Notice: Canada Post and possible service disruption
Due to a potential service disruption with Canada Post, we are currently only mailing tickets for performances scheduled more than 21 days from the date of purchase.
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The Canadian Cultural Heritage of the Royal Alexandra Theatre and Mirvish Productions
Under David Mirvish’s leadership, the number of theatres owned and operated by Mirvish Productions expanded from the Royal Alexandra Theatre to include the Princess of Wales Theatre in 1993, followed in 2007 by the acquisition of the Ed Mirvish Theatre (formerly the Pantages/Canon) and the CAA Theatre (formerly the Panasonic). There was also a brief period when all our theatres were full and programming spilled over into the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre Centre and the Harbourfront Centre.)
Live performances were the main form of entertainment in Canada's early decades when the country was fairly agrarian and its urban centres were very modest. In those days, all small towns — which catered not only to the local townsfolk but to the many families who lived and worked on the surrounding farms — had a hall or assembly room in which performances of all kinds would take place. These were the years of vaudeville. Indeed, there were many Canadian troupes that toured throughout the country and played every town with a performance space, which sometimes would be a backroom in a tavern. This was Canada’s performance heritage.
As the country grew, so did its theatres. In Montreal and Toronto, makeshift venues became more elaborate structures. "Going to the theatre" became a very fashionable activity. It was where the elite and more common people of society interacted.
But Canada had not yet developed a theatrical culture of its own. That would come in time.
When the Royal Alexandra Theatre first opened in 1907, it was, like many first-class legitimate theatres of the day, a roadhouse that was part of a touring circuit of venues around North America where shows would come in for a week or two then pack up for the next city. Most of the productions that graced the Grand Dame of King Street in the early years through the Great Depression were plays, musicals, and entertainment from the United States and Great Britain, mostly written by Americans and Brits. Shows by Canadians were nearly non-existent then, and it would take several decades before Canadian-made theatre would take the spotlight at the Royal Alex and other Mirvish stages.
However, without the Royal Alex and the artists it brought in, it is doubtful that Canadian theatre would have developed. The great performers who graced the stage of the Royal Alex — everyone from the great actor/managers of Great Britain to stars from the US, such as Helen Hays and Lionel Barrymore — not only entertained and enlightened local audiences, they served as inspiration and teachers to those in the community who aspired to create indigenous Canadian theatre.
A professional Canadian theatre community only truly began to emerge in the 1940s, thanks in part to Ernest Rawley, who was the general manager of the Royal Alex from 1939 until 1963. He founded a company of Canadian actors at the theatre, who performed a repertoire of classic and contemporary plays. This was the beginning of that community and industry.
Prior to this, the most significant early Canadian theatre success was that of the leading vaudeville troupe,The Dumbells. They began as an amateur group of ten Canadian soldiers who performed “concert parties” to entertain the troops and build morale on the front lines during the Great War. Their first performances, which consisted of popular songs of the period and skits about life in the trenches, were done near Vimy Ridge, France. Because they were members of the Canadian army’s Third Division and because its emblem was a red dumb-bell to signify strength, they took the name The Dumbells.
It wouldn’t be until the 1950s that the Royal Alex saw the staging of original Canadian shows again – this time the musicals Sunshine Town and My Fur Lady.
Sunshine Town was a 1955 production by Canadian theatre pioneer Dora Mavor Moore’s company called the New Play Society. Written by her son Mavor Moore (the founding artistic director of the Charlottetown Festival) the show starred an unknown Robert Goulet before his 1960breakout role as Lancelot in Lerner and Loewe’s musical Camelot opposite Julie Andrews (a show which had its world premiere not too far from the Alex, at Toronto’s O’Keefe Centre, now known as Meridian Hall, at Front and Yonge). My Fur Lady had the distinction of being the Royal Alex’s 50thanniversary show, playing there inAugust 1957. It was a revue co-written by Galt MacDermot (who would go on to compose Hair).
The popular annual satirical revue Spring Thaw – originally produced and created by the pioneering Moores – followed in the tradition of The Dumbells and played the Alex every year, from 1963 through 1969 (it was also revived in 1980 for one season). It featured such Canadian legends as Dinah Christie,Don Harron, Barbara Hamilton, andDave Broadfoot.
