page_title: John Molson
section_title: Theatre impresario
hierarchical_section_title: John Molson / Career success and later life / Theatre impresario
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: La première véritable salle de spectacle et de théâtre est le Théâtre Royal construit en 1825 sur la rue Saint-Paul par le brasseur John Molson. Il est construit à l'image des théâtres américains. Il s'agit d'un bâtiment de deux étages. Il contient 1 500 sièges. Le coût: 30 000$. C'était la première salle au Canada consacrée exclusivement aux arts d'interprétation, surtout au théâtre. Le théâtre fut démoli en 1844 pour faire place au marché Bonsecours. (Source: Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia)
context_page_description: John Molson was an English-born brewer and entrepreneur in colonial Quebec, which during his lifetime became Lower Canada. In addition to founding Molson Brewery, he built the first steamship and the first public railway in Canada, was a president of the Bank of Montreal, and established a hospital, a hotel, and a theatre in Montreal. The dynasty he founded, the Molson family, is still a wealthy and powerful force in Canada.
context_section_description: By 1825, Molson's hotel was completely rebuilt and renamed the British American Hotel. After the hotel was completed Molson built a theatre adjacent to it. By November, Molson's Theatre Royal was completed, the first theatre in Montreal. It seated 1,000 guests, presenting Shakespeare and Restoration authors and was also used for circuses and concerts. Edmund Kean and Charles Dickens both performed there before it was demolished in 1844 to make way for the Bonsecours Market.
  Never resting, Molson continued to build his empire by purchasing multiple steamships and creating the St Lawrence Steamboat Company. This fleet of ships was so big that it outnumbered all of those operating in the United States. In 1826 Molson decided to run against a young Louis-Joseph Papineau but resigned quickly after discovering the amount of support Papineau had from the French and the Irish.
  On March 18, 1829 Molson's wife Sarah Vaughan, died after treating her rheumatism with laudanum. Sarah became addicted to this opium-based painkiller and died from the effects. Molson sold the house they lived in together and moved on with his life. His four-year term as President of the Bank of Montreal (1826–1830) ended and Molson did not run for a second. Even at the age of 67 Molson did not contemplate retirement; one of his biggest projects still lay ahead.
caption: A performance at Molson's Theatre Royal, Montreal, 1825
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