Toronto Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts | ?m | 5s | COC | Diamond Schmitt

I just watched a show on Discovery about it. They were discussing about how the interior was designed for best possible sound - very interesting. Hopefully, people going to see the shows won't leave their phones on...

Oh, pictures are also great!!!
 
NIce!

Wooden floors - would that echo the sound (maybe intended in the design?)? I guess no one will be allowed to leave their seats duing a performance - footsteps would be quite noisy.
 
The interior does look great. Love the city room, especially the shot of the old Canada Life tower.
But man oh man does the outside brick still suck.
 
But man oh man does the outside brick still suck.

Not nearly as much as the bumblebee-coloured public parking signboards. It's like plopping Bad Boy furniture in an Ikea setting...
 
I walked by today and noticed the series of light bulbs underneath the main entrance at the corner...it looks kind of cheap to me, and antiquated. I just don't think they fit in within their more modern glass wall surroundings.
 
Fantastic shots. Thank you.

I've said all along that the proof of this building's worth will be the inside, not the outside. If the acoustics are good, if the sightlines are good, if the seats are comfortable, if features like coatrooms and washrooms are adequate to handle the crowds ... then it will be a great addition to this city! I can live with less than optimal brick on the outside.
 
Incredible. Thank-you! Goes to show how a little money can go a very long way.
 
nstuch: The stage and orchestra level seating is more or less at grade. You go up the Grand Staircase ( there is a view of it, looking down it, near the end of these photos ) to get to the Grand Ring and the Royal Box.

There are a couple of images of the Grand Ring that show the low dividers between the boxes.

The Glass Staircase rises from the Grand Rings to Rings 3 and 4.

Also, the "scalloped" ceiling in the top level ( Ring 5 ) is shown quite clearly in a number of the images. The architects have treated patrons in this upper level with respect - by not making them feel crammed in under a low ceiling as they often are in older theatres. The hall feels small and intimate, and the building has been designed to promote the feeling that theatre is a collective experience.

The photos from the stage show some of the horizontal rows of lights, of which there are 3 in all, hidden in the central "cloud" of the ceiling. The lower raking spotlights on the back wall above Ring 5 are also shown.


The view of the stage shows the rear stage, used for storing sets. There is another stage for storing sets to the left, as you face the stage. The fly tower is high enough to "fly" the sets for two productions while a third is playing.

The images taken from the stage also indicate how very good the sightlines are.
 
In a small article in The Globe on Saturday, Mirabelli is quoted saying of the uniforms he designed, "I looked at Jack Diamond's space, which to me is so fresh and uncluttered and yet comfortable, and thought that my design had to reflect that. I didn't want the lines or the colour to assault the room."

He measures all the staff himself. " The clothing has to be proportioned for each of them. And I am doing this all myself. Some of them are telling me this is the first time they've worn clothes that fit so well."
 
The new uniforms looked more appropriate for restaurants than an opera house. But what would I know in this regard?

AoD
 
I like the cutaway jacket design for the women. I think it would have worked equally well for the men, like an Elizabethan doublet. Was there really a need to emphasize the sex of the staff by giving them such different looks?
 

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