In 1966, an original Canadian comedy was launched at the Royal Alex. Like Father, Like Fun had been a hit in Vancouver. It was further developed and played a successful run here. Encouraged by the Toronto engagement, the show’s producers revised it for Broadway. It opened there as A Minor Adjustment on October 6, 1967. It closed on October 7, 1967.
Although there have been several musical adaptations ofAnne of Green Gables, the most beloved version belongs to the Charlottetown Festival, where it’s been a mainstay since it first opened there in 1965. The musical was co-written by Don Harron and Mavor Moore and played the Alex twice, in 1967 and 1968.
Theatre Toronto was an ambitious company founded in 1968 at the Royal Alex. It created an acting company that included such luminaries as John Colicos, Maureen Fitzgerald, Colin Fox, Eric House, Richard Monette, and Joseph Shaw, who starred in both classic and modern plays. Sadly, after its second season in 1969, the company folded.
After the establishment of Mirvish Productions in the late 1980s, whichwas led by David Mirvish (who took over producing duties from his father, Ed, who had bought the Royal Alex in 1963), there emerged a mandate to present more Canadian plays, with many commercial transfers of acclaimed productions from the smaller “alternative theatres,” such as Theatre Passe Muraille, Tarragon, and Factory – all established in the late 60s and early 70s as part of the nationalistic artistic movement that followed Canada's Centennial. This movement's mission was to promote a true Canadian culture that was not dependent on British, French, and American works.
From Theatre Passe Muraille came the groundbreaking, Dora Award-winning Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing by Cree writer and composer Tomson Highway. It played at the Royal Alex in 1991 to phenomenal acclaim and brought the life of Canada’s Indigenous people to the country’s most prestigious theatre.
Also from Passe Muraille came Michael Healey’s The Drawer Boy, a play about the creation of a seminal piece of Canadian theatre, The Farm Show. Mirvish transferred the production to the Winter Garden Theatre in 2001. Its success there helped to make it one of the most produced plays in North America in the first decade of this century. (Another Healey play, The Innocent Eye Test, was commissioned by David Mirvish, co-produced with the Manitoba Theatre Centre and played at the Royal Alex in 2006.)
Already a hit at the Tarragon Theatre, David and Ed presented the first commercial run of2 Pianos 4 Hands at the Royal Alexandra in 1998, starring its original authors, Ted Dykstra and Richard Greenblatt. A riotous comedy about a pair of virtuoso pianists working towards their goal of concert pianist stardom, the show was so popular it was brought to New York for an Off-Broadway run and then taken to Washington’s Kennedy Center. It was also presented in London’s West End at the Comedy Theatre (now the Harold Pinter).
continue reading about the canadian cultural heritage of Mirvish Productions
From the Factory Theatre came Adam Pettle’s Zadie’s Shoes at the Winter Garden Theatre in 2002,followed bytheir acclaimed revival of the beloved David French classicSalt-Water Moon at the CAA Theatre in 2017.
The Toronto Fringe Festival proved to be a great discovery ground for new plays. The Drowsy Chaperone played its first commercial transfer as part of the 2001 Mirvish season at the Winter Garden Theatre, before undergoing further workshops and eventually landing on Broadway in 2006where it would win Tony Awards for Best Book and Best Score.
Da Kink in My Hair by Trey Anthony was launched at the Toronto Fringe in 2001. An expanded version was produced at Theatre Passe Muraille in 2003. The show was expanded again in 2005 for its debut at the Princess of Wales Theatre, becoming the first Canadian play to be produced at that theatre. (Fun fact: Jully Black, the recipient of the 2020 Toronto TheatreCritics’Award for Best Lead Performance in a Musical for Caroline, or Change had her first professional theatre performance in Da Kink in My Hair.)My Mother’s Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding was first done at a KensingtonMarketstorefront theatre as part of the Fringe. Mirvish commissioned a longer version and produced it at the CAA Theatre in 2009 and 2010. It was the first show by a new writing team who also happened to be a married couple, Irene Sankoff and David Hein. More about them soon.
