Elgin & Winter Garden Theatre

Elgin & Winter Garden Theatre review

North America's only remaining double-decker theatre complex (a popular design in the early 1900s), the Elgin and the Winter Garden were both restored in the 1980s after decades of neglect. The larger Elgin is richly appointed, with ornate fabrics and gilt cherubs. The Winter Garden sits above, festooned in Arcadian watercolour scenes and hanging garlands. The theatres are now home to productions that vary from baroque opera in the grand Elgin, to one-woman shows in the Winter Garden. It draws international touring productions, such as Umoja, and well-to-do North Toronto crowds for whom theatre is a diversion after dinner. The Elgin also doubles as a cinema during the Toronto International Film Festival.