The Metropolitan Entertainment Centre
281 Donald St.
Across from MTS Centre
(204) 594-9494*According to MLCC Cabaret licensing, minors are not allowed unless accompanied by an adult.
A mainstay of CBC Radio One born at the Winnipeg Comedy Festival. A fertile mix of fact and funny as comics debate topics from the topical to the trivial with huge laughter as the only and just reward.Topics:Digital special effects – were films better without all this CGI?John Wing thinks it has gone too far. Ivan Decker has a special respect for special effects.

Natural medicine – is it superior to the modern variety?

Darcy Michael likes it au natural. K Trevor Wilson likes modern meds more.

Fight or flight – which is the superior instinct?

Erica Sigurdson says ‘Fight.’ David Pryde says ‘Catch me if you can.’

James Bond – is he the ideal man?

Sean Cullen says ‘You bet your Moneypenny.’ Kate Davis thinks Bond is a bust.

Bad kids – do they exist, or is it just bad parenting?

Derek Seguin says ‘Blame parents.’ Michael Gelbart thinks some kids are rotten.

Government grass– when pot’s legal, will the Feds be good dealers?

Darren Frost says ‘Sure, whatever, Man.’ David Martin doesn’t want no pinstriped pusher man.

http://www.cbc.ca/thedebaters/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/sites/metropolitantheatre.shtml

“Historic Sites of Manitoba: Metropolitan Theatre (281 Donald Street, Winnipeg)

This building was constructed in 1919 as the Allen Theatre, part of a national chain of movie theatres owned and operated by brothers Jay J. Allen and Jules Allen. Like all the 45 theatres in the Allen chain, the building was designed by architect C. Howard Crane of Detroit, Michigan. Its main auditorium and mezzanine had seats for 2,500 people. In 1923, the company was acquired by Famous Player Canadian Corporation and the theatre was renamed the Metropolitan. It underwent renovations in 1948.

Facing competition from multiplex theatres, the Metropolitan closed in November 1987. Various plans for it have been proposed in the 24+ years that the building has been vacant, including a restaurant, rock-and-roll museum, and conference centre. As of mid-2011, it remains empty awaiting renovations.”

From Winnipeg Free Press

Bartley Kives, Nov 30 2012.

“THE MTS Centre is quieter than usual this fall, but there are signs of life on the other side of Donald Street.

The 93-year-old Metropolitan Theatre is slated to reopen next week after a quarter-century of inactivity, thanks to a $16-million renovation, expansion and heritage restoration.

Winnipeg’s Canad Inns Corp. has issued invitations for a Nov. 30 unveiling of the newly revitalized theatre, which has been converted into what the hotel chain has called a “multi-function event space.”

Canad Inns has spent two years restoring the main theatre space, installing lounges in the lobby area and building a new structure on the south side of the building to house kitchens, elevators and washrooms. The project included efforts to restore heritage elements such as mouldings that originally adorned the venue when it opened in 1919 as the Allen Theatre.

“It’s quite an extraordinary adaptive restoration,” said Ross McGowan, president and CEO of CentreVenture, Winnipeg’s downtown-development agency.

CentreVenture sold the Met to Canad Inns for $100,000 in 2006 and later helped secure a combined $3 million worth of grants from the city and province. The provincial grant came with a caveat that non-profit organizations have access to the building 30 days a year, and the city required the work to be substantially complete before 2013.

CentreVenture is using new property taxes from Longboat Development Corp.’s Centrepoint project on the north side of Portage Avenue to make streetscaping improvements in the vicinity of the MTS Centre, including the block in front of the Met. The theatre will be a key component of CentreVenture’s plan to convert 11 blocks of downtown into a new entertainment and hospitality district, McGowan said.

Canad Inns did not respond to interview requests Tuesday. In 2011, company president and chairman Leo Ledohowski said the theatre may host high school graduations and cabaret-style concerts and screen vintage movies and Winnipeg Jets games.

Ledohowski said the Met will not compete with the Centennial Concert Hall, Burton Cummings Theatre or Pantages Playhouse Theatre, all of which have stadium seating. The plan for the Met called for the original sloped floors to be replaced with tiered platforms for cabaret seating.

Fort Rouge Coun. Jenny Gerbasi, who chairs council’s historical buildings committee and represents the south side of downtown, said she’s thrilled to see the Met reopen after 25 years.

“It’s a building that seemed so precarious and so close to being lost for so long. The fact it’s been preserved and coming back to life again is pretty exciting,” she said. “This is exactly what we need to be doing downtown.”

bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca

 

 

 

 

 http://www.canadinns.com/meet/themet.php