It's all looking and feeling livelier in Toronto

May 07, 2006|Paul French, Globe Correspondent

TORONTO -- The Hobbits of Toronto's exclusive, $23 million production of ''The Lord of the Rings" are stealing the spotlight since the mega-hit opened in late March, but soon the diminutive creatures will have to learn to share center stage.

Canada's financial capital and biggest city, with a population of about 4 million, is experiencing a cultural renaissance with a glittering lineup of new buildings, museum expansions, new restaurants, and more musicals.

At the top of the list is next month's opening of the new opera house in the heart of the city's downtown core. The $130 million Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, a sleek, glass-and-brick creation designed by Toronto architect Jack Diamond, will house the Canadian Opera Company and the National Ballet of Canada under one roof. The summer calendar is low-key, with concerts and dance performances, but the opera season launches grandly in September with Wagner's ''Ring" Cycle.

American architect Daniel Libeskind is making his mark on the cityscape with his renovation of the Royal Ontario Museum. Although the construction site outside makes the building seem unapproachable, 10 new galleries opened this past winter and there are more to come. The Michael Lee-Chin Crystal, a glass-and-metal framed new wing, will open next May, with a sneak peek scheduled at the end of this year.

Down the road, Norman Foster has dressed up a high-profile corner of Queen's Park with an academic building for the University of Toronto, while another British architect, Will Alsop, has created for the Ontario College of Art and Design the most revolutionary structure since New City Hall opened more than 40 years ago. Around the corner, an expansion to the Art Gallery of Ontario is the work of Frank Gehry, who grew up in the neighborhood. The opening is set for 2008. And out in the suburb of Don Mills, the wonderfully quirky Ontario Science Centre, complete with an IMAX theater, is getting a $40 million overhaul.

The cobbled streets of the Distillery District make up North America's largest intact industrial zone from the Victorian era. Used as an atmospheric location for films as diverse as ''Chicago" and ''X-Men," the district now proudly flaunts its heritage as a booze factory amid galleries, restaurants, and performance spaces. The acclaimed local theater company Soul Pepper has opened its new home here.