The pair of theatres were originally built as the flagship of
Marcus Loew's theatre chain in 1913. Both
theatres were built to show
vaudeville acts and the short
silent movies of the time. Each theatre was intended for a different class of patron. As well as competing in a different market, the upper theatre could be used for experimentation with acts, without the risk of closing the lower theatre. By 1928, feature-length silent films were popular, but sound films were just coming into their own. In 1928, the lower theatre was converted to show sound films and the upper theatre was closed. The Winter Garden remained shuttered for about sixty years. In 1981, the
Ontario Heritage Foundation bought the structure from Famous Players. The Elgin Theatre housed the world premiere of the
Napoleon musical in 1994, which later transferred to London's West End in 2000. In 1995, it was home to ''
The Who's Tommy'' musical. From 1996 to 2022,
Ross Petty Productions staged
pantomimes at the Elgin Theatre each Christmas season. From February 10 to 14, 2004,
Conan O'Brien taped four episodes of
NBC's ''
Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' from the Elgin Theatre. The visit came about via
Toronto City Council's
CDN$1 million (~
US$750,000 at the time) payment to NBC to have the U.S. national television program visit Toronto for a week of shows, part of the overall council-funded PR effort of promoting Toronto as a tourist destination for
Americans in the wake of the widely publicized summer 2003
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)
epidemic that adversely impacted the
city's tourism industry. Most of the guests on the
four shows, including the stand-up comedy performers and musical acts, were Canadians:
Mike Myers,
Michael J. Fox,
Jim Carrey,
Eric McCormack,
Ron James,
Nickelback,
Stompin' Tom Connors, and
Barenaked Ladies. The Elgin Theatre played host to the taping of
Bryan Adams in Concert for the American broadcast of
Great Performances on
PBS. The show was filmed in July 2014 and first aired on March 1, 2015. ==In popular culture==