THE OPERA HOUSE
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A BAND SETS UP AT THE HUB WHILE THE NEW ADAMSON CS10 RIG FLANKS THE PROSCENIUM
STORY & PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDREW LEYENHORST
The Opera House , opened in 1909 as an Edwardian vaudeville stage called the La Plaza Theatre , is a Toronto staple and one of Canada ’ s most esteemed venues . Sold and renamed The Opera House in 1989 , the hall has remained a home for music and the arts at large for over a century , and it continues to stand as an iconic fixture in the city and as a symbol of the creative heritage within The Six . Just about anybody who ’ s anybody in the global music scene has graced this stage at one point or another , from The Tragically Hip and Amanda Marshall to Imagine Dragons , Lamb of God , and a near-Biblical list of others .
At this point , readers probably already know where this is headed ; more than a year out , we ’ re still talking about Canadian venues and how they ’ ve handled the pandemic , and we ’ d be remiss not to address one of the all-time classics . Naturally , with a century ’ s pedigree in the music and event scene , it ’ s somewhat unsurprising that 735 Queen Street East has managed to keep its doors open throughout the corona crisis , albeit under the guise of The Hub .
In cooperation with Production Resource Group ( PRG ) and Lemmon Entertainment , The Opera House is currently home to The Hub , a full-service production house for broadcast and livestreamed events of all facets , from concerts to keynotes to fashion shows , making use of a full suite of AV gear supplied by PRG . However , they ’ ve also taken the opportunity to make moves for the future with the installation of a new Adamson Systems sound reinforcement suite in anticipation of audiences ( consisting of more than a skeleton production crew ) returning to the hall floor .
The initial conception of The Hub began with Erik Paquette , account executive at PRG , and subsequently The Hub ’ s technical director . “ This was an idea I had pretty close to when the pandemic kicked off ,” he begins . “ I saw what was going to happen ; no touring , no live shows . So , I ’ d been kind of kicking the idea around , I came to Athena [ Ellinas-Towers , general manager ] at The Opera House , asked her if she was into it , and she was .”
Ellinas-Towers explains , “ Erik ’ s used to doing North American tours through PRG and supplying services for all these bands that would normally be on tour and now they ’ re not . So , he approached me and he says , ‘ I have a whole shop full of equipment that isn ’ t being used , I have technicians that aren ’ t working , and you have a venue that ’ s sitting in the dark . Let ’ s do something together .’” PRG and The Opera House then joined forces with creative event production agency Lemmon Entertainment , and The Hub began to come to fruition .
“ It ’ s basically a content and capture film studio ,” Ellinas-Towers continues . “ We can do virtual weddings , we can do concerts , we can do presentations . Anything a client would need .” Of course , at this stage of the pandemic , the idea of leaning into content creation and streaming in order for companies , establishments , and technicians to keep working is hardly a groundbreaking idea . However , Paquette wanted to create something more unique with The Hub , and The Opera House served as the perfect canvas .
“ I ’ ve known Athena for probably close to 20 years now , so my first thought was to use this venue ; it ’ s got a great look , it ’ s very conducive to shooting something like this ,”
34 PROFESSIONAL SOUND