From Montreal’s Centaur Theatre came Steve Galluccio’s Mambo Italiano (a kind of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, except gay and Italian) at the Elgin Theatre in 2003. Djanet Sears’ The Adventures of a Black Girl in Search of God – a re-envisioning of a George Bernard Shaw short story of a similar title – from Nightwood Theatre and Obsidian Theatre played a hit five-month run at the Harbourfront Centre that same year.
Theatre Gargantua’s prescient exploration ofhuman-cyber communication e-DENTITY played at the Royal Alex in 2007. From the Theatre Centre and Why Not Theatre came Nicolas Billon’s thrillerButcher, which played the CAA Theatre in 2017.
In addition to bringing new works from Toronto’s alternative and independent theatres to mainstream audiences, Mirvish has also brought in the works of acclaimed Canadian theatre artists such as internationally renowned Quebecois director Robert Lepage’s epicThe Blue Dragon (Royal Alexandra Theatre, 2012), Mary Walsh’s (This Hour Has 22 Minutes)Dancing with Rage (CAA Theatre, 2013), and multimedia artist Rick Miller’s BOOM (CAA Theatre, 2015 and 2018). Dan Needles’ beloved Wingfield series starring Rod Beattie – a collection of one-man plays about a stock-broker-turned-farmer and his misadventures – played three separate occasions: Wingfield On Ice (Winter Garden Theatre, 2002), Wingfield’s Inferno (Royal Alexandra Theatre, 2006), andWingfield Lost and Found (CAA Theatre, 2011). Quebecois circus troupe Les 7 Doigts(The 7 Fingers) brought three of their acclaimed works to our stages:Traces (CAA Theatre, 2015),Cuisine & Confessions (Princess of Wales Theatre, 2016), andReversible (CAA Theatre, 2018).
Needfire, an original show celebrating Canada’s Celtic heritage premiered at the Princess of Wales Theatre in 1998 then returned to the Royal Alex in a retooled version a year later (under the new title The Needfire). While originally thought of as a Canadian Riverdance, the show was different in that it featured a storyline and showcased works originating in Irish and Scottish cultures. It starred Nova Scotian Denny Doherty, oftheMamas and the Papas.
But perhaps the most successful of all Canadian shows is one that needs no introduction – Come From Away. The remarkable true story of the small town of Gander, Newfoundland, that welcomed the world on 9/11, from the authors of My Mother’s Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding. Not only is it a show by Canadians, but it's also a show about Canadians. The musical was workshopped at Sheridan College before being picked up by Tony-winning Broadway producers Junkyard Dog Productions (Memphis), with successful pre-Broadway runs in La Jolla, Seattle, Washington, D.C., and finally atToronto’s Royal Alexandra Theatre before opening at Broadway’s Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, where it’s been running since 2017. So successful was the initial pre-Broadway Toronto engagement that Mirvish was encouraged to produce a sit-down Canadian production with an all-Canadian cast, which opened inFebruary 2018and continues to run to this day. Since then, productions have also opened in London’s West End and Australia, and it is on tour across North America.
With the global success of Come From Away, hopefully the trend will continue. Certainly Mirvish Productions is poised to discover, develop, produce and promote the work of Canada’s theatrical artists.
history of mirvish theatre timeline from 1963-2020
The History of Mirvish Theatre Timeline lists productions that have played at the Royal Alexandra Theatre and the other Mirvish-owned Toronto theatres from 1963 to 2020. We've made it easy for you to identify productions written by Canadians and productions that supported Canadian artists and Canadian partner companies!
Canadian productions / Canadian artists and partners
Canadian authors / Canadian productions / Canadian artists and partners
Ed Mirvish makes headlines in 1963 when he purchases, and saves from demolition, Toronto’s historic Royal Alexandra Theatre, one of the oldest and most famous legitimate theatres in North America
Never Too Late Royal Alexandra Theatre
Second City: When the Owl Screams Royal Alexandra Theatre
Les Grands Ballets Canadiens Royal Alexandra Theatre
Spring Thaw Royal Alexandra Theatre
The Canadian Players Royal Alexandra Theatre
An Evening at the Royal Royal Alexandra Theatre
Toronto Chamber Orchestra Royal Alexandra Theatre
A Thousand Clowns Royal Alexandra Theatre
Black Nativity Royal Alexandra Theatre
The Chinese Prime Minister Royal Alexandra Theatre
Obraztsov's Moscow State Central Puppet Theatre Royal Alexandra Theatre
Kidzapoppin with Randy Dandy Royal Alexandra Theatre
Scottish Memories: Hogmanay Party Royal Alexandra Theatre
The Toronto production of Stephen Schwartz’sGodspellwas a massive hit, playing the Royal Alex from May to September 1972. The production featured a cast of budding young talent that included Victor Garber, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Gilda Radner, Dave ThomasandMartin Short. The show’s musical director was Paul Shaffer, who would go on to be Dave Letterman’s musical director on The Late Show.
