What I think is great about the Centaur is the effort they make to try and balance the needs of the diverse communities they serve and have served since 1969 - everyone from young theatre innovators to amateur producers and lovers of musicals to season ticket holders who are senior in the community and want to see important groundbreaking work as well as lighthearted comedy.
The space is wonderful. A short walk toward the Old Port from Place D'Armes metro along the tiny cobblestones of St Francois Xavier brings you to the sudden sense of open space created by the massive columns of the Centaur Theatre - formerly the Montreal Stock Exchange. The front of house and lobby bar and coat check are all on the ground floor. The bar is big and full of comfy chairs and the staff is generally made up of cool, friendly members of the local arts scene.
The theatres are upstairs, they aren't incredibly spacious in terms of leg room, but they're not airplane-bad. They have a steep rake so pretty much every seat is a good one. About 15 years ago I saw a version of Waiting for Godot here that devastated me, and part of the shock and loveliness of it was that all the curtains and backdrops were removed leaving bare brick walls looming around the actors. The brick is over 100 years old and shows repair, windows bricked in, time passing. Something about this one production symbolizes everything I love about the Centaur after 15+ years seeing shows there, maybe something about the willingness to remove all the trappings to create a different kind of magic? Anyway I look forward to the years to come!