TORONTO -- The Hobbits of Toronto's exclusive, $23 million production of ''The Lord of the Rings" are stealing the spotlight since the mega-hit opened in late March, but soon the diminutive creatures will have to learn to share center stage.
Canada's financial capital and biggest city, with a population of about 4 million, is experiencing a cultural renaissance with a glittering lineup of new buildings, museum expansions, new restaurants, and more musicals.
At the top of the list is next month's opening of the new opera house in the heart of the city's downtown core. The $130 million Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, a sleek, glass-and-brick creation designed by Toronto architect Jack Diamond, will house the Canadian Opera Company and the National Ballet of Canada under one roof. The summer calendar is low-key, with concerts and dance performances, but the opera season launches grandly in September with Wagner's ''Ring" Cycle.
American architect Daniel Libeskind is making his mark on the cityscape with his renovation of the Royal Ontario Museum. Although the construction site outside makes the building seem unapproachable, 10 new galleries opened this past winter and there are more to come. The Michael Lee-Chin Crystal, a glass-and-metal framed new wing, will open next May, with a sneak peek scheduled at the end of this year.
Down the road, Norman Foster has dressed up a high-profile corner of Queen's Park with an academic building for the University of Toronto, while another British architect, Will Alsop, has created for the Ontario College of Art and Design the most revolutionary structure since New City Hall opened more than 40 years ago. Around the corner, an expansion to the Art Gallery of Ontario is the work of Frank Gehry, who grew up in the neighborhood. The opening is set for 2008. And out in the suburb of Don Mills, the wonderfully quirky Ontario Science Centre, complete with an
The cobbled streets of the Distillery District make up North America's largest intact industrial zone from the Victorian era. Used as an atmospheric location for films as diverse as ''Chicago" and ''X-Men," the district now proudly flaunts its heritage as a booze factory amid galleries, restaurants, and performance spaces. The acclaimed local theater company Soul Pepper has opened its new home here.
The hippest new neighborhood is West Queen West, a stretch of Queen Street where storefront galleries, cafes, and restaurants are opening almost weekly. The Drake Hotel (19 rooms, five restaurants, three bars) affects a credible bohemian atmosphere with a performance space that offers an eclectic array of talents nightly as well as a coveted perch on its crowded rooftop terrace, where young hipsters sip martinis and lounge on divans. The century-old Gladstone Hotel has funky rooms for the night and three bars for downstairs diversion including the hottest karaoke scene in town. For dining and drinking in the area try the Italian Bar One or the mostly Malaysian edibles of Kei.
This summer, the city celebrates the West Queen West arts scene and the gallery-rich strips of Bloor-Yorkville and the Art Gallery of Ontario along Dundas Street West with a free, all-night party. Nuit Blanche gets going in these ''arts zones" at sundown Sept. 30, and will continue until sunrise.
Although Toronto's waterfront is marred by condo towers that block views of Lake Ontario, the cultural center Harbourfront has reclaimed some space by adding a boardwalk and piers that extend out over the lake. There's also a year-round schedule of cultural activity with many free events, from outdoor concerts in the summer to skating and ice sculpting in winter.
Defined by its multicultural makeup, the city is home to 80 well-established ethnic communities, each with its own cuisine on offer. You can head to Little India on Gerrard Street East, where Udupi Palace serves vegetarian dishes of the south. Or try Greek town along Danforth Avenue (called the Danforth in this neighborhood) for souvlaki, and good Greek fish or lamb at Pantheon.
What you may have difficulty ordering is authentic Canadian cooking. Toronto has few culinary traditions as such, save for the ritual of a pea meal bacon sandwich (brine-cured pork rolled in a corn-flour crust) at St. Lawrence Market on Saturdays. But upscale interpretations of venison and game, wild salmon, and other native foods do make their way to the plate at Canoe and Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar.
Contact Paul French, a freelance writer in Toronto, at paul.french@sympatico.ca. 
