On the heels of its most successful season yet, the Chatham Capitol Theater is preparing for another year of entertainment.
The theatre launched its 15th anniversary season lineup, announcing big-name shows like The Sam Roberts Band, an evening with environmentalists David Suzuki and Tara Cullis, and television personality Howie Mandel, among others.
Audrey Ansel, Chatham-Kent’s Director of Community, Culture, and Connection, said the Capitol Theatre is now one of the most widely recognized performance venues in the region.
“Now that eminence of the theatre has grown, it’s recognized in our community, it’s recognized outside of Chatham-Kent and far beyond,” she said. “A week doesn’t go by that I don’t hear something from somebody who has rented the facility or performed here, complementing the quality of our sound, the lighting, the ushers, the customer experience that everyone has had.”
The Capitol Theatre is also celebrating last year’s successes, announcing that over 55,000 tickets were sold through cktickets.com in 2024 for booked performances. This is in addition to all third-party performances, theatre rentals, dance competitions, graduations and other events held at the Capitol.
“Never before have that many people come through. It’s attracting a lot of people from outside of Chatham-Kent. People hear about it and say, ‘I really like that act, I’m going to go there,” and then they experience it,” said CK Mayor Darrin Canniff. “This theatre is so important to moving forward in our future.”
Ansel said the theatre’s growing popularity is a testament to the quality of the venue.
“It’s a bigger piece around the offering in terms of art and culture in Chatham-Kent, and the contribution of theatres to that,” she said.
The Capitol Theatre initially opened in 1930 as a grand movie palace and live entertainment venue, which flourished for decades before closing in 1993.
The City of Chatham purchased the property in 1994 with plans to demolish the theatre for a parking lot. However, the non-profit Chatham Capitol Theatre Association was formed to buy the property from the city. Restoration of the theatre took over a decade to complete before the King Street venue was finally reopened in 2010.
For a full lineup of performances at the Capitol Theatre, along with ticket information, click here.