The Toronto Underground Cinema is about to begin a new life. The theatre, which closed down in 2012, will once again be in use this Friday night, albeit in a different capacity.

The Queen and Spadina theatre has been leased out to Boomer, a show focused on cluing people into the politics of the 1960s. Show promoter Brian Walker says it's about making people think.

For now, the theatre will be a bit of a one-trick pony. Boomer is the only show that will play, according to Walker.

As far as what the spot will be called, that remains undecided. Walker says the theatre might be named after a sponsor of sorts, if that comes through. He won't, of course, even give me a hint as to who that sponsor might be.

Shows will run on Friday and Saturday nights, and Walker says this might expand to be about five nights per week, if they have a good run at the beginning.

So what exactly can you expect to see if you visit the theatre now? Walker explains that there are quite a few participative scenes that will draw the audience in. There will be live music in the form of tributes to The Beatles, Zeppelin, Rolling Stones and others alongside documentary footage, and the actors will tell the story of the baby boomer generation and the Cold War.

"[The building] won't be a museum. That's the wrong word. But it will be full of things that provide context. We want to show what it was like in the '60s, to look at how did we get here, and are we going in the right direction?"

The show will illustrate the pendulum that swins between generations, making one a series of uptight capitalists, and the next a freewheeling bunch of crusaders for peace.

Walker says that, in time, there's the possibility that the theatre and its 700 seats will be open to other organizations, such as TIFF, for special events.

Photo by Roger Cullman