Highland Arts Theatre Explained

Highland Arts Theatre
Nickname:"The HAT"
Former Names:St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church (1910–1925), St. Andrew's United Church (1925–2013)
Logo Image:File:Highland Arts Theatre (HAT) Logo.png
Address:40 Bentinck Street
Location:Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada
Coordinates:46.1388°N -60.194°W
Type:Theatre
Genre:live theatre, music, concerts, dance, film
Broke Ground:April 14, 1910[1]
Built:1910–1911
Renovated:June 3, 2014
Owner:Highland Quality Productions Incorporated
Operator:Highland Arts Theatre Association
Production:HAT 2020 Winter-Spring Season
Cost:$62,945 CAD (1911)
Architect:Samuel G. Curry and William F. Sparling of Toronto (Curry & Sparling)[2]
General Contractor:Rhodes Curry Company
Seating Type:Soft seat, reserved seating
Capacity:Theatre

400~
Concerts: up to 475

Embedded:
Embed:yes
Designation1:Nova Scotia
Designation1 Offname:St. Andrew's United Church
Designation1 Type:Provincial Heritage Property
Designation1 Date:29 August 29, 2012
Designation2:Nova Scotia
Designation2 Offname:St. Andrew's United Church
Designation2 Type:Municipal Heritage Property
Designation2 Date:18 September 2007
Designation2 Number:9326
Publictransit:Transit Cape Breton
Routes 1, 5 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

The Highland Arts Theatre is a historic building, first constructed as a Presbyterian Church, now operating an arts and culture centre in Sydney, Cape Breton Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia, Canada. It was initially constructed as St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church.

In June 2014 St. Andrew's reopened as the Highland Arts Theatre, a live play and film theatre and concert venue located in Sydney's waterfront district.

History

St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, construction of which started in 1910 and completed in 1911, was the third church built by the Sydney and Mira Presbyterian congregation, originating from 1852. The congregations outgrew the two previous Sydney churches, and so St. Andrew's was built to contain over 1,000 people for services.

In 1925, St. Andrew's Church joined with Methodist and Congregational churches to form the United Church and St. Andrew's then became St. Andrew's United Church. This was a dramatic change for some members of the congregation and many members were lost, however new were gained. St. Andrew's United Church continued as a church with full-time clergy until 2013 when it was decommissioned after the dwindling congregation decided the heating bills for the 104-year-old sanctuary were too expensive.[3] On Wednesday, July 31, 2013, the congregation of St. Andrew's United Church gathered for the Decommissioning Service as the chimes played a call to worship for one final time.[4]

Architecture

The pastor at the time of planning and construction, Rev. Dr. John Pringle, D.D., travelled to Toronto and met with architects Curry and Sparling to develop the plans for the church. The contract for construction of the building on Bentinck St. was awarded to Rhodes and Curry Company at a cost of $41,635 and when fully completed was $62,945. This is a very fine structure, built using red brick from Mira, a local brickyard.[5] [6] Architecturally, the end result was a beautiful house of worship, with impressive towers, bells chiming on days of worship and the steadfast permanence of the Gothic Revival style, rare within the Cape Breton Regional Municipality.

Some of the Character-defining elements of St. Andrew's / Highland Arts Theatre relate to its Gothic Revival style and include its buttressed belfry towers of differing heights, the arched windows, dentil moulding and cornice on the belfry towers, the three-over-three arched windows in upper belfry of taller tower, the three arched windows in upper belfry of lower tower, the wide entry staircase leading to the three arched entries containing two wooden doors each, a large Palladian derivative window above entry. Other character-defining elements are its construction of locally made brick, all original interior elements including: Casavant Frères pipe organ, railings, columns, trim and barrel vaulted ceiling arcing 44feet above the theatre floor; ten bells, inscribed with Biblical verses in bell tower.

