Honouring a Legend: THE ED MIRVISH THEATRE
The greatest honour that the theatre industry can bestow upon a person is to immortalize him or her in the name of the theatre. This honour has been a long time coming for Ed Mirvish. He joins the likes of Queen Alexandra, Diana Princess of Wales, theatre legends Noel Coward, Laurence Olivier and others –not bad for a self-made man from Dundas Street!
Ed Mirvish was an unlikely theatre impresario. He and his family moved to Toronto in 1923. His father became the proprietor of a small grocery on Dundas Street, but he passed away in 1929. Ed was only 15.
From these humble beginnings Ed developed an empire that included a behemoth department store, the unique Honest Ed’s. As Ed Mirvish’s career grew and developed, he changed the landscape of the city of Toronto – especially with regards to the arts.
Ed did not have much experience with the arts, but he was blessed with a flare for the dramatic. He saved the Royal Alexandra Theatre from the wrecking ball and painstakingly renovated this gem of beaux art design, unveiling her to the world with a grand reopening on September 9, 1963.
The King Street neighbourhood, however, was nowhere near the bustling, exciting centre of Toronto culture that it is today. It was grimy, industrial and mostly consisted of abandoned buildings. To start to make the neighbourhood more attractive Ed opened a restaurant, then another, and another, and another! Thus the area rose from the soot of neglected industrialization to become the Entertainment District, as it is now officially known. But none of it would have been possible without Ed purchasing and restoring the Royal Alex.
At the Royal Alex, Ed discovered the joys (and tribulations) of the theatre business. As he functioned not just as a landlord but also as a producer, Ed had to deal with all aspects of production. He loved everyone who worked in the theatre, from the stars on stage to the technicians back stage and the front-of-house staff. He especially enjoyed interacting with the audience, and he would be at the front of the theatre on most performance days so that theatregoers could tell him firsthand what they liked and didn’t like.
His philosophy was to keep the Royal Alex busy 52 weeks a year. He made sure the Royal Alex was home to revivals of the classics, world premieres and Canadian premieres of the biggest hits of London and New York. Ed brought in many of the great performers of the day – everyone from Sir John Geilgud to Katherine Hepburn.
Having been bitten by the theatre bug, in 1982 Ed embarked on his second adventure as a theatre owner and producer. He purchased the legendary Old Vic Theatre in London, England. After meeting some skepticism he quickly earned the respect and trust of London theatregoers. He renovated the theatre, and in the first season under his ownership productions at the Old Vic took home five Olivier awards.
Back on this side of the pond, in 1991 the first privately owned, freestanding theatre to be built on the continent in 50 years began construction. Ed and his son David built The Princess of Wales and opened its doors in 1993, adding a third beautiful theatre into the Mirvish’s empire.
Ed’s legacy has continued as Mirvish Productions acquired two more Toronto theatres in 2008 – the Canon and Panasonic. And now this legacy will be given the honour that it deserves.
The beautiful Ed Mirvish Theatre (formerly the Canon Theatre, the Pantages and the Imperial before that), at Yonge and Dundas, has a rich history. From its beginnings in 1920 as a vaudeville theatre and movie palace, to its current role as legitimate theatre, this building was created and built by dreamers, people who have come from nothing to create empires of entertainment. It is only fitting that Ed Mirvish be immortalized less than three kilometers from where his journey began on Dundas Street, in a theatre which is a monument to unbridled creativity.
