A New Playhouse for London: 125 Years of Live Performance

JOIN US FOR A PARTY 125 YEARS IN THE MAKING!

Backstage Bash returns to celebrate 125 years of live performance in downtown London. 

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On September 9, 1901, Way Down East became the very first production staged at the New Grand Opera House at 471 Richmond Street. In the 125 years that have followed, this building has been a home for community and culture in the heart of Downtown London. 

A drawing of the Grand Theatre's main stage seating from 1908

A NEW PLAYHOUSE FOR LONDON 
1901-1919 

After a fire destroyed London’s previous Grand Opera House the year prior, Colonel Whitney and theatre magnate Ambrose J. Small built a new theatre. Fitted with electricity, the New Grand Opera House could house up to 1,850 patrons for one performance, had its own phone number (176), and boasted a striking proscenium arch, painted by muralist Frederick S. Challener.

A black and white photograph from Richmond Street facing the front of the Grand Theatre in 1920.

HYBRID STAGE AND MOVIE HOUSE ERA 
1920-1933 

After the sale of the Grand and the famed disappearance of Ambrose J. Small, John Mihinnick – the Dean of Canada’s showmen – saw the Grand through changes of ownership and competed for audiences with radio and film. The Grand screened movies, explored “movie technology in combination with stagecraft,” and continued to offer live theatre. 

A black and white photograph of a poster outside of the Grand Theatre.

LONDON LITTLE THEATRE ERA 
1934-1971 

With ticket sales down during the Great Depression, local theatre companies banded together to become London Little Theatre, adopting a subscriptions-only approach to ticket sales that allowed them to raise funds to support the season. A decade later, London Little Theatre purchased the building and became the first amateur theatre company in Canada to own their theatre. In 1952, rumours of a supernatural being living within the Grand began to circulate. 

A photograph from Richmond Street facing the front of the Grand Theatre in 1975.

THE THEATRE LONDON ERA 
1971-1985 

After 37 years as the home of an amateur theatre company, the Grand would become a professional theatre, Theatre London, helmed by Artistic Director Heinar Piller. Piller felt that the building needed to keep pace with the exceptional art on stage, and a major renovation took place from 1977-1979, adding a second stage, the McManus Studio Theatre, and demolishing much of the old building except for the main stage and its famed proscenium arch. In 1983, Theatre London became known as the Grand Theatre forging an inseparable bond between the building and the professional theatre company that calls it home. 

A photograph of the Spriet Stage taken from the balcony, with two individuals posing together with a house program.

THE GRAND THEATRE ERA 
1986-present 

Following tremendous growth and tremendous debt, the Grand Theatre company wiped the slate clean in 1986, marking a period of financial strength. For five decades and counting, the building has been London, Ontario’s regional professional theatre. In 2017, an historic $1M donation from Andy and Helen Spriet inspired the renaming of the main stage to the Spriet Stage. In 2020, a third major renovation took place modernizing the lobby spaces and enhancing backstage areas, rehearsal halls, and the studio theatre, all in service of a bright future for the performing arts in the region.

Join the Storytelling

We are gathering our shared history, bringing together the stories of all those who have been part of the New Grand Opera House, London Little Theatre, Theatre London, the Grand Theatre - and all the moments in between. Audiences, neighbours, artists, and staff - if you have a memory, a moment, photos, or artifacts, we would love to know!