Pantages Theatre
The Pantages Theatre
www.vancouverpantages.com
The Pantages Theatre Arts Society was created to shepherd the restoration and reopening of the theatre to provide the residents of the neighbourhood and the City of Vancouver with a live theatre and an active new performing arts facility.
The Pantages Theatre is the oldest vaudeville theatre in Canada and the second of 72 theatres built by Alexander Pantages in North America. The plan is to restore this theatre to its former glory. The Pantages will become a home for groups like the City Opera of Vancouver, playhouse and theatre groups, musical organizations, and other performing arts organizations, particularly smaller groups that have limited resources.
The three resident companies are the City Opera of Vancouver, the Vancouver Cantonese Opera, and Vancouver Moving Theatre. They will be participating with other community groups in the restoration.
The musical agenda for City Opera will be chamber opera works from Monteverdi to Mozart, and Gilbert and Sullivan to contemporary Canadian opera. City Opera also hopes to commission original work for the house.
The Pantages will be equipped as a real-time web, television and radio broadcast facility and recording studio to extend the reach and increase the audience for local, regional and national performing arts groups.
History
The Pantages Theatre was built in 1907 as part of the Pantages chain of 72 vaudeville theatres by Alexander Pantages. All of Pantages’ early theatres have been demolished, making this the oldest surviving one in North America.
The theatre has operated under many names, most recently as the Sung Sing Theatre and before that, as City Nights. During its time as the Pantages this theatre headlined comedians like Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel, as well as sports legends Jack Dempsey and Babe Ruth. Later it was used as a movie house.
Pantages Theatre taken March 20, 1933 hours after a bomb was exploded in its lobby. Running a theatre has never been easy. Photo courtesy of Ron Injates.
Over the years the interior has remained remarkably intact, despite the change from live performance to playing movies. The theatre closed its doors in 1994 and has twice appeared in recent years on Heritage Vancouver’s annual top ten lists of endangered sites. The theatre also has heritage value for its supporting role among the many fine turn-of-the-century buildings that line this part of Hastings Street.
Architecture
The rather plain red brick façade of the timber frame theatre structure is significant in that it followed the trend of early theatres, where the office like exterior hid a highly-ornate interior. The exterior has been altered, especially at the ground level, and the original cornice has been removed.
Inside, the more ornate auditorium typical of vaudeville theatres of the day, includes such original decorative elements as a curved ceiling in plain plaster with classical, baroque and Moorish details, and plaster decoration. The wood floors, balconies, and murals have remained astonishingly intact. Although designed primarily by Edward Evans Blackmore (1878-1929), Alexander Pantages himself is credited with considerable input into the theatre’s plans.
Who is Involved
The Pantages Theatre Arts Society, a non-profit society, has been incorporated and has entered into a lease with the owner to manage the project during this period.
The developer, who specializes in the restoration of old buildings, is currently restoring and redeveloping the Koret Lofts project on East Cordova Street. Marc Williams and Helen Song are responsible for managing the project.
Proscenium Architects, who were involved in the successful restoration of the Pantages Theatre in Victoria now called the McPherson Playhouse, as well as a number of other theatres in Vancouver, will be engaged. The architects and developer will work closely with the Heritage Department of the City of Vancouver , as well as the federal Department of Canadian Heritage to restore as much of the original theatre as much as possible.
The plan is to hire a number of the community groups who are already working in the area to participate in the restoration and learn something completely new to build a different kind of excitement that people might not have an opportunity to experience.
Signing the Agreement
On April 18, 2006, the long-term lease agreement between the Pantages Theatre Arts Society and the owner and developer Marc Williams was signed in the company of representatives from Vancouver Moving Theatre, Vancouver Cantonese Opera, and City Opera of Vancouver. These companies will be resident at the theatre together with numerous other community and arts groups to make use of this 650-seat proscenium house.
On Saturday, October 28, 2006, shortly after noon, the Pantages Theatre presented its first concert in over 50 years as part of the Heart of the City Festival. Soprano Diana Oros-Wilder and pianist Michael Onwood performed music from Broadway to opera for an appreciative audience after an historic walking tour conducted by John Atkin of this once bustling theatre and vaudeville circuit area that included the Harts Opera House, the Grand, the Empress, the Imperial, the Rex, the Chung King Opera House, and among others, the Pantages Theatre.