Casavant Frères Pipe Organ

See main article: Casavant Frères Ltée. Opus 1841 (Highland Arts Centre Organ). The 2,045 pipe, three-manual pipe organ made by the famous Casavant Frères in Quebec is the largest such instrument on Cape Breton Island.[7] Its facade, casing, pipes, swell and chorus boxes completely fill the apse of the theatre. The organ was purchased for the new church, then under construction, in 1911 for $5,595 as Casavant Brothers, Ltd., Opus 452.[8] [9] The original specification was for three manuals, 4 divisions, 29 stops, 27 registers, 29 ranks, 1843 pipes. A Stoplist for the 1911 instrument copied from the factory specifications for Casavant Op. 452 1911 3/29, courtesy of the Casavant Frères Archives, St. Hyacinthe, Québec, Canada is available by following this link: Original Stoplist

The organ was rebuilt in 1946 by Casavant Frères Ltée. as Op. 1841, with 3 new Choir stops, a traditional style console with roll top, three manuals, 4 divisions, 33 stops, 30 registers, 32 ranks, 2045 pipes. Manual compass is 61 notes, pedal compass is 32 notes. Equipped with electro-pneumatic (EP) chests, drawknobs in vertical rows on angled jambs, balanced swell shoes/pedals, standard AGO placement, adjustable combination pistons, AGO Standard (concave radiating) pedalboard, reversible full organ/tutti toe stud, combination action thumb pistons, combination action toe studs, coupler reversible thumb pistons, coupler reversible toe studs. Added in 1962 were a Clarion 4' to the Swell and a hooded Harmonic Trumpet, 68 pipes, with new pipework supplied by Casavant via Ledoux & MacDonald Organ Service Co., Halifax. Wind is supplied by a 3 hp electric blower located in the basement directly below the organ.

The following link leads to a Stoplist for the 1946 instrument, copied from the factory specifications for Casavant Frères Ltée., Opus 1841, 1946. Stoplist The 18-ton organ underwent $15,000 in repairs to its bellows in 2008.[10]

Chime (Bells)

See main article: Highland Arts Theatre Chime. The chime, consisting of ten bells located in the south bell tower, is still in use today. The bells were cast in bronze (bell metal) for St. Andrew's Church by the McShane Bell Foundry in Baltimore, Maryland, US and are dated 1911. The bells are arranged as a traditional chime of 10 bells and are played using the original unmodified McShane "pump handle" chimestand with deep key-fall on all notes. Nine of the bells are hung fixed in position in the main chime frame in the belfry, the tenth, the heaviest bell, is mounted in a rotary iron yoke on iron stands above the main chime frame. This bell, the tenor bell, is equipped with both a spring clapper and a tolling hammer so can be played either by swing chiming or by using the chimestand located in the ringing room immediately below the Bell Chamber in the bell tower.

All the bells have the foundry's name cast onto their waist. The nine smaller bells are also decorated with inscriptions, quotes from Psalms from the King James Version of the Bible, cast onto their waist, while the largest bell's inscription reads "St. Andrews Church, Sydney NS". This largest bell weighs about 2050lb and its pitch is E in the middle octave. The chime is attuned to concert pitch, to the eight notes of the octave or diatonic scale with two bells added, one bell a semitone, a flat seventh, and one bell, the treble bell, above the octave. This smallest bell, at about 200lb, rings an F.[11]

In December 2015 a video posted on Facebook of Sydney native Glenda Watt playing the Christmas carol "Angels We Have Heard on High" on the chime was viewed more than 1.6 million times within the first nine days of it being uploaded to the social networking site.[12] [13] [14] [15]

Follow this link to a page of videos of the chime being played: The Chimes ~ Christmas Music

Heritage designations

Municipal Heritage Property: On September 18, 2007, the Cape Breton Regional Municipality formally recognized St. Andrew's United Church as a Municipally Registered Property under the Nova Scotia Heritage Property Act, Chapter 199 of the revised Statutes, 1989, amended 1991, c. 10; 1998, c. 18, s. 561; 2010, c. 54 The Cape Breton Regional Municipality designated St. Andrew's Church and the property it sits on, recognizing St. Andrew's for its early and continuing presence in the community as well as the striking architecture. It is one of the few brick buildings in the area, and is impressive for its size and beauty.[5]

Provincial Heritage Property: On August 29, 2012, the Minister responsible for the Nova Scotia Heritage Property Act entered St. Andrew's United Church into the Provincial Registry of Heritage Property resulting in provincial heritage protection for the theatre.[16]

