Opening Night:
North Vancouver’s Lonsdale Theatre opened on December 11, 1911, to a packed house and an eclectic line-up. The Orchestra kicked off with Titania, followed by two animated films. The Ernest Fisher Players followed with a performance of “The Devil” and opera singer Grace Maynard sang an aria. The finale was the Graham Miniature Circus starring crowd pleasing live cats and rats.
While there was nothing really bad in the review in the Express the next day, it wasn’t exactly gushing with praise. “When the Lonsdale Theatre was officially opened on Monday night, everything went smoothly and properly. The artists, one and all entered quite correctly. The orchestra did not intrude promiscuously. The curtain behaved admirably, and the man at the switchboard knew exactly when the “Devil” wanted reddening.”
The reviewer found the movies “steady and interesting.” Adding that the theatre was opened by Mayor McNeish, who looked “pink and cheery.”
Moves to Vaudeville:
The following week, the theatre was running “high class vaudeville” priced at 15, 25 and 50 cents. And, a year or so later, MONOVA has a great picture of Streetcar No. 155 sporting an ad for Shylock the Jew at Lonsdale Theatre.
In the 1920s the theatre was running opera, including a performance of Rip Van Winkle in 1929. The Odeon Theatre chain bought the theatre in 1942, and by 1950, the North Vancouver Community Theatre had basically taken over the programming, with a mix of comedy Our Hearts Were Young and Gay, Chiltern Hundreds; and opera: The Mikado and Aida.
Eyesore:
By 1952, North Vancouver businesses were calling the building an eyesore and demanding that Odeon fix it up. Instead Odeon closed shop and put the building up for sale. It became a Royal Bank building in 1955, and was demolished in 1997.
Look what we did with the space.
Related:
- Lynn Valley’s Cedar V Theatre
- The Odeon Theatre on Lonsdale
- Edgemont Village Then and Now
- Behind the Stone Wall on Lynn Valley Road
- Varley’s Lynn Valley
- Lynn Valley Hotel
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