St. Lawrence in Toronto, Ontario — Central Canada (North America)
O’Keefe Centre for the Performing Arts
1960
Photographed by Tim Boyd, April 12, 2025
1. O’Keefe Centre for the Performing Arts Marker
For more than 50 years, the O'Keefe Centre has been one of the premier performing arts venues in Toronto, hosting ballet and opera, concerts, and a variety of stage productions. The O'Keefe Centre was vital to the renewal of the St. Lawrence area that began in the 1960s and included new housing, parks, and cultural venues.
The 3,000-seat theatre was financed by E. P. Taylor, owner of the O’Keefe Brewing Company. It opened with the world premier of the musical Camelot, staring Julie Andrews, Richard Burton, and Robert Goulet. The New York Philharmonic orchestra conducted by Leonard Bernstein performed here, as did Harry Belafonte, David Bowie, Leonard, Cohen, Janis Joplin, Anne Murray, Diana Ross and the Supremes, the Doors, the Grateful Dead, and Led Zeppelin.
Until 2006, the theatre was home to the Canadian Opera Company and the National Ballet of Canada. Foreign ballets also visited. In 1974, during the Cold War, Soviet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov defected to Canada after a performance here with the Bolshoi Ballet.
The venue changed names several times and, in 2015, the L Tower by architect Daniel Libeskind was added to the site.
Erected 2018 by Heritage Toronto.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Architecture
this page online
Location. 43° 38.806′ N, 79° 22.606′ W. Marker is in Toronto, Ontario. It is in St. Lawrence. It is at the intersection of Front Street West and Yonge Street, on the right when traveling east on Front Street West. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 80 Front St West, Toronto ON M5J 1E3, Canada. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Greater Toronto and on the Golden Horseshoe. It is also in Central Canada. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once a British colony, the Viceroyalty of New France, the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy, and Rupert’s Land.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Hockey Hall of Fame / Le Temple de renomée du hockey (within shouting distance of this marker); Hotel Victoria (about 180 meters away, measured in a direct line); Canadian Pacific Railway Building (about 240 meters away); Dixon Block (about 240 meters away); 49 Front Street East (about 240 meters away); Perkins Block (approx. 0.2 kilometers away); Charter Meeting of The Rotary Club of Toronto (approx. 0.3 kilometers away); Founding of the Empire Club (approx. 0.3 kilometers away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Toronto.
Also see . . . The O’Keefe Centre for the Performing Arts (Toronto Society of Architects).
All architecture(Submitted on April 13, 2025, by Tim Boyd of Hamilton, Ontario.)beyond a one-man office is a matter of team work and this building must have had one of the largest teams ever employed on a building in Canada.Photographed by Tim Boyd, April 12, 20252. O’Keefe Centre for the Performing Arts Marker
The owners, in their earnest desire to provide the best, required and provided United States consultants to cooperate with our Canadian consultants for acoustics and mechanical engineering, and provided stage and stage lighting consultants, also from the United States.
Andrew Oxenham, courtesy National Ballet of Canada
3. O’Keefe Centre for the Performing Arts marker photo and caption detail (left)
Photographed by Tim Boyd, April 12, 2025
4. O’Keefe Centre for the Performing Arts marker photos and captions detail (right)
Photographed by Tim Boyd, April 12, 2025
5. Meridian Centre (former O’Keefe Centre) for the Performing Arts Marker, 2025
Credits. This page was last revised on April 14, 2025. It was originally submitted on April 13, 2025, by Tim Boyd of Hamilton, Ontario. This page has been viewed 288 times since then and 41 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on April 13, 2025, by Tim Boyd of Hamilton, Ontario. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.
