Rivoli Ballroom

The Rivoli Ballroom is the only intact 1950s ballroom remaining in London, England. It is famed for its original decor and interior fittings (red velvet, flock wallpaper, chandeliers, glitter balls and oversized Chinese lanterns) and is often used as a film location and plays host to many dance and musical events.

History

The current building was originally the Crofton Park Picture Palace which opened in July 1913. It was designed by Henley Attwater with a simple barrel-vaulted auditorium. It became The Rivola Cinema in 1929.

The last film there was shown on 2 March 1957 after which the building was converted to a dance hall by local businessman Leonard Tomlin. It reopened as The Rivoli on Boxing Day, 1959 with a large Canadian sprung maple dance floor. Further improvements were made with the addition of a Member's Bar in 1960. It is currently owned by Bill Mannix.

Style

Exterior

The Brockley Road frontage is based on an Art Deco elevation which dates from 1931. A broad flight of steps passes into a deep-recessed central foyer. Pilasters, topped with plasterwork urns, terminate the elevation and the frontage currently features two signs reading 'Dancing' and 'Tonight'.

The Rivoli

The Rivoli is a bar, restaurant and performance space, established in 1982, on Queen Street West in Toronto, Ontario. The club originally earned a reputation as one of Canada's hippest music clubs, and many major Canadian comedy and musical performers have played on its stage, including The Kids in the Hall, Gordon Downie, The Frantics, Sean Cullen and the infamous Dark Shows. The Drowsy Chaperone premiered at The Rivoli and went on to subsequent productions and eventually a highly successful run on Broadway.

In the 1980s, the Rivoli was synonymous with Toronto's black-garbed Queen West scene (Mike Myers' Saturday Night Live German club character Dieter was inspired by a Rivoli waiter). This reputation waned as the club's clientele became more eclectic and upscale, but the Rivoli's atmosphere is still unique. Talent scouts for Montreal's Just For Laughs comedy festival and the major television networks still routinely troll the Monday night comedy shows.

From 1987 to 1990 the Journal of Wild Culture held its regular avant-garde vaudeville nights, the Café of Wild Culture, featuring a mix of artists exploring the magazine's ecology and imagination mandate. Since the 1990s the Rivoli has been home to The ALTdot COMedy Lounge, Toronto's most popular alternative comedy show. In 2005, a second weekly show was added, The Sketch Comedy Lounge.