Concerts

While still serving as a church, St. Andrew's was considered to be perhaps the finest concert venue in the city of Sydney. Before its rebirth as an arts centre, the building had a distinguished background as a performance space. Classical musicians regularly held recitals and concerts there over the years because of the building's outstanding acoustical properties and its Casavant Freres organ.[17] In the mid 1950s St. Andrew's was a regular stop for one of the incarnations of the Halifax Symphony Orchestra whose performances at St. Andrew's were broadcast regionally and even nationally by CBC Radio. Thomas Mayer was the conductor. He would often invite local performers to join them, at the time there were several operatic sopranos and mezzo-sopranos from Cape Breton who gained a national following because of these broadcasts. More recently, due to its seating capacity of over 1,000, and excellent acoustics it was sought after by organizations such as Celtic Colours, The Barra MacNeils,[18] and the Cape Breton Chorale.

Since reopening as the Highland Arts Theatre many concerts have been presented.

The following are some of the artists that have performed at The HAT :

Live theatre

Highland Arts Theatre, or "The HAT" as it is affectionately called, is the name of the newly renovated St. Andrew's Church. When the church was decommissioned in 2013, local musician and businessman Kevin Colford stepped up to instigate a transformation of the beloved historical building into a state of the art centre for arts and culture. The venue officially re-opened on Tuesday, June 3, 2014[19] with an original musical comedy, "The Wakowski Brothers - A Cape Breton Vaudeville".

Sound and lighting were all upgraded, with new mixing consoles, sound reinforcement systems, lighting grid, lighting control console, dimmers, and intelligent lighting installed. The pews were replaced with 475 stadium-style theatre seats, converting the space to a "soft seater". A large re-enforced stage was constructed and a flexible stage curtaining system, projection screen, and video projectors were installed. The three large Dressing / Green Rooms were upgraded, a Grand Piano was brought in and the fully functioning Pipe Organ was serviced. Renovations have thus far been for function only — the natural aesthetic and acoustics remain intact.

While the venue is available for rent the theatre has begun to host many of Cape Breton's finest in the fields of music, dance, and entertainment. The management's intention is to create a reliable theatrical presence downtown, producing quality productions with a special emphasis on Cape Breton songs and stories. The Highland Arts Theatre is now actively used for concerts, lectures, weddings, and of course performances of any kind.

A Fall and a Winter/Spring season of plays are offered each year as well as a Summer Repertory theatre season.

Past productions

The following is a list of theatrical plays and musicals performed since reopening as The HAT :

2014:

2015:

2016:

2017 Winter-Spring Season:

2017 Summer Repertory Season:

The 2017 Fall Season:

The 2018 Winter-Spring Season:

HAT 2018 Summer Season:

HAT 2018 Fall Season:

HAT 2019 Winter-Spring Season:

HAT 2019 Summer Season:

HAT 2019 Fall Season:

Current production

HAT 2020 Winter-Spring Season:

Upcoming productions

Save the Date, created by Heather Marie Annis and Amy Lee. Tuesday 18 February 2020 to Sunday 23 February 2020

Film

Film at the Highland Arts Theatre debuted in December 2014 with three afternoon matinees and three evening showings of six black-and-white movies from the 1930s through to the 1950s. This was followed up on November 11, 2015, with a Free Screening of New Short Films from Atlantic Canada, courtesy of the Atlantic Filmmakers Cooperative. Films shown were:

Top Hat Pictures, a subsidiary of Highland Arts Theatre, officially launched in January 2016, concentrating on newly released Canadian and internationally acclaimed films not available at other venues. Screenings using The HAT's Barco 30,000 lumen, 2K three-chip DLP digital cinema projector occurred on Mondays at 7 pm., monthly. The premiere showing was Trumbo (2015) on Monday, January 25, 2016.

The following is a list of films previously shown at The HAT :

Upcoming screenings

Movie Musical Sing-along Series[21]

