Centaur Theatre Company
Centaur Theatre Company
Inside this glorious edifice resides Montreal's leading English-language theatre company. Founded in 1969 by Maurice Podbrey as Executive and Artistic Director, and Herb Auerbach as Chairman of the Board, and currently under the stewardship of Artistic and Executive Director, Gordon McCall, and General Manager, Charles Childs, Centaur Theatre Company continues to be one of the most exciting theatre companies in the country. For the first five seasons of its existence, Centaur Theatre Company rented the partially renovated Old Stock Exchange building. The programming was contemporary and international: Miller, Brecht, Pinter, Osborne and Fugard. After only five years, Centaur Theatre Company purchased the building and completed renovations of its second theatre space - Centaur 2. The smaller Centaur 1 space had been the company's primary performance space up to that time. The challenge was to establish the theatre company’s identity as a theatre truly representing the English voice of Montreal. A number of new works evolved in the early years but it was Montreal playwright, David Fennario's play, On The Job, which is considered the breakthrough production for the company. A truly original Montreal voice had been developed and produced by Centaur. In the process the company and Mr. Fennario gained national attention. Other new works sprung from direct commissions over the years but it was Centaur's 1980 production of David Fennario's play, Balconville, which, once again, brought national and international acclaim to Centaur. The production toured to parts of Canada, as well as, England and Ireland. By 1986, Centaur was considered one of the leading theatres in Canada. In 1997, after a 28-year tenure, Maurice Podbrey retired as Artistic and Executive Director of the company. A national search was held for his replacement and in early 1997, Canadian director, actor, screenwriter, educator and founder of three Canadian theatre companies, Gordon McCall, was appointed the new Artistic and Executive Director of Centaur Theatre Company. Under Mr. McCall's leadership, Centaur has undertaken many initiatives that have become new milestones in the creative history of this celebrated company. Centaur’s creative resurgence has been spearheaded with seventeen World Premieres of Montreal plays in the past nine years. More Montreal actors are working at Centaur than ever before. The innovative Wildside Festival showcasing cutting-edge Montreal theatre companies for two weeks each January has proven to be a popular and effective method of bringing mainstream audiences to original, cutting-edge works. The recent Brave New Works program of original “auteur” works by innovative Montreal theatre artists is fast gaining attention as another Centaur outreach program contributing to the animation and well-being of Montreal’s theatre community. The Saturday Morning Children’s Series and Theatre of Tomorrow program for high school students rounds out a full house of community outreach that is a hallmark of Centaur’s artistic philosophy. The company’s focus on collaboration and outreach has generated significant acknowledgment for the theatre company from the local, national and international community. In 2004, the Conseil des Arts et des Lettres de Quebec officially recognized Centaur as one of the top seven theatre companies in Quebec. The list includes Théâtre du Nouveau Monde, Théâtre D’aujourd’hui, Théâtre Rideau Vert, Quebec’s Théâtre Trident, Théâtre Espace Go, and Théâtre de la Manufacture. Through its international collaboration initiatives, Centaur audiences have had the pleasure of experiencing landmark plays and guest artists from around the world. In return Centaur productions, theatre artists and Montreal plays have found homes in theatres that have previously never undertaken Canadian plays or productions. The Artistic Director of Ireland's Abbey Theatre directed three Irish plays for Centaur. Two of the productions won Les Masques and Mecca Awards. In return, The Abbey presented its first-ever Canadian play in its illustrious history, Michel Tremblay's For The Pleasure of Seeing Her Again, directed by Gordon McCall. The production also received critical acclaim. As a result of this initiative, The Abbey has gone on to produce other Canadian plays. At the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., Centaur presented For The Pleasure Of Seeing Her Again to tremendous response. In turn, the Arena Artistic Director, was invited to Centaur in March 2002, staging an outstanding production of the American play, A Moon For The Misbegotten by Eugene O'Neil. In 1998, Centaur's English-language world premiere of Michel Tremblay's For The Pleasure of Seeing Her Again marked a turning point in the history of theatrical collaboration between the Anglophone and Francophone communities in Montreal. Hailed as a breakthrough production by English and French critics alike, the show has since gone on to a successful tour of Canada, in partnership with Toronto's Canadian Stage Co. As mentioned, the conclusion of the year-long tour the production had, its American premiere as part of Washington, D.C.'s Arena Stage's 50th Anniversary in the fall of 2000. In September 2002, and again in September and January 2003, Gordon McCall directed Centaur’s world-premiere, record-breaking production of Mambo Italiano by Montreal playwright Steve Galluccio, the latter sold-out engagement for the Ed and David Mirvish Productions season in Toronto. The play’s remarkable national success led to a highly acclaimed film version released in the spring of 2003. In September 2003, Centaur launched a collaboration with Australia, staging the North American premiere of Life After George by Hannie Rayson. In the fall of 2004, Simon Phillips, Artistic Director of the Melbourne Theatre Company, came to Montreal and the Centaur, to direct the Australian play Burnt Piano by Justin Fleming. Gordon McCall traveled to Melbourne, Australia in the summer of 2005 to direct the English Language World Premiere of Cheech or the Chrysler Guys are in Town by Montreal playwright François Létourneau.
