Winnipeg Manitoba's Vaudeville Past
Winnipeg was a most important part of the North American vaudeville circuit. Indeed many of the downtown theatres had their formative and initial years as vaudeville theatres complete with vaudeville stages . Many such as the “Capital Theatre” on Donald in the downtown area still retained not only their stage to some degree but even remnants of outdoor signage attesting to their glorious past traditions. It is rather amazing that even in the harsh Winnipeg Canadian prairie climate – with frigid demanding winter conditions and Manitoba winter snow storms and blizzards as well as March springtime frozen rains that the paint and media of these signs attesting to Winnipeg’s vaudeville past could be retained in some actual condition.
Being on the major transportation system of the day – the railway systems – being it of the major Canadian Pacific Railway (the C.P.R.) as well as the well being on the line of the Canadian “Grand Trunk” Railway system line – and as well being at that time being considered as the major population center of the burgeoning Canadian west – meant that Winnipeg was considered the major stop for Vaudeville performers , for the area of the Canada West – the Canadian “Prairies”.
Many great notables of the acting , entertainment and film fields got their early starts on the stages of Winnipeg and its Vaudeville theatres – be they the Capitol , the Metropolitan Theatre or the Walker – later which served as the Odeon movie theatre and now renamed the Burtons Cummings Theatre in Winnipeg.
Here is a listing of the history of the “Burton Cummings Theatre” itself from the history page of the Burton Cummings Theatre website:
The Burton Cummings Theatre for the Performing Arts (known in previous incarnations as the Walker Theatre and the Odeon Cinema) is a 1646-seat theatre designed by Howard Stone C. Stone and built expressly for quality live entertainment in 1907 by C.P. and Harriet Walker. The theatre was built for the then astronomical price of $330,000.00 (ten times the cost of an equivalent wood structure) and was officially opened on February 18th, 1907 with the New England Opera Company’s production of Madame Butterfly, starring Florence Easton. Opening night saw a veritable who’s-who of Canadian society in attendance. Speeches were delivered from Lt. Governor Daniel MacMillan, Premier Rodman Roblin and Mayor James Ashdown.
From opening in 1907 until World War One, the Walker Theatre ran with scarcely a “dark” night and was the center of cultural activity in Winnipeg. Impresario Corliss Powers Walker’s “Bread Basket Circuit” (consisting of theatres in the northern mid-west United States and Winnipeg) had sufficient purchasing power to secure the highest level touring productions of opera, theatre, music, ballet and vaudeville from New York and London. The Walker season ran for twelve months of the year.
The theatre served as a grand live theatre until 1933, when, with crippling competition from the film industry and the effect of the Great Depression at its height, the Walker Theatre closed, only to be seized by the City of Winnipeg for back taxes owing, in 1936.
In 1944, after a drawn out and much debated process, the theatre was sold for $35,000.00 to Henry Morton, the owner of the Garrick Cinema. On November 3, 1945, the Walker was re-opened as the Odeon Cinema, and for generations until its close in 1990, was fondly remembered as the premiere single-screen cinema in downtown Winnipeg. The Odeon period resulted in the most severe heritage deprivation of the original theatre, however, with the suspension of a false ceiling, which closed off the second “Gods” balcony, supported by hundreds of wires busted through the original plaster ceiling.
In 1990, the former Odeon Cinema was purchased for $700,000.00 by the “Walker Theatre Performing Arts Group Inc.” – a volunteer, not-for-profit Board of Directors that sought to restore the building and provide performing arts programs. The theatre re-opened (for the second time) as the Walker Theatre on March 1, 1991 after partial restoration had been completed.
Since re-opening, the theatre has won recognition as one of the most outstanding live performance theatres in Canada, and has been designated a Grade One Heritage Building and both a Provincial and National Historic site. A 1994 plaque inscription reads:
“The Walker is an excellent example of an early Canadian theatre designed for serious dramas, operas and musicals. Opened in 1907, it was run by C.P. Walker, whose New York connections brought in international stars and a dazzling array of productions. Nationally important political rallies held here including meetings of the women’s suffrage and labour movements. Designed by Howard C. Stone, the Walker was notable in its day for such features as fireproofing, the arched ceiling resembling the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago, and the inexpensive ‘Gods’ section of seating.”
