Eva Antonel
Sometimes you go to the theatre to see
art and sometimes, as in the case of our own
Capitol Theatre, you go to see the theatre as
well as the art. It's like a matroska doll, one
work of beauty presenting the hidden beauty
of the other.
The architects of old understood that
atmosphere is a big part of the overall
experience when attending a theatrical
production. The grandeur and elegance of the
building itself sets the tone for what's to
appear on stage or screen. The building
housing the stage is like the Birks box, hinting
of the quality of what's to be found inside. No
other local venue sets the stage for a theatrical
or music production like The Capitol.
The theatre was designed in the AdamEmpire style by famous architect Thomas
White Lamb. He is best known for creating
Toronto's Pantages, The Wintergarden and
Elgin theatres. It opened its doors in 1920 as
a vaudeville theatre by the name of Loew's
Windsor Theatre. At the time, it was the
largest single floor theatre in Canada, housing
1995 seats.
It may have been a vaudeville act that
opened the theatre in 1920 but the building
has seen thousands of performances ranging
from theatrical to musical to literary. It has
managed to reinvent itself along with the city
and just like our hard knock past, it's seen its
share of triumph and turbulence.
Though it came close to demolition in
1990, with the help of local, provincial and
federal dollars the Capitol underwent an
extensive restoration which was completed in
1995. In April of 2000, it became a Heritage
Site under the Ontario Heritage Act.
New Seats Come To The
Historic Capitol
In partnership with the
City of Windsor and the
Windsor Symphony Orchestra,
the Capitol Theatre Windsor is
renovating its fixed seating.
The Capitol Theatre
Windsor is closing two of its
three theatres – the Pentastar
and the Kelly – from July to
September to replace the
fixed seating in these spaces. According to Windsor Symphony
Orchestra’s Executive Director, Sheila Wisdom, “the seats, although
brand new, will be in keeping with the heritage of our 100
year-old-theatre.”
The Joy Theatre, an event space without fixed seating, will be
available for rental to the public throughout the renovation weeks. The
Capitol Theatre and Windsor Symphony Orchestra Box Office will also
be open during that time, although the Box Office ticketing system will
also be upgraded this summer.
The theatres will be fully functional in time for a big reveal during
Doors Open Windsor, September 24 - 25.
So what goes on in a storied building
such as this? In the past couple of years I've
been fortunate to have walked through its
doors to see the symphony play tribute to
Pink Floyd. I've heard authors read from their
newly published works during the yearly
festival of the book, BookFest Windsor.I've
seen several screenings of award winning
movies during the yearly festival of film,
International Film Festival and in October
2014, I saw an astronaut play a cover of David
Bowie's A Space Oddity which he also played
aboard the international space station.
In case the word on the street in your
neck of the woods is that there's nothing
going on downtown, you'll just have to check
out the lineup at The Capitol to prove the
neighbours wrong.
Going back to the 1995 seats. Apparently
some of them came up for grabs at the end of
June. The opportunity may have come and
gone but the chance to occupy one at an
upcoming event is still open to us all.
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July 2016 - The HUB 9