It’s All Happening in and around Kingston, Ontario!
Have you ever heard someone say, “There must be something in the water”? Well, they just might have been referring to Kingston. For a relatively small city, we seem to produce, and attract, an incredible amount of talent.
There is an abundance of actors, musicians, singers, comedians, writers, dancers, and artists of all stripes who have called this area home over the years. Maybe some of it really is in the water. But we think another vital reason for this phenomenon is that Kingstonians have always been really good at supporting the arts and giving creative people places to play.
- We have professional theatres and community theatres.
- We have historic stages and intimate little rooms. From rock concerts to candlelit symphony performances and everything in between.
- We also have musicals, dramas, comedies, choirs, and even local musicians playing just a few feet away from their intimate audience and newest fans. And when you add nearby Gananoque to the mix, it’s incredible how much live entertainment is happening within a short drive from home.
Table of Contents:
- Why We Love Live Entertainment in Kingston!
- The Grand: Entertaining Audiences Since 1879
- Domino Theatre: Where Community Takes Centre Stage
- The Grand Theatre Had a Baby! (Called The Baby Grand)
- Just Down the Road: A Thousand Islands and A Playhouse
- Single Thread Theatre Company: Immerse Yourself!
- The Isabel & Kingston Symphony
- Slush Puppie Place: When An Arena Isn’t Just An Arena
- My Favourite Small Venues, Because Sometimes You Just Want to Hear a Band!
Sure, summer tends to get most of the attention.
Patios are packed, festivals fill the streets (and nearby fields), and musicians seem to be playing around every corner. Then fall arrives, and the patio furniture disappears and t-shirts are swapped out for comfy sweaters. But before you think about completely hibernating until it’s shorts weather again, you should stop and consider what you might actually be missing out on.
For us, fall and winter are two of the best times to experience live entertainment around Kingston. And admittedly, this subject is a little personal for me (Glenn). I’ve spent a fair amount of my life around the theatre, and some of my favourite memories and longest friendships started in the rehearsal hall or witnessing it with wonder from the audience.
What is Kingston all about and what is it like to live here? Learn more in Where Is Kingston and Is Kingston a Good Place to Live?
Why We Love Live Entertainment in Kingston
We’re Not Just Watching It. We’re Experiencing It Together.
There’s something about live entertainment that a television or movie simply can’t reproduce. When you watch something pre-recorded, something is being presented to you. When you watch something live, something is happening with you. There’s an unpredictability between the performers and the audience, and each can definitely affect the other.
- An actor can sense when an audience leans into a quiet moment.
- A comedian immediately knows whether a joke landed.
- A musician hears hundreds of people singing the chorus back (or sees a person in the front row tapping their toes while sipping their chardonnay).
And interestingly, there’s real science behind that feeling. Research involving live audiences has proven that physiological responses, including heart beats, can begin to synchronize during a performance; while other studies show that live music actually engages the brain’s emotional systems much more strongly than the exact same recorded music.
Which is a very scientific way of confirming something performers have known forever: There’s a raw energy in a room full of people experiencing something special together.
Yep, your local real estate agent takes the stage! This is me performing in “A Month Of Sundays,” a comedy by Bob Larbey produced by Dramatic Impact at The Grand Theatre in 2002. That’s the super talented Dennis Curtis too!
The Grand Theatre Holds a Grand History
The Kingston community’s support of live entertainment began a long, long time ago. In fact, The Grand Theatre in downtown Kingston sits on a site that has been entertaining Kingston audiences since Martin’s Opera House opened its doors in 1879 (and after a fire destroyed that building in 1898, it was rebuilt and reopened as The Grand Opera House in 1902). Harry Houdini, Al Jolson, and Sarah Bernhardt were just some of the world-famous early talents to perform for Kingston audiences.
But perhaps one of the best parts of The Grand Theatre’s history is that Kingston almost lost this magical performance space in the 1960s when the theatre’s future was in serious jeopardy, before our amazing community rallied around it to help preserve live theatre in the heart of the city.
Today, The Grand hosts theatre, comedy, dance, musicians, touring performers and plenty of local talent.
