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Articles

Volume 18 Number 2 / Fall 1997

"Our Granada": The Granada Theatre, Wellington Street, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada, America, the World and Me

Submitted
May 13, 2008
Published
1997-06-01

Abstract

Built at the height of the atmospheric theatre fad in early 1929, the Granada Theatre of Sherbrooke, Quebec has been many things to many people over the years. Starting as a double-bill house of United Amusements of Quebec (owned by Famous Players of Toronto,in turn owned by Paramount of New York), the Granada eventually became the premier performance space in Sherbrooke in the 1940s and 1950s. It was eventually replaced in this function in the late 1960s by cultural centres at the two local universities. While it was sold off by Famous Players in the early 1970s it still survives relatively intact, at the end of this century a curious architectural reminder of how things once were and perhaps still are. The theatre's past, present and future provide the author with an opportunity to reflect upon his own place in late 20th century Quebec. Le Théâtre Granada, un cinéma atmospherique de l'année 1929 qui existe encore à la rue Wellington de Sherbrooke, Québec, offre pour l'auteur d'opportunité de faire des réflexions politiques, culturels et personnels. La nature de cet éspace comme un produit simultané local, provincial, fédéral, continental et mondial sugget pour l'auteur que ses éspaces comme le Granada peut donner aux chercheurs un terrain ou sujet fertile pour l'analyse des cultures québécoises.