6 Best Performing Arts Venues in Queen's Park, The Annex, and Little Italy, Toronto

The main theater space of the University of Toronto since 1919, Hart House mounts emerging-artist and student productions throughout the school year, with musicals, dance, Shakespeare, contemporary plays, and classics all represented.

If you like your films factual, informative, and inspiring, then the Hot Docs Cinema is for you. The permanent home of the Hot Docs festival each spring, this historic cinema (which opened in 1913) also has an ongoing calendar of documentaries, plus special engagements and crowd-pleasing classics.

This art deco--era cinema located a few minutes west of the Annex underwent a splashy restoration in 2019. Classic and second-run movies are screened here, but the theater also plays host to live events, including a popular candlelit concert series. Grab a glass of wine at Blue Door Wine Shop, coffee or breakfast at Cafe Paradise, or Italian fare at an outpost of local chain Piano Piano.

This fully restored 1939 single-screen theater hosts film fest screenings and special engagements, as well as live comedy and music. On top of the usual concessions, next-door bar Birreria Volo has opened a café and snack bar in the lobby, so you can grab a bite even on the days you can't catch a flick.

Internationally renowned as one of the world's finest period ensembles, Tafelmusik presents baroque and classical music on original instruments. Most performances are held in Trinity–St. Paul's Centre, a stunningly revitalized church hall. The orchestra's Sing-Along Messiah performance is a rollicking Christmas season highlight where the audience is invited to join in.

This converted warehouse presents plays by new and established Canadian playwrights, with special focus on nurturing emerging voices in Canadian theater. The complex features multiple theater spaces and studios, and maverick companies will occasionally mount interesting experimental productions in some of the smaller rooms.