It also holds some very special memories for me. I’ve been lucky enough to perform on that particular stage and be involved in a number of productions there over the years. In fact, if you saw Beauty and the Beast at The Grand in 2008, you saw me without even probably realizing it.
Yep, I was the stunt-double Beast during the final scenes (we just never told the audience because we didn’t want to ruin the magic for the little ones in attendance). And yes, it was totally worth getting kicked, beaten, and falling down the grand staircase every night just to have Belle sing to me right before the Beast’s final transformation (Maryanne Wainman was so great as Belle, she made me tear up every single time).
The Grand has also been used to help raise lots of money for wonderful community causes over the years too; including a couple of concerts I produced there that featured a wide variety of amazing local artists who all volunteered their time and talent to raise money for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at KGH.
And Speaking of Concerts…Hells Bells!
The Grand Theatre always has an exciting and eclectic lineup of shows, with something to fit everyone’s artistic taste buds. And a special shout-out must go to Hells Bells, an AC/DC tribute band that is playing at The Grand again on October 3rd. Thanks to my kids providing the tickets as a birthday present, I saw them perform last year at The Grand and was absolutely blown away. They were outstanding! I felt like I had taken a time machine back to my teenage years…just with considerably less hair (and by the end of the show, I was definitely reminded of my current age because my legs were so sore from all the heel tapping that I needed to take some ibuprofen as soon as I got home).
That’s one of the best things about The Grand. One evening might be theatre or dance, and another might involve an AC/DC tribute band shaking a theatre that has been entertaining Kingston audiences for well over a century.
See what’s playing: Kingston Grand Theatre
Domino Theatre: Where Community Takes Centre Stage
Kingston has live theatre. Then there’s Domino. This totally volunteer run community theatre definitely holds a special place in my heart.
Back in 1952 a group of creative friends had a hankering to put on some plays and decided to call their company Domino Theatre. This theatre company has now produced more than 475 shows in a variety of Kingston locations. 52 Church Street is where Domino currently calls home; and it is quite the upgrade, thanks to the hardworking volunteers who helped transform an old neighbourhood arena into a space many professionals are quite jealous of today. I’ve been extremely fortunate to be involved in several Domino productions over the years, both onstage and as a stage-combat choreographer, and some of my favourite theatre memories come from there.
FUN FACT: Many moons ago when I was cast as Valmont in Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Christopher Hampton, my character required long period hair; well, I was so concerned that a wig would fall off during the extensive sword-fighting scene that I decided to spend my own money and more than three hours sitting in a salon chair having hair extensions glued into my actual hair. It worked, and I ended up wearing those extensions 24 hrs a day for 6 weeks. Some days I really miss that hair.
“The things we do for theatre” is a phrase you will probably hear often when working on a show.
But stories like my hair extensions are an intrinsic part of why community theatre creates such strong, lasting friendships. For a few months, people from completely different walks of life suddenly become this fabulous little extended family. You rehearse together several nights a week. You memorize lines, build sets, learn dances, paint walls, sew costumes, find props, practice fights, panic together, laugh together, and somehow eventually put on a show together. Then closing night arrives, the set comes down and everybody goes home. The empty vacuum that exists within you for the next few days is extremely palpable… until somebody invariably asks: “so, what show are you getting involved with next?”
Are You an Artist at Heart? Get Involved At Domino.
If you loved being in the band or drama club in high school (or always wanted to check it out but your schedule or nerves got in the way), community theatre may be just the ticket for the next super fun social activity you’re looking for. And you don’t need to act. Community Theatres need directors, stage managers, set builders, painters, costume people, props crews, lighting and sound operators, front-of-house volunteers and stage crews. Imagine a group of like-minded people volunteering their time together a few days a week, all with the goal of entertaining others…while having a ton of fun and making new friends along the way! Plus, aspiring playwrights can sign up for a play reading or the one-act play festival too!
FUN FACT: Domino Theatre also offers local organizations a fundraising opportunity with their Theatre Nights program. For $750 a group can purchase the entire theatre for a Wednesday night’s performance and sell all 163 tickets themselves to raise money (or just thank their organization’s staff and volunteers). It’s a real win/win/win scenario!
Domino’s 2026–27 season just opened with a hilarious comedy called I Hate Hamlet, a play about a famous TV actor who is cast as Hamlet despite hating Shakespeare.
