Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage Overview
The historic Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage--formerly the Stanley Theatre--is a Vancouver landmark and heritage site, and the main venue for the highly-acclaimed Arts Club Theatre Company.
The elegant 650-seat theatre generally features six productions a season, its size allowing the Arts Club Theatre Company to put on musicals, classic 20th-century plays and acclaimed productions from around the world.
Getting to the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage
The Stanley Theatre is located at 2750 Granville St., in the shopping-and-dining mecca of South Granville.Tickets and Shows at Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage
Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage Play Listings
Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage Box Office
Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage Seating Charts
Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage History
The Stanley Theatre began its life on December 15, 1930 as a movie theatre. Built by theatre-chain mogul Frederick Guest, the theatre was designed to be a dream building: a gorgeous structure with a neoclassical interior, Art Deco exterior, and seating for over a thousand people.
Like Stanley Park, the theatre was named after Governor General of Canada Lord Stanley. The first movie to play there was One Romantic Night, starring Lillian Gish.
Though an extremely successful movie house for much of its life, revenues at the Stanley began to decline in the 1980s. Then-owners Famous Players closed the theatre and put it up for sale in 1991.
It took a few years--and a "Save our Stanley" campaign--before the Stanley Theatre Society (formed to buy the Stanley for the Arts Club Theatre Company) purchased the theatre from Famous Players in 1997.
When renovations to turn the old movie theatre into a live theatre were complete, the building was re-named the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage. It opened to the public with a record-setting production of Swing in October 1998.
The beautifully-renovated theatre was awarded a City of Vancouver Heritage Award in 1999, as well as an IES International Illumination Design Award. Today, it is the Arts Club Theatre Company's main stage.
