Grand Theatre celebrates future by remembering past

Reflecting on a 'not-so-pretty' bit of our history At the Grand Theatre, the Charles Daniels Committee is honouring a Black man who refused to take a different seat more than 100 years ago.

The old Grand Theatre's history has a chapter that many Calgarians don't know.

It dates back to 1914 and segregation.

"Charles Daniels was a Black man who came to the Grand Theatre to watch a production of King Lear," said Erynn Lyster, the Grand's executive director.

"He got to the front and he was denied access to his ticketed seat, which would have been on the ground floor, and asked instead to be seated in the coloured section (up in the balcony)."

The Grand has established a Charles Daniels Committee to share the story and take steps toward reconciliation with Black communities.

Wakefield Brewster, Cheryl Foggo and Lisa La Touche are the committee's members, supported by staff and the Grand's board.

"We want this to be beyond just a plaque in the front or maybe a seat that will be assigned in his name," La Touche said.

"Memorabilia absolutely, that we will make sure is seen but we want this to also be a segue to continue the conversation in gathering with community."

La Touche is a tap dancer who grew up in Calgary and has taken her talents to Broadway.

"A lot of the history of tap dance, unfortunately, has a history of exploitation. The heydays of tap dance happened during segregation," she said.

"There were a lot of stories of tap dancers who couldn't go see their own shows, or go watch their own movies, so then it just hits home a little bit more when I hear that Charles Daniels was treated like that in my hometown."

La Touche recently learned about Viola Desmond, who challenged segregation in Nova Scotia in the 1940s.

She says Daniels stood up for his rights almost 30 years earlier.

"It's really rare to hear that form of resistance and that form of standing up for yourself that early," she said.

"Especially knowing the context of segregation and the derogatory slander in theatre toward people of colour."

Brewster is a poet and spoken word artist along with being Calgary's Poet Laureate.

He says Daniels' story doesn't end with his ticketed seat being denied.

"His first act after leaving this building, which was a humiliating experience for him because he was with his colleagues, he was a porter for CP Rail," he said.

"He hired a lawyer and he launched a suit against the Grand."

The committee says the court case was well-documented but sadly there is nothing recorded about the outcome of the $1,000 lawsuit and there are no photos of Daniels in Calgary's archives.

"This is a story that has been living in a low vibration and it's time to actually bring it to a thrumming life," Brewster said.

"It is Black History, it is Calgarian history, it is Canadian history (and) we want to make it part of Calgary's known history, some of Calgary's not-so-pretty history, because it's all of our history."

The Sherman Grand Theatre was built in 1912 and is the oldest theatre in Western Canada and in the early years, the billboard hosted a long list of stars who performed on its stage.

"Literally anybody who came to Western Canada has probably been on the stage," Lyster said.

"It's been Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, we've had all kinds of political rallies. It's got such a storied history so it was kind of a cabaret theatre in the early 1900s."

In the 1950s, the Grand became a movie theatre and then it had a brief stint as a golf dome.

By the early 2000s, it was slated for demolition when Theatre Junction raised money to save the structure.

Today, it's a 450-person theatre hosting a variety of performances on its stage.

Lyster says the Grand will honour Daniels and continue telling his story with the help of the committee.

"Creating a way for us as the Grand Theatre to work with the Black community here in Calgary in a long-lasting and meaningful way," she said.

"We're working with visionary artists in the Black community who are part of the committee, who are going to help to inform us and help make decisions on how we can bring that legacy forward."

Learn more about Charles Daniels and the Grand Theatre at https://www.thegrandyyc.ca/charles-daniels.