soprano widely admired for both her musical and dramatic gifts. ...

Although the more than 3000-seat centre was never intended to be a venue for drama, Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud, Ralph Richardson, Glenda Jackson, Vivien Leigh, Christopher Plummer, Jessica Tandy, and Hume Cronyn all have performed on its stage. Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM (22 May 1907–11 July 1989) was an Academy Award, Golden Globe, BAFTA and four-time Emmy winning English actor, director, and producer. ... Sir Arthur John Gielgud, OM, CH (14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000), known as Sir John Gielgud, was an Emmy, Grammy, Tony and Academy Award-winning English theatre and film actor, and is generally regarded as one of the great British actors in history. ... Ralph Richardson Sir Ralph David Richardson (19 December 1902 – 10 October 1983) was an English actor, one of a group of theatrical knights of the mid-20th century who, though more closely associated with the stage, did their best to make the transition to film. ... Glenda Jackson Glenda May Jackson, CBE, (born 9 May 1936) is a two-time Academy Award-winning British actress and politician, currently Labour Member of Parliament for the constituency of Hampstead and Highgate in the London Borough of Camden. ... Vivien Leigh (November 5, 1913 – July 8, 1967) was an English actress. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Jessica Tandy, christened Jessie Alice Tandy (June 7, 1909 – September 11, 1994) was a noted Academy Award-winning English theatre, film and TV actress who became an American citizen. ... Hume Blake Cronyn, OC (July 18, 1911 – June 15, 2003) was a stage and film actor. ...

The centre does not limit itself to cultural performances, and has hosted everything from automotive shows to the Miss Canada Pageant and the Juno Awards. The Juno Awards are awards of achievement presented to Canadian musical artists and bands; they could be considered the transnational counterpart to the United States Grammy Awards. ...

The centre led the way in transforming the city's business center into an entertainment district, resulting in increased revenue for local restaurants, bars, and hotels. A typical restaurant in uptown Manhattan A restaurant is an establishment that serves prepared food and beverages to be consumed on the premises. ... Bars or bars can mean: The plural of bar. ... A hotel is an establishment that provides lodging, usually on a short-term basis. ...

Until 1967, the building and land were owned by the O'Keefe Brewing Company, which then sold them to the City of Toronto, although it took a decade before ownership passed into the hands of the city, which still owns the property. Due to a change in government regulations, The Hummingbird Centre now operates as an autonomous entity. 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ...

With the move of the Canadian Opera Company and the National Ballet of Canada in 2006, the Hummingbird Centre has enlisted architect Daniel Libeskind for a redesign of the complex. The redevelopment features two key concepts, the creation of a $75 million "Arts & Heritage Awareness Centre" (the AHA! Centre) and above it a 49-storey residential tower. Daniel Libeskind in front of his extension to the Denver Art Museum. ...

External link

Mmicrosite for the Hummingbird Centre

Official website PDF Brochure