In August, 2002, the Walker Theatre was re-named The Burton Cummings Theatre for the Performing Arts, in recognition of one of Winnipeg’s most outstanding singer/songwriter/entertainers, who has distinguished himself on the world’s stage and continues to make his home in Winnipeg.
CHRONOLOGY
1907: The official opening night of the Walker Theatre was February 18th, 1907, with Henry Savage and the New England Opera Company’s production of Puccini’s Madame Butterfly. Florence Easton played the title role and went on to perform at the Royal Opera House later in her career.
Mayor J.H. Ashdown’s speech on opening night is preserved in part: “If we were to close our eyes for a minute and open them again, we would wonder where we had landed. My own thoughts are almost that I could conceive myself in the city of Boston, in some new theatre, opened for the first time, or in the city of New York. I do not know that anywhere you will find a theatre of greater capacity, more noble in proportion or more thoroughly in keeping with the age we live in than this theatre. I hope that Mr. Walker will have every success in his enterprise and that this house will be known for the good clean wholesome plays we shall have here.”
The Walker Theatre was the first completely fireproof theatre in Canada. Recent catastrophic fires (most notably the Chicago Iroquois Theatre fire of 1903, where some 600 perished), had brought the theatre industry much infamy. Corliss Powers Walker spared no expense (indeed, spending ten times the amount an equivalent wood structure would have cost – $330,000.00) on the very latest in safety measures. The theatre was built with a steel cage frame, concrete floors, and brick and terra cotta walls. Fire safety was utmost in mind with the inclusion of fire hoses built into the building, escape doors and exterior stairs on every level, fireproof wool carpets and curtains, and an asbestos stage curtain, to trap and contain stage fires. Even the basement men’s smoking lounge was lined with granite slabs and the floor – concrete.
The structure was huge, even by today’s standards, and the superlatives that met its opening were in keeping with the technological headiness of the era. The newspapers of the time heralded the theatre’s formidibility by quoting the statistics of its construction: Concrete for the foundation piers, 1150 tons. Stone, 1536 tons. Bricks, 3600 tons. Electric wires, 44, 000 feet. Rope, for hanging scenery, 45,000 feet. Carpet, 870 yards.
The theatre was the first in Winnipeg to have a view of the stage completely unobstructed by support pillars. With a main floor capacity of 597 and a first balcony capacity of 529, the theatre was already as large as most of the theatres in New York. But it was the inclusion of the vast 520-capacity second balcony, which came to be know as “The Gods,” that distinguished the theatre as one of the largest, and most progressive, theatres in North America.
Due in large part to the progressive influence of C.P.Walker’s wife, Harriet, an early suffragette and rights advocate, the Gods balcony was created to afford access to Winnipeg’s less affluent patrons. All seating was “rush” (i.e. no reserved seating), the Gods had its own separate ticket booth (lest the upper classes find intermingling with the patrons of the Gods too disquieting!) and all tickets were $.25. The same design was later copied for the Elgin Winter Garden Theatre in Toronto. There are very few remaining theatres in North America with a lower socio-economic-class balcony like the Gods.
1909: Ben Hur, the ultra-successful 1899 stage play based on the novel by Lew Wallace, came to Winnipeg, the Phantom of the Opera of its day. The star of the show was Conway Tearle, who went on to become a matinee idol in Hollywood mere years later. One dozen real horses pulled chariots on a treadmill, enacting the famous chariot race scene. C.P. Walker’s daughter Harriet would later recall in her 1949 book Curtain Time “Ben Hur was more than a play: it was one of Life’s Great Experiences.”
1912: Manitoba Premier Rodman Roblin debated women’s rights issues with Nelly McClung. Premier Rodman should have known better! Nellie McClung, already a successful author, would go on to be the most famous suffragette Canada had ever known. Famous for her intellect, biting wit and ability to mimic the male politicians of the day, Nellie found a kindred spirit in none other than C.P.Walker’s wife, Harriet, who was able to convince her husband of the merits of the Walker Theatre being the venue for many progressive political events.
1914: On January 28th, the Walker Theatre was the venue for the Winnipeg Political Equality League production of “How the Vote Was Won – A Women’s Parliament.” The play, starring Nellie McClung as the premier, and promoted by Harriet Walker, featured the hilarious premise of men petitioning an all-women legislature for the right to vote – effectively turning on its ear the status quo of no votes for women. The show succeeded so brilliantly in lampooning the government that, in 1916, the government of Rodman Roblin relented and Manitoba women were the first in the country to win the vote. The rest of the country followed suit and Nellie McClung later succeeded in having the British House of Lords officially deem women “persons” under the law.
