THE
EMPIRE
THEATRE
BRINGING WORLD-CLASS
ENTERTAINMENT TO BELLEVILLE, ON
BY ANDREW KING
PHOTOS BY BOB HOUSE PHOTOGRAPHY
T
he staff at The Empire
Theatre & Centre for the
Performing Arts keep an
informal list of the number
of Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
inductees to have per-
formed on either the stage
inside their stunning 700-
seat auditorium or that set
up in their adjacent parking lot for the annu-
al Empire Rockfest every summer. As of now,
that list is nearing three dozen, and as they
continue to bring internationally-heralded acts
to their Southern Ontario community of Bel-
leville – many of whom aren’t yet inducted
but almost certainly will be – the big ques-
tion is when that list will hit three figures.
The Empire Theatre is a privately-owned
venue with an unofficial mandate of enhanc-
ing the artistic and cultural landscape in its
home city and surrounding area by regularly
screening arthouse-style films in addition to
presenting live entertainment several times
per month. Consider that, in 2019 alone,
The Empire stage has already hosted inter-
national icon Gordon Lightfoot, acclaimed
rock trio The Tea Party, Canadian country
mainstays Doc Walker, and, yes, a Hall of
Fame inductee in Deep Purple’s Glenn
Hughes – and that’s just a small sample.
Indeed, there’s no shortage of di-
versity – or demand – in the venue’s
26 PROFESSIONAL SOUND
ADAMSON IS-SERIES AUDIO SYSTEM IN THE EMPIRE THEATRE
carefully-curated programming that, in
many cases, allows residents to experience
world-class entertainment in their own
community that would otherwise require
a drive east or west on Highway 401 to
Kingston or Toronto, respectively.
In the fall of 2018, The Empire Theatre
presented a special show on Sept. 13 th to
commemorate 15 years (to the day!) of
operations. Leading up to that show and
the milestone it celebrated, Empire owner
Mark Rashotte and his team decided to
invest in a new production package for
their main auditorium – one that would
improve their ability to attract and accom-
modate top touring acts while also giving
local presenters access to premium tech-
nologies for their own productions.
THE EMPIRE THEATRE
& CENTRE FOR THE
PERFORMING ARTS
321 Front St.
Belleville, ON K8N 2Z9
613-969-0099
[email protected]
www.theempiretheatre.com
The building that now houses The Empire
first opened its doors in 1938 as The McCar-
thy Theatre, which also hosted both feature
films and live performances for residents of
Belleville and its surrounding area.
Following 24 years of business, the the-
atre closed its doors in 1962 and the building
sat vacant for over a decade until, in 1974,
it opened as Stephen Licence, a sporting
goods and hobby store. While the owner
of the shop, Gerry Bongard, did make some
minor changes to the building and interior
space to better suit the retail environment,
he reportedly left most of the interior intact
in hopes that it could one day be returned to
its original use.
In early 2002, Rashotte – the owner and
broker of record of Royal Lepage ProAlliance
in Belleville – purchased the McCarthy build-
ing to do just that.
“I guess where it started is, I spent 10
years on the road playing professionally from
’74 to ’84, doing 250 nights a year across
North America,” Rashotte, then a member of
Canadian rock band Photograph and its earli-
er iterations, tells Professional Sound.
“When we got off the road in ’84, I got
into real estate, and thankfully that worked out
quite well. I kept playing, of course – you can’t
get away from it – but then decided I wanted
to get back into the business part of it.”
He considered purchasing a bar where
he could present live music, but that type of
venue didn’t particularly appeal to him.
In 2001, the McCarthy building went