Just an hour from Toronto, a restored 1935 Art Deco cinema is trading crowds for an intimately striking candlelit Disney concert by a live string quartet

Just an hour from Toronto, Hamilton is quietly becoming a vibrant hub for Disney enthusiasts, an evolution perfectly captured by the upcoming “Candlelight: Disney Love Songs” concert. While the city routinely hosts massive Disney On Ice spectacles and produces children’s animation at downtown’s Pipeline Studios, this officially licensed event offers a strikingly intimate alternative.

Hosted at The Westdale, a restored 1935 Art Deco cinema, a live string quartet will strip decades of cinematic nostalgia down to its melodic essentials. It’s a rare chance for local fans to trade arena crowds for an atmospheric, candlelit evening that beautifully marries global pop culture with Hamilton’s rich local arts heritage.

Candlelight: Disney Love Songs

What’s Candlelight: Disney Love Songs, and what will you hear?

Candlelight: Disney Love Songs is a one-hour concert in which a string quartet plays 15 love songs from Disney and Pixar films live, in a candlelit setting. It’s presented under licence from Disney Concerts, the concert production and licensing division of Disney Music Group.

Think of the setlist as a Disney time machine. The oldest song, “Some Day My Prince Will Come,” goes all the way back to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937. Then the program fast-forwards to the Disney Renaissance (1989–1999), which supplies seven songs on its own: “Kiss the Girl,” “Something There,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “A Whole New World,” “I Won’t Say (I’m In Love),” “Can You Feel the Love Tonight,” and “You’ll Be In My Heart.”

Pixar gets its moment too, with “When She Loved Me” (Toy Story 2), “Married Life” (Up), and “Remember Me” (Coco), one of five winners of the Academy Award for Best Original Song on the program. Newer favourites round things off: “Love Is an Open Door” (Frozen), “I See the Light” (Tangled), “True Love’s Kiss” (Enchanted), and “Dos Oruguitas” (Encanto), the youngest song of the lot, from 2021.

Your seat for the night: The Westdale in Hamilton

Hamilton: The Westdale. Over in Hamilton, the concert takes over The Westdale, a single-screen Art Deco cinema in Westdale Village near McMaster University, at 1014 King Street West. Built in 1935, it was Hamilton’s first cinema built for “talkies,” and after a restoration it reopened as a not-for-profit film and live-performance venue on February 14, 2019 (yes, Valentine’s Day—pretty fitting for a night of love songs).

HSR routes 01, 05, and 51 stop at King and Sterling, and at King and Marion. Coming by GO? Get off at Paisley and Main Street West, then walk up Paisley to the village. Parking is limited: there are paid spots in front of the theatre and on the surrounding streets, plus bike racks nearby. Inside, you’ll find a street-level entrance, an accessible washroom with an automatic door, five wheelchair spaces with companion seats, and a hearing loop, with wireless headsets available on request.