Arts & Culture in North York

When Brittany Goldfield Rodrigues of Broadway World paid a visit to Lower Ossington Theatre's production of RENT, she was struck by many things—the dynamite performances and powerhouse vocals, the costumes, the deceptively simple staging—but the space itself might have taken the cake. An intimate venue can make an experience immersive, and Lower Ossington Theatre's three performance spaces possess that quality in spades. Goldfield Rodrigues noted how instead of a stage, the theatre kept audiences and performers on the same plane—the show in an open space at the front with individual chairs facing it—helping viewers feel as though they were in the same world as the characters and dispelling the worry that the performers might be invading giants.

Since opening as the Bonita Theatre in 1911, Toronto.com reports, the city's oldest movie house has undergone numerous transformations, most recently screening Chinese and Hindi films throughout the 80s and 90s and Tamil-language films in the current millennium. Projection Booth Cinema became its latest incarnation in August 2011, specializing in independent and world cinema under the curatorial guidance of Jonathan Hlibka, Nadie Sandhu, and Euan Mowat. Grinder Coffee, the theatre's next door neighbour, concocts gourmet concessions, meals, and coffee for moviegoers before they saunter down the theatre's wood-to-concrete floor and sink into one of 295 seats, lined with marine blue corduroy.

As 5.1 Dolby digital surround sound orbits the audience, 35mm and digital projectors showcase premieres of films that eschew traditional Hollywood fare, including a monthly horror film series in partnership with Fangoria Magazine and weekly Bollywood film reels discovered in the theatre basement during renovations. Local artists also showcase their work each Wednesday followed by coffee and discussion sessions with the audience, where they can ask guest moviemakers about the creative process or how to talk actors out of staying in pirate character during visits to the dentist.

Cofounder and artistic director of Les Coquettes Cabaret, Catherine Skinner—known onstage as La Minouche—takes the art of public seduction seriously. In a video posted to the troupe's YouTube channel, she notes, “You'll see a little bit of dancing, a little bit of singing, a little bit of aerial circusry, and a little bit of very tasteful striptease.” Setting comedy and titillation aflutter in a blizzard of double entendres, the troupe puts on shows that appeal to adult audiences of any age or gender. The aesthetic might evoke a Burtonesque gothic setting, the seven sexy seas of the pirate age, a neon-flooded nightclub of the '80s, or the future's inevitable dress code of sentient hairpieces. The company thoroughly impressed Kelli Korducki of The Torontoist, who praised the performers' "undeniable song and dance chops," adding that "cabaret patrons may come for the scantily clad dancers, but they will certainly stay for the talent.”

In the 1920s, a blur of vaudeville and motion pictures orchestrated by the Pantages theatre circuit lit the auditorium of the Ed Mirvish Theatre. Back then, the venue's 3,373 seats made it the largest theatre in Canada, and the Thomas Lamb-designed interior made it one of the most elegant. When the Pantages empire fell, the Ed Mirvish Theatre lost its name and its vaudeville, beginning an era that saw it divided and traded until it wound up in the hands of David Mirvish. Mirvish recognized the elegance in the theatre's marble lobby and murals, and named it in honor of his father.

Praised by the Toronto Star as “one of the world’s top period-performance orchestras,” the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra dazzles music fans with an aural kaleidoscope of euphony. Based out of Toronto's imposingly grand Trinity-St. Paul's United Church, the group comprises a choir of angel-voiced singers and a virtuosic chamber orchestra that are dedicated to authentic period performance. An intense commitment to accuracy leads the musicians to adopt centuries-old performance techniques, such as playing only instruments styled after 18th century versions.