Other films

Box office

The Highland Arts Theatre's Box Office is located at the side door of the Theatre at 40 Bentinck Street.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: McFayden , E. D. . 1948. Past, present, future : Saint Andrew's congregation, United Church of Canada, Sydney, Nova Scotia : A Symposium. booklet. Sydney, Nova Scotia. Lewis R. Macdonald Printing. 10–15.
  2. Web site: Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada: SPARLING, William Frederick (1884-1940) . Robert G. Hill, Architect, FRAIC, Author & Editor . April 17, 2016.
  3. Web site: Sydney's St. Andrews Church reborn as theatre, 104-year-old sanctuary now 650-seat Highland Arts Theatre . CBC News . April 17, 2016.
  4. Web site: St. Andrew's United Church Chimes . G-Fit Fitness Studio . April 18, 2016.
  5. Web site: The Canadian Register of Historic Places: St. Andrew's United Church . Parks Canada Agency . April 17, 2016.
  6. Book: Murray , Rev. John . 1921. The History of The Presbyterian Church in Cape Breton. book. Truro, Nova Scotia. News Publishing Co. Ltd.. 167. May 5, 2016.
  7. Web site: St. Andrew's United Church Sydney . Parks Canada Agency . April 17, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160624162412/http://www.sydneypresbytery.ca/venueevents/14-st-andrews-united-church-sydney.html# . 2016-06-24 . dead.
  8. Web site: Cape Breton Post, St. Andrews United Church named a municipal heritage property . Cape Breton Post . April 17, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161013153148/http://www.capebretonpost.com/Living/2008-05-26/article-775359/St.-Andrews-United-Church-named-a-municipal-heritage-property/1 . October 13, 2016 . dead .
  9. Web site: OHS Database, Casavant Brothers, Ltd., Opus 452, 1911 . The Organ Historical Society . April 18, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161013153148/http://www.capebretonpost.com/Living/2008-05-26/article-775359/St.-Andrews-United-Church-named-a-municipal-heritage-property/1 . October 13, 2016 . dead .
  10. Web site: Cape Breton Post, No proposals brought forward on future of landmark church . Cape Breton Post . April 17, 2016.
  11. Web site: TowerBells: SYDNEY : CANADA - NS . TowerBells Website . April 22, 2016.
  12. Web site: Cape Breton Post: Video of Sydney woman playing former church's chimes goes viral . Cape Breton Post . April 18, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160119172231/http://www.capebretonpost.com/News/Local/2015-12-04/article-4365815/Video-of-Sydney-woman-playing-former-churchs-chimes-goes-viral/1 . January 19, 2016 . dead .
  13. Web site: Videos of Coxheath's Glenda Watt making music with the bells go viral . Chronicle Herald . April 18, 2016.
  14. Web site: Sydney woman playing chimes goes viral on Facebook . CBC News . April 18, 2016.
  15. Web site: Viral Video: Christmas carol finds worldwide audience . CTV Atlantic . April 18, 2016.
  16. Minister responsible for the Nova Scotia Heritage Property Act . 29 August 2012 . Notice of Registration of Property As a Provincial Heritage Property . Nova Scotia Communities, Culture and Heritage, Office of the Minister . Nova Scotia Registry of Deeds . 101588508 . You are hereby notified that: 1. The building and lands located at 40 Bentinck Street, Sydney, Cape Breton Regional Municipality, Province of Nova Scotia, commonly referred to as St. Andrew's United Church, being and intended to be that the property more fully described in the Schedule "A" attached hereto, has been registered in the Provincial Registry of Heritage Property by the Minister under the Heritage Property Act on August 29th, 2012..
  17. Web site: Cape Breton Post, Curtain ready to rise on new Sydney performance space . Cape Breton Post . April 17, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161013091714/http://www.capebretonpost.com/News/Local/2014-05-28/article-3741977/Curtain-ready-to-rise-on-new-Sydney-performance-space/1 . October 13, 2016 . dead .
  18. Web site: Cathedral marks a new journey for Barra MacNeils . The Inverness Oran . April 19, 2016.
  19. Web site: Cape Breton Post, Highland Arts Theatre . Cape Breton Post . April 17, 2016.
  20. Web site: Cape Breton Post, Historical figures offer advice in "Herstory" at Highland Arts Theatre . Cape Breton Post . May 14, 2016.
  21. News: Patterson . Elizabeth . Cape Bretoners showing interest in singalongs . 4 January 2020 . Cape Breton Post . 3 January 2020 . SaltWire Network.
  22. News: Chisholm . Ken . Humour, heart on HAT stage . 4 January 2020 . Cape Breton Post . 4 January 2020 . SaltWire network.,
  23. Web site: I Am Skylar . National Film Board (NFB) . National Film Board of Canada . 4 January 2020.

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