Hugh's Room
Hugh's Room is a restaurant and live music venue in Toronto, Ontario.[1] It is located on Dundas Street West in the city's Roncesvalles neighbourhood.
Hugh's Room in September 2008. | |
Address | 2261 Dundas Street West |
---|---|
Location | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
Coordinates | 43.654832°N 79.452202°W |
Type | Nightclub |
Genre(s) | Folk |
Capacity | 200 |
Construction | |
Built | ? |
Opened | April 2001 |
Website | |
Hugh's Room |
The club was opened in 2001 by Richard Carson and named in memory of his brother Hugh, a former folk musician who had dreamed of opening his own performance venue before his death of cancer in 1999.[2]
Primarily a folk music club,[1] Hugh's Room also sometimes booked jazz, blues, classical and comedy artists as well.[3] Noted artists who have performed at the club include Pete Seeger,[4] Serena Ryder,[4] Sylvia Tyson, Odetta, Jane Siberry, Ron Sexsmith, Maria Muldaur and Richie Havens. Odetta's performance at the venue, on October 25, 2008, was her last-ever live performance before her death on December 2 that year.[5]
On January 8, 2017, Hugh's Room closed its doors for financial reasons.[3] Several days later, a community committee announced plans to restructure the venue's accumulated debt and reopen.[6] The club reopened in April 2017, following a successful fundraising initiative and the formation of a non-profit committee to manage the venue.[4] The new corporation is called Hugh's Room Live.
In 2020, the Hugh's Room management announced that it was looking for a new building as it could not secure an affordable lease at its current site.[7]
References
- "Hugh's Room anchored Toronto’s grassroots folk scene". Toronto Star, January 10, 2017.
- "Requiem for Hugh’s Room: Much-loved folkie venue a victim of cash-flow problems". The Globe and Mail, January 16, 2017.
- "Music community reeling from closure of west-end venue Hugh's Room". CBC News, January 8, 2017.
- "Hugh's Room to reopen April 19". Toronto Star, March 9, 2017.
- Weiner, Tim (December 3, 2008). "Odetta, Voice of Civil Rights Movement, Dies at 77". The New York Times (December 3). Retrieved December 3, 2008.
- "Hugh's Room Reveals Plans to Restructure and Reopen". Exclaim!, January 12, 2017.
- Staff, N. O. W. (March 5, 2020). "Hugh's Room Live forced to move due to rising rent". NOW Magazine.