Find out what’s happening: Domino Theatre
BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE! There are other community theatre groups doing stellar things too! The Kingston Meistersingers are known for putting on big showstopping musicals, Bottle Tree Productions have helped inspire creative youth and the young at heart for decades, and Blue Canoe Productions is geared toward students and young professionals wanting to hone their creative skills while hanging out with likeminded individuals in our community.
Professional Theatre Close to Home
This area’s vast theatre scene doesn’t stop at community theatre either.
The Grand Theatre Had a Baby! (Called The Baby Grand)
The Baby Grand was born in 1985, when a space previously used for storage was turned into a more intimate “black box theatre”. Many phenomenal performances have come to life over the years in this versatile space. For part of the year, Theatre Kingston calls The Baby Grand home. Theatre Kingston is a professional theatre company that produces a 4-show season, as well as the TK Fringe Festival every summer (as part of the overall Kick and Push Festival).
This upcoming season, we can’t wait to see Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett; a real mind-trip being produced in The Baby Grand that will close out their current season next May 6 to 16, 2027. It is a play that will make you laugh out loud at the absurdity of the situation and the conundrum the characters find themselves facing. And if you’re like us, at the end of the play, you will probably leave the theatre more motivated than ever to “seize the day”. This production may technically fall just outside of our winter theme here, but we couldn’t talk about the upcoming theatre season… and leave Godot waiting.
See Theatre Kingston’s season: Theatre Kingston
Just Down the Road: A Thousand Islands and A Playhouse
Drive just down the road a bit and you arrive at another remarkable piece of our area’s theatre puzzle: Thousand Islands Playhouse in Gananoque. If you’ve never seen a show there, the setting alone makes for a terrific night out. Have dinner in Gananoque. Walk along the St. Lawrence. See some professional theatre. Drive home. Sleep deeper.
This fall there’s an especially good reason to go because the Thousand Islands Playhouse is producing the very timely Come From Away from September 22nd–November 1st. This show is one of Canada’s most successful musicals ever, telling the true story of thousands of airline passengers being stranded, welcomed and cared for in Gander, Newfoundland, after 9/11. Yes, you’ll have “all the feels” during the show; and as you drive away you’ll also be filled with an incredible sense of pride for this country that we call home.
FUN FACT: The Playhouse opened in the summer of 1982 with a three-show season and total attendance of around 6,000 people. Today it operates two theatres (the waterfront Springer Theatre and the more intimate Firehall Theatre) and attracts over 45,000 visitors each year.
Explore the season: Thousand Islands Playhouse
As if you needed more reasons to want to live in Kingston. If this post hasn’t pushed you over the edge, the related reads below just might:
- Exploring Our Favourite Nature Trails in Kingston
- The Ultimate Kingston Staycation
- Experiencing Kingston’s Best Coffee Shops
And How Could We Not Mention The Hip?
Of course, The Tragically Hip are uber-famous Canadians and very proud Kingstonians; and to fan’s delight everywhere, the Thousand Islands Playhouse has teamed up with Theatre Aquarius to bring a brand-new musical to life inspired by The Hip’s music and vast song catalogue.
It’s A Good Life If You Don’t Weaken is playing right here at The Grand Theatre from October 22nd–November 8th. It’s not just a juke-box musical or a band biography either, but a classic Canadian story set in Kingston that is brought to life and infused with fantastic Hip songs. It doesn’t get much more local than that!
Single Thread Theatre Company: Immerse Yourself!
Another nod must go out to Single Thread Theatre Company that has helped take theatre beyond the traditional stage, creating immersive, site-specific experiences where the location itself becomes part of the story and audiences are invited right into the world of the performance.
FUN FACT: I got an early taste of that kind of theatre during my first paid acting gig in Kingston in 1989 with Threshold Theatre, when we literally pulled a wagon along the waterfront as part of the show—and yes, at one point I even had to wrestle with a coffin in the water. The things we do for theatre.
The Isabel & Kingston Symphony
The beautiful Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts opened in 2014 and is another venue that’s worth visiting even before anyone plays a note. Sitting on the waterfront as part of Queen’s University, the Isabel presents classical music, jazz, contemporary music, dance and other special performances, and is also home to many Kingston Symphony concerts.