Centaur Theatre Company Season 37 (2005-2006) Season 36 (2004 - 2005) Season 35 (2003 - 2004) Season 34 (2002 - 2003) Season 33 (2001 - 2002) Season 32 (2000 -2001) Season 31 (1999 - 2000) Season 30 (1998 -1999) Season 29 (1997 - 1998) Season 28 (1996 - 1997) Season 27 (1995-1996) Season 26 (1994 - 1995) Season 25 (1993 - 1994) Season 24 (1992 - 1993) Season 23 (1991 - 1992) Season 22 (1990-1991) Season 21 (1989-1990) Season 20 (1988-1989) Season 19 (1987-1988) Season 18 (1986-1987) Season 17 (1985-1986) Season 16 (1984-1985) Season 15 (1983-1984) Season 14 (1982-1983) Season 13 (1981-1982) Season 12 (1980-1981) Season 11 (1979-1980) Season 10 (1978-1979) Season 9 (1977-1978) Season 8 (1976-1977) Season 7 (1975-1976) Season 6 (1974-1975) Season 5 (1973-1974) Season 4 (1972-1973) Season 3 (1971-1972) Season 2 (1970-1971) Season 1 (1969-1970)
The Montreal Stock Exchange Building Architect - George Browne Post (December 15, 1837 - November 28, 1913) was a U.S. architect trained in the Beaux-Arts tradition. Post was a student of Richard Morris Hunt, but unlike many architects of his generation, he had previously received a degree in civil engineering (New York University, 1858). Many of his most characteristic projects were for commercial buildings, where new requirements pushed the traditional boundaries of design. Many of them have also been demolished, since their central locations made them vulnerable to rebuilding in the 20th century. Some of his lost buildings were landmarks of their era, nevertheless. His eight-story Equitable Life Assurance Society (1868–70), was the first office building to use elevators. His Western Union Telegraph Building (1872–75) at Dey Street in Lower Manhattan, was the first office building to rise as high as ten stories, a forerunner of skyscrapers to come. When it was erected in "Newspaper Row" facing City Hall Park, Post's 20-story World Building (1889–90) was the tallest building in New York City. His vast New York Produce Exchange (1881–84) at Number Two Broadway faced Bowling Green. Its grand skylighted hall, based on French retail structures, cast daylight into the lower floors. At the World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893, Post produced the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building. He also designed more staid public and semi-public structures: the New York Stock Exchange Building and the Wisconsin State Capitol. Among the prominent private houses by Post were the French chateau for Cornelius Vanderbilt II (1879–82) that once stood at Fifth Avenue and 57th Street, and the palazzo that faced it across the street, for Collis P. Huntington (1889–94). In Newport, Rhode Island he built for the president of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, C.C. Baldwin, "Chateau-Nooga" or the Baldwin Cottage (1879–80), a polychromatic exercise in the "Quaint Style" withbargeboards and half-timbering; John La Farge provided stained glass panels. A true member of the American Renaissance, Post employed noted artists and artisans to produce decorative sculpture and murals. Among those who worked with him were the sculptor Karl Bitter and the painter Elihu Vedder. he was a founding member of the National Arts Club and served as its president from 1898 to 1905. Post's extensive archives are at the New-York Historical Society. Sarah Bradford Landau, George B. Post, Architect: Picturesque Designer and Determined Realist (1998) inspired the retrospective exhibition at the Society, 1998–99 that reassessed Post's work. Surviving works by George B. Post * The original Williamsburgh Savings Bank (1870–75), Brooklyn, New York. Solidly classicizing and capped with a dome Reference: Rémillard, François, Old Montreal - A Walking Tour, Ministère des Affaires culturelles du Québec, 1992
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Situated among the cobblestone streets of Old Montreal, Centaur Theatre is a jewel in Montreal's theatre crown. Home of Canada's first stock exchange, the illustrious building houses two outstanding performance spaces, the Seagram's art gallery and lounge, administrative and production facilities and a fully computerized box office system.