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Sony Centre for the Performing Arts (O'Keefe Centre for the Performing Arts 1960-96; Hummingbird Centre for the Performing Arts 1996-2007). Toronto multi-purpose entertainment venue. Home 1961-2006 of the Canadian Opera Company and 1964-2006 of the National Ballet of Canada. Located on 2.5 acres on Front Street between Yonge and Scott streets, the centre was built in 1960 at a cost of $12 million and was owned until 1968 by the O'Keefe Brewing Co. In 1968 ownership was transferred to Metropolitan Toronto; in 1996 the facility was renamed the Hummingbird Centre after its sponsor, Hummingbird Communications. It became the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts in 2007.
Theatre Design
A landmark modernist design by Earle C. Morgan and Page and Steele of Toronto, with Eggers and Higgins of New York as consultants and V.L. Henderson as acoustician, the fan-shaped theatre was built to seat more than 3,200 people on two levels facing an 18 metre wide proscenium stage. Moveable panels were attached to the wall and an acoustic shell (added in 1961) was lowered from the stage tower for band and orchestra performances. Though intended as a multi-purpose entertainment centre for opera, ballet, drama, and touring productions, the theatre's size and limited natural acoustics (an aspect criticized in later years) suited it primarily for large-scale productions. Conventional amplification was necessary until 1998, when a $600,000 digital enhancement system was installed to improve sound clarity and flexibility.
Performances
The O'Keefe Centre for the Performing Arts opened 1 Oct 1960 with a pre-Broadway production of Camelot starring Julie Andrews, Richard Burton, and Robert Goulet. Seldom dark, the centre was host to productions of Anne of Green Gables, Johnny Belinda and Cliff Jones's Kronborg: 1582; leading Broadway shows and stage plays; and performances by Les Grands Ballets Canadiens; the Royal Winnipeg, Bolshoi, Royal, and Kirov ballet companies; Twyla Tharp; the Metropolitan, Peking, and D'Oyly Carte opera companies; the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic; the Duke Ellington and Count Basie orchestras; the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra; the jazz trumpeter Miles Davis; rock groups Jefferson Airplane and Steppenwolf (Sparrow); the Harlem Gospel Choir; and entertainers Harry Belafonte, Leonard Cohen, Céline Dion, Elton John, Tom Jones, k.d. lang, Anne Murray, and Sonny and Cher, among many others. Hugh P. Walker, the centre's first managing director, was succeeded in 1976 by Thomas Burrows. John P. Kruger was interim general manager 1979-80, followed by Charles S. Cutts 1981-9, Martin H. Onrot 1990-5, Elizabeth Bradley 1995-2001, and Daniel Brambilla as CEO beginning in 2002. In 2008 the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts was closed for major renovations; its original tenants, the Canadian Opera Company and the National Ballet of Canada, moved to the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts in 2006.
Author
Alex Murray, Sarah Church
Bibliography
Henderson, V.L. 'Acoustic considerations at the O'Keefe Centre,' The Canadian Music Journal, vol 6, Summer 1960 Mercer, Ruby. 'O'Keefe Centre: a house for all seasons,' Opera Canada, Fall 1971 'O'Keefe at 25,' series of articles, Performance, Nov-Dec 1985 Baillie, Joan. Look at the Record: An Album of Toronto's Lyric Theatres 1825-1984 (Oakville, 1985) Godfrey, John. 'Playing chicken with opera and ballet,' Toronto Financial Post, 6 Jan 1989 'Glitz, glamour & glory: 30 spectacular years,' supplement to Globe and Mail, 1 Oct 1990 Shopsowitz, Karen. "Toronto's O'Keefe Centre," Performance, 2-4 Dec 1991 Hume, Christopher. "O'Keefe Centre reflects city's spirit," Performance, 5-7 Dec 1994 Loudon, Christopher. "Hummingbird gift revitalizes centre," Performance, 3-7 Sep 1996 Hume, Christopher. "Facelift enhances a centre built to last," Performance, 30 Nov 1996 Citron, Paula. "The LARES system: the scientific sound of music," Performance, 5-27 Jun 1998 Ouzounian, Richard. "The rebirth of Hummingbird Centre," Performance, Sep-Nov 2000 Knelman, Martin. "Case closed: city needs the Sony Centre," Toronto Star, 23 Jun 2008
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