The Music Hall (Toronto)
| Canada’s First Super-Suburban Photo-Play Palace | |
Exterior of venue c.2010
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| Former names | Allen's Danforth Theatre (1919-23) Century Theatre (1929-69) Titania Theatre (1970-78) The Music Hall (1978-2011) Danforth Music Hall (2011-Present) |
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| Location | 147 Danforth Avenue Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4K 1N2 |
| Coordinates | 43°40′35″S 79°21′25″W / 43.6762574°S 79.3569205°WCoordinates: 43°40′35″S 79°21′25″W / 43.6762574°S 79.3569205°W |
| Owner | Impresario, Inc. |
| Capacity | 1,427 (general admission) 1,145 reserved seating) |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | November 1918 |
| Opened | 18 August 1919 |
| Renovated | 1929, 1934, 1947-48, 1985, 2005-06, 2010-11 |
| Closed | 2004-06 |
| Architect | Hynes, Feldman, and Watson |
| Website | |
| Venue Website | |
The Danforth Music Hall (originally Allen's Danforth Theatre) is a music venue and comedy/event theatre on Danforth Avenue in the neighbourhood of Riverdale in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Originally constructed as a movie theatre in 1919, the building was first known as the Allen's Danforth, after its owner the Allen Theatre Chain. Promoted as "Canada’s First Super-Suburban Photoplay Palace", the theatre opened in the midst of both a building boom along Danforth Avenue (due to the opening of the Prince Edward Viaduct) and a boom in the construction of movie theatres following the First World War. Allen's Danforth opened on August 18, 1919, and the first feature film shown was Goldwyn Pictures' Through the Wrong Door starring Madge Kennedy.
Although the Danforth theatre was one of the jewels in the Allen chain, it followed the same general architectural style of all Allen theatres. Instead of the heavy ornamentation that characterized many cinemas of the period, the interiors were primarily intended to be spacious and comfortable, with muted and complementary colours, and restrained classical plaster detailing. Building exteriors were symmetrical, typically containing both Palladian and Georgian Revival elements, including repeating low-relief classical ornamentation. The front façade of the Danforth theatre still features most of its original architectural features, including extensive patterned brickwork (Flemish bond and herringbone), opal glass windows and a marquee of chains. Stylized "AT" symbols, representing the Allen Theatre chain, also remain on the façade.
In 1923, the Allen chain was facing financial pressures, and most of its theatres were acquired by the Famous Players chain. The name of Allen's Danforth was changed to the Century, and was managed by Famous Players subsidiary, the B&F chain. The theatre remained a first-run movie house until the late 1960s, and subsequently served as a Greek language cinema known as the Titania Theatre from 1970 to 1978. The theatre gained the Music Hall name when it started featuring live acts in the late 1970s. Later it began showing second-run films, ultimately becoming part of Toronto's Festival Chain of repertory cinemas in 1998. Over the years, a number of films and television series have had scenes filmed in the theatre, including Highlander: The Raven, Chicago, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, 54, Bulletproof Monk, Focus and Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows.
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