Contributors
The Pantages Theatre Arts Society
Members of the Board of the Pantages Theatre Arts Society
Peter Fairchild, Chair, Pantages Theatre Arts Society and Treasurer, Community Arts Council of Vancouver
Colin Browne, SFU School of Contemporary Arts, Board Member, Vancouver City Opera, active participant in Woodwards Building Redevelopment
Barbara Clague, educator and singer actively engaged in community development
Duncan Low, former Executive Director of the Vancouver East Cultural Centre
Grace Wong, Director of the Chinatown Branch of VanCity Credit Union
Robert Eberle, professor, UBC Theatre Department, nationally recognized expert in theatre operations, design and management.
Council of Advisors
Donna Spencer, Artistic Producer of the Firehall Arts Centre
Ethel Whitty, Executive Director of the Carnegie Centre
Susan Stevenson, Executive Director of the Greater Vancouver Professional Theatre Alliance
David Y. H. Louie, impresario
Nora Kelly, Past President of the Strathcona Residents Association
Dawn Brennan, General Manager of the Vancouver Playhouse Theatre Company
What’s Next
Restoration
The theatre has been in a state of disrepair for many years. The developer took it over in October and immediately sealed the roof to stop the extensive water damage, tightened it up to stop further deterioration, and secured the building.
The theatre has spectacular murals on the walls that are currently covered with canvas. The original capacity of 650 people will be reduced with the installation of new chairs that provide the level of space and comfort audiences have now come to expect.
The new entrance will be from the adjacent building where some social and affordable housing will also be created, leaving the theatre space as intact as possible for restoration to the best of its original form.
Not only will the theatre be fully restored, the stage area will be modernized, increasing the orchestra pit. There is at present room for a fifteen person orchestra pit. The pit will be expanded from access below into the house to provide three configurations seating twenty, thirty and up to forty musicians.
The acoustics in the theatre are the best in the city. The acoustic qualities of the wood and plaster construction work really well, unlike much of current day theatre design and construction.
The stage left area will be expanded into the property next door to provide wing space, a staging area, a green room and a place for performers in addition to the space below the stage.
The stage tower is sixty five feet and is solid and intact. It, along with the rest of the building, will require restoration to the twenty-first century. Fortunately, the seismic upgrade can be accomplished through the exterior wall on the west side leaving the interior walls intact.
The house will be wired to create a real time broadcast studio. Capacity will be provided for CBC Radio in a special residency. The Pantages Theatre will invite the CBC Radio Orchestra and others to perform free concerts for broadcast on radio, television, and the internet. People will be able to tune in through their computer and see what is going on at the theatre.
Having the house wired and cabled with built in sound and video recording equipment creates a facility for groups with recording projects to use when the theatre is not active.
An agreement has been reached with EasyPark for the first three years of the operation of the theatre that everyone who purchases a ticket for the theater will get free parking at the 950 space Chinatown Parkade two blocks away, and at the Gastown Parkade two blocks in the other direction, with free shuttle service to and from the theatre and the Parkades for one hour before and after the performance.
The theatre will be structured to provide local residents with tickets to encourage them to come and experience things they might not necessarily have the opportunity to do. Having a theatre in the community can create a different attitude and level of comfort in participating and experiencing the arts. Giving people in the community the opportunity to participate will create more pride in the community and another wonderful dynamic that will improve the area.
The theatre will be available for rental and presentation. Special benefits will apply to neighbourhood groups and residents.
Once approved by the City, the restoration work will take about two years with a projected opening in the late fall of 2008.
Alexander Pantages’ idea of something for everyone has held true for almost ninety years and is now waiting to be restored and open again in time for its 100th anniversary.
Pantages Community
Pantages Events
Pantages Reports
Pantages Letters
I wanted to direct your attention to a Facebook group I have created as the very future of the Pantages is in doubt…
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=45653505791
From ctvbc.ca: “Charlie Chaplin performed there in 1912, when he was a little known song and dance man. But for the first time in years, there are for sale signs up at one of western Canada’s oldest theatres, the Pantages near Hastings and Main in downtown Vancouver. The 100-year-old venue could soon be sold and demolished, meaning a significant part of Vancouver’s history would be lost.”
Visit the group to find out how you can help – in addition to joining the above group, there are three other things you can do:
1. REGISTER YOUR SUPPORT FOR THE PANTAGES by writing to mayorandcouncil@vancouver.ca, and COPY YOUR E-MAIL to the Pantages Theatre Arts Society at cb0bc@yahoo.com .
