CACV Board Executive Frank Low-Beer, and other members, lobbied the Vancouver City Council (with a 20,000 name petition) to include a theatre in the late 1950’s five year plan. The plan was approved in 1953 and in 1954, CACV President Douglas Nixon lead a team that established the land on which the theatre would be built.
The Queen Elizabeth Theatre, opened in 1959, and the impact of its opening was immediate and profound: for the first time, major roadshows like My Fair Lady were able to stage productions in Vancouver, and shows staged across the U.S. border were compelled to extend their productions to Vancouver. Today, the Queen Elizabeth Theatre is home to the Vancouver Opera, Ballet British Columbia, and larger touring shows, and is currently in the midst of a long-range strategy for restoration, rehabilitation, and renovation.