theatre sets & backdrops

[Joseph Sokalski]

Shawn,
        Sorry for the late reply , but I was lurking in hopes someone with
more info. might mention this. In taking a public tour of the
Elgin/Wintergarden theatre (Toronto) owned by the provincial government, I
was taken aback by the preserved painted backdrops on display in the upper
lobbies of the theatre. Postings around them suggest that a number of
painted backdrops from this theatre have been preserved by the government.
As such they have been catalogued and placed in some provincial
archive-like site. Believing this to have been a "done-deal" before my
arrival in Toronto, I assumed that local historians had plumbed the depth
of such material. I suggest you take a tour and inquire as to where these
vaudeville backdrops are stored. Another question to this list might be to
find the name of the provincial historian who was involved with this
project. I assume he must have spoken with a Canadian theatre historian at
some point.
        Can anyone else fill in some blanks regarding the preservation of
backdrops at the Wintergarden?



Cheers,
Joe Sokalski, Ph.D.
Toronto