BELLEVILLE – Since its opening in 2003, The Empire Theatre in downtown Belleville, has become a key part of the culture in the Quinte region as a performing arts centre and cinema.
The theatre is located in the building that was formerly the McCarthy Theatre, which opened in 1938. It was transformed into the Empire Theatre in 2003, offering live performances and cinema.
“People do want to be connected with people and this (the Empire Theatre) gives them an opportunity to come in and do so. There’s nothing like live music and it doesn’t matter what genre. You come out, you connect with people, you connect with the artists on stage and it’s a feeling you don’t get anywhere else,” said Mark Rashotte, the man who bought the property in 2001.
Empire Theatre Stage
Mark Rashotte
Rashotte, a professional musician and recording artist, purchased the building with the vision of creating a state-of-the-art theatre. The McCarthy building was transformed into the Empire Theatre and Centre for Performing Arts in the fall of 2002, with the 700-seat Empire Theatre opening on September 13, 2003.
“It has fulfilled my world and of a lot of other people’s. People come down at 7:30PM, get a parking spot, they see the show and are home by 11PM rather than going to Toronto or other places,” said Rashotte.
It’s been nice for the restaurants in the area. People come in and they make a night of it going to different restaurants. It’s also great from a tourist point of view. A lot of people they come in from other areas depending on the acts. People from Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, they come here to see different acts.”
One of Rashotte’s hopes was to bring acts that were usually limited to major cities like Toronto to Belleville.
“It was something Belleville had never seen before. Any major Canadian acts have been there, many international acts have performed there. Comedians, rock and roll, country music, symphonies, you name it, it’s been there. We do business meetings in there, we have had a couple of weddings in there. We do movies. The screen goes up and we have a professional stage and dressing rooms. The artists that come here, love coming here and we are very well known in the country for the hospitality they get and the gear that we have.”
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Empire Theatre, Belleville
“On our 15th anniversary in 2018, we replaced all of our sound equipment, a lot of our lighting gear and painted the whole place through. We have probably close to the best sound and lighting gear in the country of that size (of the theatre). We kind of overshot our budget but it is what it is.”
The Empire Theatre has hosted many notable acts and personalities like The Tragically Hip, Tom Corcoran, Blue Rodeo, Eric Idle, Randy Bachman, Ron James and Great Big Sea. It has also hosted many TV shows with organizations and radios like PBS and CBC.
Debi Nelson has been working at the Empire Theatre for around 2 years.
“I remember when it used to be a movie theatre and I used to attend quite regularly. I love movies and arts of any kind so from the age of probably 10 years old I’ve been coming here.”
“When the Empire came into existence I was here for the grand opening night and it was really exciting to see all the people to come support Mark, one but the community, to me its all about the community and giving the opportunity to have such a big stage and so many seats for so many people. It’s been such a real benefit to Belleville in itself. I work at the box office. People are calling in and I’m surprised to see how far they are coming from.”
“Mark and the Empire itself is very generous in sponsoring different events that are happening and its always giving to the community in that way. Free tickets to help support other causes in Belleville. Not only the music, but again we go back to the community and small businesses and helping each other. We support the Quinte alternative (film series) and the arts here as well.”
“I could just go on about the positive experience that everyone who attends will have from the greeting in the door. You walk into the theatre and the music comes to life.”
Chris Cromwell has been a patron of the Empire Theatre from its early days.
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Chris Cromwell
“I believe the Empire Theatre is destined to be remembered as a hub for entertainment in the Quinte region. It’s a place people come together to celebrate art, music and theatre and enjoy some of the things that make use special as humans.”
“I have had such a great time at the theatre. It’s a highlight. That to me was a time I remember as a great time with my friends. We all have to look back at our lives one day and remember all the cool things that we did and the Empire Theatre is part of my history so its been really cool to watch it grow.”
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