Calgary might
come on as a
redneck cow
town, but it has
ten or more
professional
theater
companies, a
ballet company,
an opera company
and a full-blown
symphony
orchestra. Much
of the city's
highbrow
cultural life
focuses on the
Calgary
Center for the
Performing Arts, a dazzling
modern downtown
complex with
five performance
spaces close to
the Glenbow
Museum, at
205-8th Ave SE (tel
294-7455). It's
also an
occasional venue
for the
acclaimed
Calgary
Philharmonic
Orchestra (tel
571-0270),
Theatre Calgary
(tel 294-7440)
and the
well-known
Alberta Theatre
Projects (tel
294-7475), which
usually produces
five fairly
avant-garde
plays annually.
More modest
classical
concerts include
the Music at
Noon offerings
in the Central
Library
(Sept-April),
and the sessions
- planned and
impromptu - on
the small stages
in Devonian
Gardens. The
long-running and
well-known
Lunchbox
Theater,
2nd Floor, Bow
Valley Square,
205-5th Ave SW (tel
265-4292 or
265-4293),
offers a popular
and wildly
varied programme
aimed at
downtown
shoppers and
passers-by;
performances run
from September
to May and are
somewhat
irregular, but
tend to start
daily at noon
(except Sun) in
the Bow Valley
Square on the
corner of 6th
Avenue and 1st
Street SW.
Calgary's ballet
world is
dominated by the
young and
excellent
Alberta Ballet
Company (tel
245-4222), who
perform at
various
locations around
the city. Opera
is the preserve
of Calgary Opera
(tel 262-7286),
whose home base
is the Jubilee
Auditorium at
1415-14th Ave
NW. The season
runs from
October to
April.
For
repertory,
art-house,
classic and
foreign films, try the newly
restored Uptown
Stage &
Screen ,
612-8th Ave (tel
265-0120) or
Plaza Theatre at
1113 Kensington
Rd NW; the
National Film
Board Theatre,
222-1st St SE,
puts on free
lunch-time
shows. The Museum
of Movie Art
at the
University of
Calgary,
9-3600-21st St
NE (Tues-Sat
9.30am-5.30pm),
is home to some
4000 cinema
posters, some
dating back to
1920. For
first-run
mainstream
films, head for
the downtown
malls - most,
including Eau
Claire Market,
have a cinema
complex.
