Garrick Centre

This seems to have closed in 2020 due to the pandemic.

Besides cinema 3 being converted to a swimming pool with a small spiral water slide, the theatre is mostly in tact from when it was a movie house. New front ends were built in all three rooms to accommodate stages for lectures, bands, and other presentations. Cinemas 1 and 2 had balconies at the back and sloped in the front. You accessed both sections from the entrance in the middle, centre of the auditorium. All the original seats are still there, with Cinema 2’s front end seats on the sloped floor removed for general admission concerts.

The original twin Garrick building was built and opened in 1968. According to my records, it was built from the same steel frame as the original single-screen Garrick that opened in 1928. That original Garrick had a similar layout.

Really miss seeing movies here.

Has PT created a booklet on Wicks organ ?

Here is an October 1987 ad from the Winnipeg Free Press:
http://tinyurl.com/y93jca8

garro: try Googling “Phantompalooza” (not Phantapalooza) for info on the extraordinary local popularity of “Phantom of the Paradise”. As recently as last year the Ramada/Garrick centre was used to host a get-together of cast, crew as well as fans of Phantom of the Paradise.

I just finished reading about the PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE run of 18 weeks at the Garrick 2!The film was a huge hit in Winnipeg but not the rest of the world.Check out the phantapalooza website!

organpage – The TPO that >was< in the Immaculate Conception hall was installed by the late Terry Harvey. Now there was a man who got things done. Organ installations, concert series, LPs of the Orpheum – on and on. I recall that the Seeburg/Smith went to Alberta but I wouldn’t bet my house on my recollection. The TPO onced owned by the late Reg Stone and then the late Frank Mankin went there for sure. That’s the problem – many persons connected with west coast TPOs have taken up the harp. The organ from the Pantages/Odeon Hasting/Majestic is (last I heard) in a South Delta residence by way of the late Chas. McKenzie. I’m hoping that my info stirs up some more-up-to-date contributions to this forum. J. Tarling still has his Capitol TPO and, as I understand, has the Organ Grinder hybrid in storage. Our Garrick Theatre organ is seldom played during the summer so that temperature fluctuations in the chamber can be kept at a minimum. A Conn 3 manual sparker fills in surprisingly well.
Rather than clutter this excellent forum – if you (or anyone else) wants more info, I’m at Console down.
PT

I worked for/with Agnes Forsythe for many years at her WurliTzer dealership in Burnaby when I was working the Vancouver area as an organ tech and we became good friends. Yes, her second husband was Mike Chisholm, but he was not involved with the business. The man you met in the store was probably her brother Bob Forsythe who was the accountant for the store as well as a full time accountant for WCB. He was also a fairly successful actor and appeared on most of the vancouver based productions such as MacGyver, Beachcombers and lots of commercials. Agnes' first husband was before my time, I believe she called him Jack but I’m not sure of this one. I don’t rememeber her metioning a last name. Anges had no children and she only had the one brother, but I remember she had several cousins both in the vancouver area and back east. The burnaby store closed about 20 years ago after she fell victim to cancer as did both her husbands before her.
I was always under the impression that the old Garrick organ was installed in the parish hall of the Immaculate Conception church in Delta BC where I used to attend a series of theatre organ music concerts, but I remember that was a Seaburg organ of about 5 ranks. I thought I rememberd Agnes mentioning she had been asked to play a concert in the series because of her connection with the organ but never got around to it. Obviously I got mixed up. If anyone has any information about that organ I would appreciate hearing it.

HMcK I apologise for the tardiness in relying. I have been without internet access for almost a month and recently, the site seems to have been having some problems.

Unfortunately, there is no more that I can add. Agnes always used her maiden name and I never knew her married name. She seemed to keep her private life very private. I never heard mention of children or any relatives. I did meet her husband once when he came to the store. He managed the books and may possibly have been an accountant (speculation). It’s not very helpful, but I do hope you will be able to piece together the informstion you are looking for.

I happened on this site somewhat accidentally and saw the discussion regarding Agnes Forsythe. I met Agnes in around 1970 just after she had moved to Vancouver with her husband and long time friend Eileen Wedlake. Agnes managed a music store at Seymour and Dunsmuir at the time and I went there to take organ lessons. Two or three years later, she opened her own store on Kingsway, a couple of blocks north of Edmonds and was a principal retailer for Wurlitzer. She also had a music school with maybe four to six teachers. The timing was right and I think she did well in the organ and piano revival of the 70s. There were concerts in the Playhouse Theatre and visits to pizza house Wurlitzers and a memorable re-opening of the restored Orpheum Theatre wurlitzer by Reginald Foort in those days.

She spoke rarely of her days in Winnipeg but I do remember her ‘complaining’ how physically demanding it was to play a theatre pipe organ. She is a small person, petite and with small hands, so I can imagine how hard she had to work at a full size console. I never heard her perform or saw her teach, though she would play a few bars as a demonstration in support of a sale. She was awarded the Freedom of the City of Winnipeg in the mid 70s and I also remember her saying that the Garrick had offered her the organ for free. She was flattered but had no way to do anything useful with it and regretfully declined the offer. (Good luck for PT!)

I lost touch in around 1980 and have had no contact or news since. I did notice that the store closed in around 1985 or so.

I read from some vertical files at the Centennial Library that the Garrick was remodelled and expanded into a twin because it was in such a bad state of dis-repair. Can anyone further this?

And what was this about the ceiling caving in?

PT and Sam_e, Thank you for your replies. I only know that the Agnes Forsythe I am looking for was likely born in 1920s to RM Forsythe and his wife May. He came from Ireland. They also had a son Bobby. I have a newspaper picture of Agnes marrying J R Harrod at Trinity Baptist Church. The paper title reads Winnipeg, Tuesday April 9, 1946. I had also been told that she was an accomplished musician – which is how I came across this web page. She would have been a cousin to my grandfather. Any information you can get would be greatly appreciated.Thanks.
HMcK

Regarding the Garrick Theatre Pipe Organ:
The numbers from the book are bang on. There was no “CONSIDERABLE” pipe damage from the move. Just a fair amount of minor damage. HOWEVER, the pipes were stored planted on the (2) chests under plastic with the treble (small) pipes right outside the door to the Walker orchestra pit. Someone came thru' that door and just walked on the pipes. A “map” of the chests and damaged pipes shows a clear “footprint” pattern of damage. Most of it has been repairable, so far. Only 7 ranks have been restored. At the price we paid, I got no complaints.

As to “..its power ..” – a huge scale Tibia Plena, a fat, smooth Diapason and a Brass Trumpet no doubt helped give that impression.
The Tibia Plena has not been planted as we have enough “power” for our studio. The Brass Trumpet is the only rank badly robbed – missing 13 pipes below middle C. So it won’t be planted for a while, yet.

Any stories of the Garrick theatre before twinning are highly prized and appreciated.

The interior of the Walker was shown on TV recently but I forget the context. I do remember being VERY immpressed and the next time I visit Winnipeg, I will try to get a glimpse. My wife will be visiting her mom in Winnipeg this week but I’m not too anxious to spend $500 to see the interior of a Winnipeg theatre in the middle of winter. (Being a west coast weather wimp.) More to come, later.

Regards, PT