4 Best Performing Arts Venues in Old Town, Toronto

Canadian Stage is the country’s leading contemporary performing arts organization, focusing on cross-disciplinary works that integrate theater, dance, film, visual arts, and more to reflect the complexity and cultural richness of Canada. It stages productions at the Bluma Appel Theatre ( 27 Front St. E), which seats 867, and the more intimate Berkeley Street Theatre ( 26 Berkeley St.), which has a capacity of 244 seats.

Formerly the Sony Centre, this iconic 3,172-seat hall was deemed a heritage building by the City of Toronto in 2008 and boasts an international program of diverse yet mostly mainstream artists. Paul Simon, the Just for Laughs Comedy Festival, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and RuPaul's Drag Race Werq the World Tour are among those who have graced the hall’s stage.

High-quality French-language drama—with English subtitles—is performed at this theater, whose French and French-Canadian repertoire ranges from classical to contemporary. A children's play and a teen show are part of the season, which features about a half dozen plays.

YPT is Canada’s largest and oldest professional theater for young people, which produces arts and theater education programming. Professional actors perform contemporary pieces that are relevant and kid-focused, from a heavily interactive romp like Where the Wild Things Are to a dramatic thought-provoker like Hana's Suitcase—the story of a young girl living during the Holocaust. Productions aren't condescending, nor do they compromise on dramatic integrity. They are as entertaining for adults as for kids.