Orillia Opera House is a historic building in the city of

Orillia Orillia is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is in Simcoe County between Lake Couchiching and Lake Simcoe. Although it is geographically located within Simcoe County, the city is a single-tier municipality. It is part of the Huronia region of ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. It has been listed as a historic property under the Ontario Heritage Act.

History

The Richardsonian Romanesque building was built in 1895, replacing the first permanent town hall built in 1874, to house Orillia City Council and the local jail. The original structure was designed by Toronto architecture firm

Gordon & Helliwell Gordon & Helliwell was a start-of-the-20th-century architectural firm based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Principals were Henry Bauld Gordon, RCA, (1854–1951) and Grant Helliwell (1855–1953). Selected works * Queen's Theological Hall, Kin ...

and completed in 1895. A fire in 1915 destroyed much of the building and was rebuilt (with plans from Burke, Horwood and White) less the south tower when it re-opened in 1917. The rebuilt structure retains Richardsonian Romanesque style. A new front entrance was completed in 1958. The building's interior consisted of Council chambers, a 905-seat auditorium, city hall offices, library, market stalls and jail. Orillia City Council vacated in 1997 and Orillia Opera became the sole tenant in the building.

Gordon Lightfoot Auditorium

The 700 seat auditorium served as a movie house from the 1920s to the late 1950s. In October, 1997, it was renamed in honour of local legend

Gordon Lightfoot Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr. (born November 17, 1938) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music. He is credited with helping to define the folk-pop sound of the 1960 ...

who had performed there since he was a child.

Past performers

The Orillia Opera House has featured such artists as the

Marx Brothers The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in motion pictures from 1905 to 1949. Five of the Marx Brothers' thirteen feature films were selected by the American Film Institute (AFI) ...

Glenn Gould Glenn Herbert Gould (; né Gold; September 25, 1932October 4, 1982) was a Canadian classical pianist. He was one of the most famous and celebrated pianists of the 20th century, and was renowned as an interpreter of the keyboard works of Johann ...

Oscar Peterson Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian virtuoso jazz pianist and composer. Considered one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards ...

K.D. Lang Kathryn Dawn Lang (born November 2, 1961), known by her stage name k.d. lang, is a Canadian pop and country singer-songwriter and occasional actress. Lang has won Juno Awards and Grammy Awards for her musical performances. Hits include the s ...

, Mickey Rooney,

Dan Hill Daniel Grafton Hill IV (born 3 June 1954) is a Canadian pop singer and songwriter. He had two major international hits with his songs " Sometimes When We Touch" and "Can't We Try", a duet with Vonda Shepard, as well as a number of other charti ...

Liona Boyd Liona Maria Carolynne Boyd, (born 11 July 1949) is a classical guitarist often referred to as the First Lady of the Guitar. Music career Early years Boyd was born in London and grew up in Toronto. Her father grew up in Bilbao, Spain, and her ...

, Blue Rodeo, Jerry Dee, Ron James, Lighthouse,

The Stampeders The Stampeders (sometimes shortened to Stampeders) are a Canadian rock trio consisting of lead guitarist and vocalist Rich Dodson, bassist Ronnie King and drummer Kim Berly. History Formed in Calgary, Alberta, in 1964 as the Rebounds. they ...

David Clayton Thomas David Clayton-Thomas (born David Henry Thomsett, 13 September 1941) is a Grammy Award-winning Canadian musician, singer, and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist of the American band Blood, Sweat & Tears. Clayton-Thomas has been inducte ...

Bruce Cockburn Bruce Douglas Cockburn ( ; born May 27, 1945) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist. His song styles range from folk to jazz-influenced rock and his lyrics cover a broad range of topics including human rights, environmental issues, p ...

and

References

External links

Orillia Opera House
{{Coord, 44.6083, N, 79.4203, W, region:CA-ON_type:landmark, display=title Buildings and structures in Orillia City and town halls in Ontario