Arts Club Theatre Company

The Arts Club Theatre Company is a professional theatre company in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The Arts Club was founded in 1958 originally as a private club until 1964, when the group became the Arts Club Theatre Company and established itself at a theatre on Seymour Street in Downtown Vancouver. Major themes from this company are new works, comedies, musicals, drama, and revues, with an emphasis on developing Canadian talent in productions appealing to the general public.

In 1979, the Arts Club expanded to include performances at the 450-seat Granville Island Stage on Granville Island. The Seymour Street stage closed in 1991, but in 1998 the Arts Club took over operations at the Stanley Theatre (renamed the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage in 2005), a former movie theater.

Since 1972, the artistic director of the Arts Club has been Bill Millerd. Millerd started with the company as a stage manager in 1969. Millerd is credited with creating a stable and successful enterprise and supporting the early careers of many major Canadian talents, including Michael J. Fox, Bruce Greenwood, Michael Bublé, Winston Rekert, Brent Carver, Janet Wright, Lally Cadeau, Nicola Cavendish and Ann Mortifee (Henighan, 2000).

The Arts Club

The Arts Club is a London private members club founded in 1863 by, amongst others, Charles Dickens, Anthony Trollope, and Lord Leighton in Dover Street, Mayfair, London, England. Today it is a meeting place for men and women involved in the creative arts either professionally or as patrons.

History

The Arts Club was a hub of the arts during the 19th-century and, although a social venue, it was known to be a place where influence could be exerted and careers developed. It was seen as the powerhouse behind the dealings of the Royal Academy. Its members and guests included Dickens, Millais, Whistler, Kipling, Monet, Rodin, Degas and Turgenev. As early as 1891, James Whistler, one of the Arts Club's leading members, broke away to found the rival Chelsea Arts Club.

The Arts Club has continued to provide a forum and meeting place for those involved in all the arts. The visual arts predominate the professional artists amongst today's membership; the vast majority of Royal Academicians still present amongst the members. Members not professionally active as artists include art dealers, gallery owners, artists' agents, as well as those who simply have an amateur or recreational interest in the arts.