Toronto is one of the world’s premiere centres for live theatre and performance. From big-budget Broadway musicals to independent plays to classical music, opera, and ballet, Toronto has much to offer the theatre-goer. Global Alliance is your preferred chauffeured transportation service for any of Toronto’s exciting theatrical extravaganzas, so allow us to take you to and from the show in style, comfort, and luxury. Continuing the listing of some of Toronto’s most prestigious venues for the performing arts begun here, several more halls are detailed below.
Massey Hall
One of the Toronto’s oldest and most iconic performing arts halls, the venerable Massey Hall is a key part of the city’s cultural history. With its neoclassical facade and moorish arches looming over Shuter Street between Yonge Street and Victoria Street, Massey Hall was financed by Hart Massey, one of late 19th-century Toronto’s industrial and commercial titans, and still bears his name today. Renovations in the 1930s, 1940s and later changed the configuration, appearance, and capacity of Massey Hall (it now seats up to 2,765 patrons), but it has remained a Toronto landmark (both a designated Ontario Heritage Property and a National Historic Site) as well as a working performance venue for over a century. Many of the top musical names of the past century have performed there, and artists as diverse as Neil Young, Rush, and Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gilespie have recorded live albums within Massey Hall’s unique acoustical confines.
Koerner Hall
Connected both physically and organizationally to the Royal Conservatory of Music on Bloor Street West at the north end of the University of Toronto’s main downtown campus, the acoustic marvel of Koerner Hall is a hub for classical music activity in Toronto. As part of the TELUS Centre series of venues, Koerner Hall is the largest performance space for the Conservatory, seating 1,135 patrons at capacity. In addition to year-round classical music performances, Koerner Hall is also the host venue for the popular performances of Handel’s Messiah that are a holiday seasonal tradition in Toronto.
Molson Canadian Amphitheatre
Standing on the site of the former Ontario Place Forum, the Molson Canadian Amphitheatre replaced the demolished Forum in the summer of 1995. With a capacity of 16,000, the Amphitheatre is a semi-enclosed outdoor stage that operates May to September on the site of the now-closed and soon to be revitalized Ontario Place amusement park. During that time, it hosts the biggest names in rock, pop, urban music, and beyond. It has become known recently as the host venue for the OVO Festival put on annually by Toronto-born rapper Drake, featuring surprise guest performances by artists from across the current pop music spectrum. A smaller summertime concert venue known as TD Echo Beach opened adjacent to the Amphitheatre in 2012.