Toronto Centre for the Arts
| Toronto Centre for the Arts | |
|---|---|
|
Toronto Centre for the Arts | |
| Former names |
North York Performing Arts Centre Ford Centre for the Performing Arts |
| General information | |
| Type | Arts complex |
| Location |
5040 Yonge Street Toronto, Ontario, Canada M2N 6R8 |
| Coordinates | 43°45′58″N 79°24′52″W / 43.766159°N 79.414549°WCoordinates: 43°45′58″N 79°24′52″W / 43.766159°N 79.414549°W |
| Inaugurated | October 16, 1993 |
| Owner | City of Toronto |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Eberhard Zeidler |
| Website | |
| Venue website | |
The Toronto Centre for the Arts, previously known as the Ford Centre for the Performing Arts, is a performing arts centre in the former city of North York in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It opened in 1993 as the North York Performing Arts Centre and was designed by Canadian architect Eberhard Zeidler for musicals, theatre productions and other performing arts. It originally housed three theatres: the Main Stage Theatre with 1,727 seats, the George Weston Recital Hall with 1,036 seats, and the multi-purpose, 200-seat Studio Theatre.
The Main Stage was home to the Dancap Productions' Canadian production of Jersey Boys from August 2008 until August 2010. Prior to Jersey Boys, the facility was the home of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Sunset Boulevard and a 1993 production of Show Boat that transferred to Broadway. However, after the folding of Dancap, the Centre had difficulty finding enough tenants for the Main Stage, and began a series of renovations from 2014 to 2016 that divided the Main Stage into two smaller theatres. The Greenwin Theatre was built on the stage and backstage areas, and seats 296, while the remainder of the house became the Lyric Theatre, seating 576 and featuring LED backlit acoustic panels that can change colour with the lighting design.[1]