Hummingbird Centre

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The Hummingbird Centre

The Hummingbird Centre is a major performing arts venue in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

In 1954, philanthropist, horsebreeder, and developer E.P. Taylor, the head of the O'Keefe Brewing Company and Argus Corporation, offered to build a much-needed performing arts centre for the city. He assigned one of his key executives, Hugh Walker, to oversee the job of building what local wags described as "the house that beer built." (Walker ultimately would stay on as the centre's general manager until 1975.)

Three years later, demolition of a cluster of aging warehouses, stores, and office buildings at the corner of Front and Yonge streets began, and Earle Morgan and Page & Steele started construction on the complex which became known as the O'Keefe Centre. The red-carpet opening was held on October 1, 1960 with the pre-Broadway premiere of Alexander H. Cohen's production of the Lerner and Loewe musical Camelot with Richard Burton, Julie Andrews, and Robert Goulet.

Renamed the Hummingbird Centre in 1996 in recognition of a major gift from a Canadian software company, the auditorium was designed to serve a wide range of performing arts, although its size made it ideal for large-scale musical productions with such artists as Ethel Merman, Angela Lansbury, Yul Brynner, Carol Channing, and Pearl Bailey. Other performers who have graced the stage in a range of solo shows, revues, and jazz spectaculars include Petula Clark, Duke Ellington, Marlene Dietrich, Diana Ross, Shirley MacLaine, Judy Garland, Sammy Davis Jr., Liza Minnelli, and Liberace.

Frequent visits by out-of-town companies include the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens in addition to a wide array of international dance companies, including Britain's Royal Ballet, New York City Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and the Kirov and the Bolshoi. It was here in 1974 that a young Mikhail Baryshnikov ran from the stage door to a waiting getaway car and freedom.

The Centre was home to both the National Ballet of Canada between 1964 and 2006, and the Canadian Opera Company, between 1961 and 2006, when they moved to the newly-built Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. Guest artists from the opera world such as Birgit Nilsson, Placido Domingo, and Renata Scotto have sung there.

Although the more than 3000-seat centre was never intended to be a venue for drama, Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud, Ralph Richardson, Glenda Jackson, Vivien Leigh, Christopher Plummer, Jessica Tandy, and Hume Cronyn all have performed on its stage.

The centre does not limit itself to cultural performances, and has hosted everything from automotive shows to the Miss Canada Pageant and the Juno Awards.

The centre led the way in transforming the city's business center into an entertainment district, resulting in increased revenue for local restaurants, bars, and hotels.

Until 1967, the building and land were owned by the O'Keefe Brewing Company, which then sold them to the City of Toronto, although it took a decade before ownership passed into the hands of the city, which still owns the property. Due to a change in government regulations, The Hummingbird Centre now operates as an autonomous entity.

With the move of the Canadian Opera Company and the National Ballet of Canada in 2006, the Hummingbird Centre has enlisted architect Daniel Libeskind for a redesign of the complex into a new tourist destination. Still in the early stages, the plan will involve the addition of a new condominium tower.