The grand dame of Toronto's performing arts venues, the Royal Alexandra Theatre, celebrates its 100th birthday tomorrow. To mark the event, the Mirvishes have organized a free open house from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., during which you can go on a self-guided backstage tour, eat free grub at the BBQ in front of the theatre (weather permitting), or catch a tribute performance from the original members of the 1969 Canadian cast of Hair.......

Stage Struck: 100 Years At The Royal Alex, a free exhibition commemorating the Royal Alexandra Theatre's centennial, opened yesterday at the Toronto Reference Library. Torontoist was at the opening to oggle at the rare playbills, posters and other paraphernalia that would make any theatre geek weak in the knees. Organized by the Toronto Public Library, the Stage Struck exhibit features photos, design sketches, scripts and souvenir books that highlight the long history of the......

The late 1960s were a time of throwing off the shackles of traditional societal gender norms, including the rules surrounding who could wear lace pants. Unisex clothing popped up on runways mid-decade, reaching suburban malls by the time today's ad appeared. Opened in the winter of 1964, Yorkdale's original anchors included Eaton's (recently converted into the H&M/Old Navy wing), Simpson's (now The Bay), Dominion (now Holt Renfrew) and Kresge's (the five-and-dime progenitor of K-Mart;......

Last Sunday, Mirvish decided to take a break from its typical assortment of musicals and "plays" and the remount of an acclaimed Stratford production of Tennessee Williams' Orpheus Descending opened at the Royal Alex. And it's really good. Orpheus is one of Williams' bigger plays in every sense of the word, so the somewhat grandiose choice of venue makes sense. This show has three hours, three acts, a huge cast a large set and......

We've recently noticed that the so-called Entertainment District is experiencing a noticeable lull in, well...entertainment. Once the home to a bustling nightly crowd of theatre goers, King Street has become a veritable ghost town of flashing lights since Pippin and Chicago closed a couple weeks ago. With the exception of John McDermott's Family Christmas on December 23, both the Royal Alex and Princess of Wales are black until The Phantom returns on February 21.......