And if “symphony” immediately makes you picture uncomfortable formal clothes and three hours of music you don’t understand, you owe it to yourself to give it another chance. Yes, you can hear Beethoven and Mozart. But the Kingston Symphony also offers “pops concerts”, family programming, holiday performances and other creative programs designed for audiences who might not normally consider themselves “symphony people.” There’s also something entirely different about hearing an orchestra live. A recording comes through speakers. An orchestra comes from dozens of human beings sitting in front of you creating music at exactly the same moment. Sometimes you don’t simply hear it. You feel it…viscerally.
See what’s coming:
Slush Puppie Place: When An Arena Isn’t Just An Arena
And, of course, live entertainment in Kingston isn’t limited to our theatres. Our arena has been called various names over the year, but today’s Slush Puppie Place has become one of the city’s biggest gathering spots for concerts, comedy and large-scale live events. Since opening in 2008 in the heart of downtown, the arena has welcomed some pretty impressive names to Kingston, including Elton John, Bryan Adams, Sting, Jerry Seinfeld, Cirque du Soleil, and of course The Tragically Hip’s Final Show that was telecast live across the country for millions to watch and celebrate our hometown musical heroes. With room for thousands of people, Slush Puppie Place gives Kingston a chance to experience major touring acts without having to head down the 401 to Toronto or Ottawa.
FUN FACT: The Hip’s final concert took place on a hot summer night in August, and CBC needed the arena to turn off all the air conditioning before the show because the microphones were picking up the sound of the condensers and fans. This made for a sweat soaked and steamy night that nobody in attendance would ever regret. And yes, tickets were so hard to come by that a few people got caught sneaking in with the equipment earlier in the day. The bomb-sniffing RCMP dogs, however, didn’t require a ticket because they were accompanying the Prime Minister of Canada (who hung out with The Hip and 400 other invited guests at the after party…which finally wound down at 4 am).
My Favourite Small Venues, Because Sometimes You Just Want to Hear a Band
Not every night of live entertainment requires buying tickets well in advance. Sometimes you want to just grab a drink and see who’s playing. And this is another area where Kingston shines. Jake and Anne used to enjoy frequenting The Grad Club on Queen’s Campus before it recently shuddered its doors for good. But, have no fear, several other establishments have taken up the gauntlet to fill the void.
- The Broom Factory has quickly become a terrific intimate music venue featuring a mix of local and touring performers.
- Musiikki Café & Whiskey Bar is small, but mighty, and is now deeply connected to Kingston’s local music scene. The acoustic vibes are off the chart.
- The RCHA Club has become an important home for many local blues, jazz, and roots musicians (and speaking of roots, my grandfather was a member of the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery during WW2).
And then there’s The Toucan, which has been part of Kingston’s live-music culture for so long that generations of Kingston residents have stories attached to that room (and even some of them can be shared). You just may stumble upon the next Tragically Hip performing in front of an audience for the first time ever.
Add places such as The Merchant Tap House for pop and rock, The Buckle for country and open mic nights, and there’s always somebody playing somewhere.
The Spire is another vibrant arts and community hub in downtown Kingston, housed in a beautiful historic former church and home to concerts, theatre, and amazing choir performances.
For those spontaneous “What should we do tonight?” evenings, Kingston Live is always an excellent resource for finding out who’s playing where.
Check out: Kingston Live
Awesome Hometown Vibes All Around
Maybe Kingston glows artistically because of Queen’s University. Maybe it’s because generations of people here have supported local artists and arts organizations. Or maybe there really is something in the water. Whatever the reason, we’re really lucky to live in this neck of the woods.
So, when the temperature drops this fall and winter, don’t automatically reach for the remote. Find your seat or get involved, then feel the lights dim and experience something that will never happen exactly the same way again. Because that’s the magic of live entertainment.
Whether on stage, behind the scenes, or just watching from the audience, your life will almost certainly be “changed for good”.
If all of this fantastic entertainment has you ready to pack up and move to Kingston, you know who to call! Our enthusiastic and knowledgeable Kingston real estate agents are happy to help with anything you need. Just reach out at caldwellco@royallepage.ca or call 613.449.6588 to get started.
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