Her Majesty’s Theatre

1. Overview

At the end of the nineteenth century, Montreal was experiencing major demographic, economic, and cultural growth. The westward development of Sainte-Catherine Street gradually accompanied the movement of part of the city’s commercial and cultural activity toward the western downtown area.

It was in this context that Her Majesty’s Theatre opened on November 7, 1898, at the corner of Guy and Sainte-Catherine Streets. The theatre quickly established itself as one of Montreal’s leading English-language stages and as an important stop for touring theatrical companies, singers, musicians, and ensembles.

For nearly sixty-five years, its history paralleled the major transformations of live entertainment in Montreal. Initially associated primarily with dramatic theatre and opera, the venue later hosted symphonic concerts, recitals, ballet, jazz, chanson, and popular entertainment.

2. Foundation and Opening

The construction of Her Majesty’s Theatre reflected a desire to provide Montreal with a modern venue capable of accommodating the major dramatic and musical productions then circulating among the principal cities of North America.

The theatre officially opened on November 7, 1898, while Queen Victoria still reigned over the British Empire. Its name directly reflected this symbolic connection to the British world and the important position then occupied by Montreal’s English-speaking community in the city’s economic and cultural life.

The new venue quickly became a significant feature of the cultural landscape around Guy and Sainte-Catherine Streets, at a time when several major institutions and entertainment venues were moving toward the western part of downtown.

3. Architecture and Amenities

Her Majesty’s Theatre was designed as an elegant and modern venue, suited to the demands of major late-nineteenth-century productions. Its interior emphasized ornamentation, audience comfort, and good visibility of the stage.

Contemporary descriptions mention a large entrance hall, a decorative mosaic floor, an elegantly appointed foyer, a fountain, separate smoking rooms, a box office, and management offices. Interior circulation and reception areas reflected the importance placed on the spectator experience.

The auditorium accommodated approximately 2,000 spectators, placing it among Montreal’s major theatres of the period. The building stood detached and was bordered by side and rear passageways, an important feature for a venue intended to accommodate large audiences.

4. Her Majesty’s / His Majesty’s

One of the most distinctive features of the theatre’s history was the change in its name according to the gender of the reigning British sovereign. When it opened during Queen Victoria’s reign in 1898, the establishment naturally bore the name Her Majesty’s Theatre.

Following Victoria’s death and the accession of Edward VII to the throne in 1901, the theatre became His Majesty’s Theatre. That name remained in use during the reigns of Edward VII, George V, Edward VIII, and George VI.

With the accession of Elizabeth II in 1952, the venue returned to its original name, Her Majesty’s Theatre, which it retained until its disappearance in 1963.

5. A Major Theatrical Stage

During its first decades of activity, Her Majesty’s formed part of the North American network of major touring theatres. Productions travelling between New York, Boston, Toronto, and other major cities could also stop in Montreal.

The venue presented dramatic theatre, comedy, musical productions, and international star tours. Its size, reputation, and location helped make it one of Montreal’s principal gateways for professional English-language entertainment.

Among the major figures who appeared there was Sarah Bernhardt, whose 1911 appearance illustrates the international prestige the theatre had achieved by the beginning of the twentieth century.

6. Opera and Resident Institutions

Opera occupied a particularly important place in the history of Her Majesty’s Theatre. Several Montreal institutions used the venue as a principal or regular home for their activities.

The Montreal Opera Company presented productions there between 1910 and 1913, followed in 1914 by the Canadian National Opera Company. These initiatives reflected Montreal’s efforts to establish a lasting professional operatic tradition.

Beginning in 1942, the Opera Guild of Montreal also made the theatre one of its principal performance venues. The organization remained closely associated with the hall until its closure.

Principal Associated Institutions

• Montreal Opera Company — 1910–1913
• Canadian National Opera Company — 1914
• Montreal Orchestra — 1930–1941
• Montreal Festivals — mainly 1940–1946
• Opera Guild of Montreal — 1942–1963

7. Concerts and Recitals

Beyond theatre and opera, His Majesty’s became an important concert hall. Its stage welcomed many of the leading international soloists and musicians of the twentieth century.

In 1919, Montreal audiences could hear Sergei Rachmaninoff and Arthur Rubinstein there. Later, Vladimir Horowitz appeared at the theatre in 1935.

This recital tradition continued for several decades. In 1958, Canadian pianist Glenn Gould also appeared at Her Majesty’s, demonstrating the continuity of the venue’s classical-music role into its final years.

8. Jazz and Popular Music

Beginning in the 1940s, the theatre’s programming increasingly reflected the diversification of Montreal audiences’ tastes. Alongside opera, theatre, and classical music appeared jazz, chanson, folk, blues, and international popular entertainment.

This evolution makes Her Majesty’s particularly significant in the musical history of Montreal. Its stage welcomed artists representing several generations of popular music, from postwar orchestral jazz to the folk movement of the early 1960s.

Musicians such as Coleman Hawkins, Buddy Rich, Oscar Peterson, Nat King Cole, Louis Armstrong, Dave Brubeck, Gerry Mulligan, and Stan Getz shared the theatre’s history with artists such as Édith Piaf, Josephine Baker, Marlene Dietrich, Mahalia Jackson, Miriam Makeba, and Joan Baez.

9. Notable Performers

Over the course of its many decades of activity, Her Majesty’s Theatre welcomed an impressive succession of major figures from theatre, classical music, jazz, and popular song.

• 1911 — Sarah Bernhardt
• 1919 — Sergei Rachmaninoff, Arthur Rubinstein
• 1935 — Vladimir Horowitz
• 1938 — Tino Rossi
• 1942 — Paul Robeson
• 1947 — Coleman Hawkins, Buddy Rich, The Ink Spots
• 1948 — Oscar Peterson, Louis Metcalf, Carlos Montoya
• 1949 — Nat King Cole, Woody Herman
• 1951 — Louis Armstrong, Josephine Baker, Maurice Chevalier
• 1955 — Édith Piaf, Yma Sumac
• 1958 — Glenn Gould
• 1960 — Mahalia Jackson, Marlene Dietrich, Johnny Mathis
• 1961 — Lena Horne
• 1962 — Dave Brubeck, Modern Jazz Quartet, Gerry Mulligan, Miriam Makeba, Joan Baez
• 1963 — Stan Getz, Flatt & Scruggs

10. Final Years and Demolition

During the 1950s and 1960s, Montreal’s cultural landscape changed profoundly. The rise of television, competition from cinemas, changing entertainment habits, and the construction of new performance venues gradually altered the role of traditional large theatres.

Her Majesty’s nevertheless remained active into the early 1960s and continued to host important performances during its final seasons.

In 1963, after nearly sixty-five years of existence, the theatre was demolished. Its disappearance occurred during a period of rapid transformation in downtown Montreal, marked by the construction of modern buildings and the replacement of many older structures.

11. Cultural Legacy

Although it has disappeared from the urban landscape, Her Majesty’s Theatre remains an important landmark in Montreal’s cultural history. Its exceptionally broad range of programming illustrates the role once played by large multipurpose theatres: drama, opera, classical music, ballet, and popular music could all coexist under one roof.

Its history also makes it possible to trace the gradual movement of Montreal’s cultural centre toward Sainte-Catherine Street and the western downtown area at the end of the nineteenth century, followed by the transformation of that district during the century that followed.

Programs, photographs, posters, tickets, and contemporary reviews preserved today remain the principal witnesses to an establishment that ranked among Montreal’s major stages for several decades.