2. SIGN THE PETITION…
http://www.petitiononline.com/pantages/
3. TELL YOUR FRIENDS – Invite them to join the group, encourage them to write the Mayor & Council and to sign the petition.
And if you want to try to use the theatre for a photoshoot I would visit this site: http://www.vancouverpantages.com/ and on the contact us page you can find direct contact information for the Pantages Theatre Arts Society who would be the ones who could hook you up if access is still possible.
Cheers,
- S
by Steven H. Lee — October 27, 2008 @ 7:39 pm
Hi,
Please add me to the email list, I would like to know more about the Pantages Theatre.
Best Regards,
Mary
by Mary Phan — October 31, 2008 @ 3:48 pm
The Pantages Theatre seems like a great project and a worthwhile building to renovate. However I’m worried about the location – it’s so close to Main and Hastings that bringing in an audience of people who are not used to the area might be difficult.
by Hanna Daber — November 3, 2008 @ 11:23 am
Hi,
I strongly feel that the Pantages Theatre should be saved and reopened at whatever the price tag.
Our city has lost a lot of its classic buildings such as the Birks Building at Granville and Georgia and the 2nd Hotel Vancouver and even such theatres as the other Pantages down the road which was torn down in the late 60’s and sat as a parking lot for many years and other great theatres like the original Capital and the Strand.
With the exception of the Orpheum and Vogue which itself is at risk the Pantages is a one of a kind that would not only benefit the Downtown Eastside but the whole city.
Hastings is being fixed up for the 21st century, look at the Pennsylvania Hotel Project down the road. If the Pantages re-opened it could be used for live stageshows, rock concerts, even run it as a movie theatre once again like the Rio Theatre on Broadway.
Have a new movie like the Dark Knight and keep the ticket for $5 instead of $12.50 and people like myself and many others in our city would be more than happy to come down to the area and see a cheap movie. Main and Hastings 10 to 15 years from now might even have a Starbucks – look at all the other coffee shops in the area opening up.
I however feel that to put a stamp on the area’s comeback, the entrance must be on Hastings under a grand neon sign like the Pennsylvania down the street. I don’t even care what the theatre reopens as – I just want to see the city do the right thing and save this piece of early Vancouver.
If we can pay a billion plus for a 2-week 5-ring circus, then why can’t we pay a few million to save a grand old theatre that is over a hundred years old? If restored it could last another hundred years or so – look at Europe they have theatres that are how old?
With 3000 and counting people dying (not really living) on our streets the social housing part of the project would have been a great asset for future generations to come. I hope the theatre is saved because if it is sold and slated to torn down, the day it is to come down I feel like I would want to chain myself to the front doors of the theatre and yell out on a bull-horn, “Don’t do it – Save history”.
I have never even seen the inside with my own eyes, would love to someday, but I know enough of the plan to save it, and I am a local history buff and I know a lot of other young people like myself do not want to see another high-end condo be built on a site like that.
I wish I could buy the theatre and the Burr in New Westminster and do the renovations myself. 30 years from now if the theatre is torn out and you have Starbucks and a Gap Store and the Balmoral is turned into a Ramada and so on, people will want theatre space in the area, and wouldn’t it be nice to have a neat old theatre instead of a cinder-block structure of today – with no class at all.
_
by James Schultz — January 15, 2009 @ 9:29 pm
The City of New Westminster is currently encountering a similar dilemma. The city is home to the Burr Theatre, originally named the Columbia. Built in 1927, it is the oldest atmospheric theatre in Canada. Atmospheric theatres are unique in that they are decorated to replicate an outdoor setting, often with 3D façades of buildings and murals transforming the ceiling into the night sky.
The theatre is currently owned by the City, which is looking to sell the property to generate funds for the acquisition of land to build a new Civic Centre.
The theatre is not currently in use but arts groups and concerned citizens would like to see the City retain ownership in order to restore the heritage of the building and to develop the site into an interdisciplinary arts centre for the community, something New Westminster lacks at this point in time.
There are concerns in the community that if the building is sold to a commercial proprietor, many arts groups in the city, desperate for access to limited space, often because of limited funds, will be left out in the cold.
We are looking for support and ideas to keep the theatre in the hands of the City. If you have any suggestions, would like more information or to offer support, please go to our website – http://www.savetheburr.com
by Taryn — August 26, 2009 @ 1:11 pm