Poor Alex Theatre was a

theatre company Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...

based in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

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. The Poor Alex opened in Toronto's Annex neighbourhood in the 1960s in a property owned by

Ed Mirvish Edwin "Honest Ed" Mirvish, (July 24, 1914 – July 11, 2007) was an American-Canadian businessman, philanthropist and theatrical impresario who lived in Toronto, Ontario. He is known for his flagship business, Honest Ed's, a landmark disco ...

and took its name as a parody of the Mirvish-owned

Royal Alexandra Theatre The Royal Alexandra Theatre, commonly known as the Royal Alex, is a theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located near King and Simcoe Street. Built in 1907, the 1,244-seat Royal Alex is the oldest continuously operating legitimate theatre in Nort ...

. A small theatre venue, it hosted a comedy and off Broadway-style productions and was the original home of the "Jest Society", which later became famous as the

Royal Canadian Air Farce The Royal Canadian Air Farce was a comedy troupe that was active from 1973 to 2019. It is best known for their various Canadian Broadcasting Corporation series, first on CBC Radio and later on CBC Television. Although their weekly radio series ...

. In 1996, Valerie Morgan (executive producer) took over the theatre began renovations and equipment upgrades. She publicized the theatre's historical past and its future goals. The Poor Alex Theatre began the Cabaret, welcoming nightly or weekend performances. It became a place to house all types of events. The location at Brunswick and Bloor was sold in August 2005, and The Poor Alex Theatre relocated to 772A Dundas St. W. one block west of Bathurst St. The new venue space with 200 seating capacity has been designed for multi-tasking any type of event and rigged with full lighting and audio capabilities for a professionally staged performance. The Poor Alex closed and the venue is now home to the Green Room.

Notable acts

* 1966: ''The Tickle Trunk'', starring

Mr. Dressup ''Mr. Dressup'' is a Canadian children's television series, starring Ernie Coombs, a former understudy of Fred Rogers, in the title role. It originally ran on CBC from 1967 to 1996, soon becoming an iconic presence in Canadian media. Producti ...

with Casey and Finnegan

References

External links

Poor Alex Theatre
{{coord, 43.652181, N, 79.407501, W, region:CA-ON_type:landmark, display=title Theatres in Toronto