Ottawa's landmark cinema
In the era of the downtown movie palaces, theatres were typically built with a narrow entrance on the main thoroughfare, with a long foyer leading to the auditorium well at the rear. This enabled the bulk of the building to be constructed on cheaper land well away from the thoroughfare. Toronto's Loews and Pantages theaters, also designed by Thomas Lamb, were classic examples of this trend, with both theatres having narrow frontages on Yonge Street and auditoriums on a rear side street.[3]
Ottawa's Loews theater was different, as it occupied the entirety of a prime downtown corner site. This enabled Lamb to design a grander lobby for the theater, with a majestic marble staircase and balustrade, a colonnaded mezzanine, and a domed ceiling with a great crystal chandelier. The auditorium was equally impressive, with its ornate proscenium arch, hand-painted ceiling dome, box seats, and balcony. The Capitol was considered to be among the finest movie palaces in North America. In Palaces of the Night, John Lindsay wrote: "many feel the Ottawa Capitol was the most attractive of all of Lamb's theatres", with "the grandest split staircase and lobby anywhere".[4][5][6][7]
Loews main competitor in Canada, Famous Players, promised an even larger flagship theatre on Sparks Street to trump the Loews cinema on Queen Street. With a population of 150,000 at that time, however, Ottawa was likely unable to support two 2500-seat theatres, despite Famous Players' pronouncements. In 1924, Loews sold off its Canadian theatres, and the American Keith theatre circuit (which went on to become RKO Pictures) was able to outbid Famous Players for the Ottawa Loews. The cinema was renamed "Keith's Vaudeville", and shortly thereafter the marquee was changed again to the "RKO Capitol".[8]
For five years, Famous Players continued to announce on an annual basis that it would be building a competing cinema on Sparks Street. In 1929, however, Famous Players merged with RKO's Canadian operations, and Ottawa's largest theatre finally became part of the Famous Players chain. The name of the theatre was ultimately changed to simply "the Capitol".[9]
Despite the end of the vaudeville era, the Capitol continued to host musical concerts, plays and other events, along with its main film programming, throughout its history. The Capitol was the most prestigious auditorium in the National Capital Region, and it was at the centre of the city's cultural and social life. Its stage hosted, among others, Nelson Eddy, Ethel Barrymore, John Gielgud, Maurice Chevalier, Michael Redgrave, Victor Borge, Pearl Bailey, Nat King Cole, Vladimir Horowitz, Glenn Gould, the Metropolitan Opera Company, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
In later years, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Cream and Ravi Shankar all performed at the Capitol. Recordings of Hendrix's 1968 concert and The Who's 1969 concert at the Capitol circulating for years as two of the most sought-after bootleg recordings of the respective performers (in 2001, Hendrix's 1968 bootleg was finally released as a legitimate recording under the name "Live in Ottawa").[10][11][12] The recording of The Who's performance was released as a bonus disc with a remastered Tommy re-release in 2013.
