November 16th, 2006

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The Arts, Vancouver
5 Comments »

The Heart of the World and Another Theatre in Vancouver

Richard passed on the story of Jhayne Holmes, zombie walk organizer and aspiring theatre impressario. She wants to buy a cool-looking Bollywood cinema on Commercial Drive and open another theatre in Vancouver:

Housed in a classic 300 seat theatre built in 1910, the heyday of theatre, before any “leaky condo” fiasco, Heart of the World is to address the contemporary artistic and creative needs of the constantly evolving geographic location in which it is situated, offering competitive rates and a multi-faceted performance space. Complete with a full sized stage, a balcony with box seats, and a fully functional projection booth, the bones of the space hold limitless promise - able to show films, dance, theatrical productions, acoustic and amplified concerts, and cabaret events.

All for a measly $935,000.

I certainly admire Ms. Holmes’s chutzpah, and I hope she makes waves. That said, running a theatre at the best of times is a tricky business. I refer to somebody’s quote about publishing, that it’s not so much an industry as an organized hobby.

I also find the choice of location a little quizzical–it’s only two blocks away from the Cultch and then, further up Commercial, there’s the tiny Havana Theatre. Of course, Vancouver could always use another theatre venue.

Some unsolicited advice to Ms. Holmes: get some business people on your advisory board, stat.

Comments: 5 Responses so far

double-plus-ungood
November 16th, 2006
12:38 pm

Oh man, I went to at least two local punk concerts there in the late seventies. Small place.

[Reply]

DaveO
November 16th, 2006
2:58 pm

Yeah this place is the former (New) York Theater which hosted hundreds of classic punk and metal shows in the eighties - was a fantastic venue in the day - wonder what it looks like inside now. Good luck eh.

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Ian King
November 16th, 2006
10:31 pm

Must be a trend going on here. Those punk and metal shows in the early nineties were something else all right; there were bigger names like Sonic Youth and Gwar, as well as cheap local band gigs. Without seats, it was basically a slope down to a good-sized mosh pit and a stage low enough to mount but high enough for divers to catch some air. I’ve got some good memories of the place.

[Reply]

Jhayne
November 17th, 2006
4:44 pm

Moby played there too, actually, and Nirvana and.. the names just keep pouring in from people.

Why it’s not a problem:

The Cultch is essentially a grand a night to rent now, far too expensive for the locals, and The Havana, which is only a little box of a room, has got to be one of the tiniest micro-theatres in town.

Thanks for mentioning my project, the more people do, the better chance we have.

Jhayne

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Speed
January 15th, 2007
9:09 pm

Metallica played their first Vancouver gig at the York. Who knew them at that time? East Vanners did and so did all those guys from Surrey(?) who came in on transit early afternoon. One of the top shows of my life. Cosy, the band was one with crowd. Did it seem crowded that night? Yeah, we did up almost two hundred bootleg tickets and we all got in.

Vancouver’s own Death Sentence was tail to tooth a classic punk act. Stage diving? Try balcony diving at the York!

Then Bollywood and now it’s coming down? What? Isn’t the York Vancouver’s first, and longest standing theater? For that alone.. man, that building is history. Save it!

[Reply]

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