1918: On December 22nd, the Walker was the venue for a passionate meeting of political groups fed up with the draconian orders in council of the Federal Government. Present and speaking, were many of the leaders of the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike and the Walker meeting was notable for its inclusion in the legal case brought against leaders of the strike after its demise.
1919: Charlie Chaplin and the Marx Brothers appeared on a double bill. Chaplin had first met Groucho Marx during an appearance at the Walker, while apprenticing with Fred Karno in A Night in the London Music Hal
The Walker Theatre shut down during the Winnipeg General Strike as the members of the musicians union participated in the strike.
Harry Houdini appeared at the Walker, while his brother, Hardeen, played the same night at Winnipeg’s Pantages Playhouse.
1920’s: Winston Churchill spoke to a capacity crowd at the theatre during his visit to Winnipeg.
1922: The World Famous Dumbells, a popular comedy troupe of the WWI era, entertained at the Walker
1923: The Winnipeg Free Press calls the theatre “Western Canada’s leading playhouse for the big stars and touring attractions.”
1927: Prior to his success as a comic (and under the name Leslie Townes Hope), Bob Hope appeared at the Walker. During his stay in Winnipeg, The Diamond Brothers, a juggling troupe, took Hope for his first golf game on one of Winnipeg’s civic golf courses. Bob Hope developed a life-long love of golf.
Late 20’s – Early 30’s: Louis Armstrong and Vladimir Horovitz both play the Walker and the second wave of Vaudeville brings performers like Sophie Tucker, Jimmy Durante and Georgie Jessel to the stage.
1933: The effects of the Great Depression and brutal competition from the film industry cause the Walker to close. Motion picture companies in North America had gone on a buying spree, purchasing and shuttering vaudeville theatres, and shutting down the ability for vaudeville acts to tour. Later, these same theatres would be converted into cinemas, but only after the nails in Vaudeville’s coffin had been completely driven.
1936: The Walker Theatre was seized for back taxes owed, by the City of Winnipeg.
1944: The Walker Theatre is sold to Henry Morton, owner of the Garrick Cinema, for $35,000.00. After a long and bitter debate, where at one point there were three offers to the City’s tender, in the end, Morton’s was the only remaining offer and he took control of the theatre.
1945: On November 3rd, 1945, the Walker reopened as the Odeon Cinema with “Blood on the Sun” starring James Cagney. The Odeon was one of Winnipeg’s most beloved single-screen cinemas until its closure in 1990. Odeon logos and artwork are still visible on the building.
1981: Burton Cummings made his motion picture debut in Melanie, co-starring Glynnis O’Connor, Paul Sorvino (Sopranos) and Don Johnson (Miami Vice) at the Odeon. The theatre was the site of the Gala Preview Screening.
1990: The Odeon closes and is purchased for $700,000.00 by the Walker Theatre Performing Arts Group, Inc.” – a volunteer, not-for-profit Board of Directors that sought to restore the building to its original condition. A program of historic renovations begin, the most notable of which is the removal of the false ceiling that had been installed by Odeon, and which had so denigrated the original ceiling plasterwork with hundreds of indiscriminate holes.
1991: On March 1st, Blue Rodeo is the first act to appear in the newly renovated and now renamed Walker Theatre.
2002: In August, the Walker Theatre is re-christened the Burton Cummings Theatre for the Performing Arts, in recognition of one of Winnipeg’s most outstanding singer/songwriter/entertainers, who has distinguished himself on the world’s stage and continues to make his home in Winnipeg.
2007: On February 18th, the Burton Cummings Theatre for the Performing Arts turns one hundred years old!
Since the theatre’s re-opening as a live performance venue in 1991, its stage has been graced by some of Canada’s and the world’s biggest stars: Celine Dion, Sarah McLachlan, Nelly Furtado, N’Sync, The Tragically Hip, Melissa Etheridge, Prince and Burton Cummings.
link: http://www.burtoncummingstheatre.ca/nc60/main.asp?P=E2P1BBCTP1&rnd=RR35707376727397