La Compagnie André Tahon Royal Alexandra Theatre
Purlie Royal Alexandra Theatre
Promises, Promises Royal Alexandra Theatre
The Gingerbread Lady Royal Alexandra Theatre
Promenade All Royal Alexandra Theatre
Captain Brassbound’s Conversion Royal Alexandra Theatre
To Live Another Summer Royal Alexandra Theatre
Pinocchio Royal Alexandra Theatre
Carousel Royal Alexandra Theatre
The Marquise Royal Alexandra Theatre
Godspell Royal Alexandra Theatre
The Rothschilds Royal Alexandra Theatre
How the Other Half Loves Royal Alexandra Theatre
A Voyage Round My Father Royal Alexandra Theatre
Irene Royal Alexandra Theatre
Goldilocks and the Three Bears Royal Alexandra Theatre
Singin’ and Dancin’ Tonight Royal Alexandra Theatre
Academy of Canadian Cinema: Genie Awards Royal Alexandra Theatre
Underground Royal Alexandra Theatre
Conduct Unbecoming Royal Alexandra Theatre
Oliver! Royal Alexandra Theatre
Master Harold and the Boys Royal Alexandra Theatre
Crimes of the Heart Royal Alexandra Theatre
Dick Whittington Royal Alexandra Theatre
Amadeus Royal Alexandra Theatre
1987-89
Among the notable early Mirvish-produced and co-produced shows seen at the Royal Alexandra were Brian Macdonald’s acclaimed staging of Gilbert and Sullivan’sH.M.S. Pinafore and the wildly popular Toronto production and national tours of Les Misérables.
The Good Times are Killing Me Royal Alexandra Theatre
Miss Saigon Princess of Wales Theatre
Guys and Dolls Royal Alexandra Theatre
1995
The Who’s Tommy Elgin Theatre
An Evening with Peter Ustinov Royal Alexandra Theatre
Beauty and the Beast Princess of Wales Theatre
Rita Rudner Royal Alexandra Theatre
Brent Carver in Concert Royal Alexandra Theatre
Buttons On Broadway starring Red Buttons Royal Alexandra Theatre
An Evening with John Irving Royal Alexandra Theatre
John McDermott & Friends Royal Alexandra Theatre
The Snow Maiden by Kalinka Performing Arts Royal Alexandra Theatre
1996
The Master Builder Royal Alexandra Theatre
One for the Pot Royal Alexandra Theatre
Maggie and Pierre Royal Alexandra Theatre
Three Tall Women Royal Alexandra Theatre
Blood Brothers Royal Alexandra Theatre
Andre-Philippe Gagnon Royal Alexandra Theatre
Darrow Royal Alexandra Theatre
Don Giovanni Royal Alexandra Theatre
Jane Eyre Royal Alexandra Theatre
1997
Death of a Salesman Royal Alexandra Theatre
The Glass Menagerie Royal Alexandra Theatre
Andre Philippe Gagnon Royal Alexandra Theatre
The Piano Man’s Daughter Royal Alexandra Theatre
Jolson Royal Alexandra Theatre
The Importance of Being Earnest Princess of Wales Theatre
Orfeo ed Eurydice Royal Alexandra Theatre
Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story Princess of Wales Theatre
Rent Royal Alexandra Theatre
1998
Slava’s Snowshow Princess of Wales Theatre
Chicago Princess of Wales Theatre
Forever Tango Princess of Wales Theatre
Cats Princess of Wales Theatre
The Needfire Princess of Wales Theatre
Two Pianos Four Hands Royal Alexandra Theatre
Les Misérables Princess of Wales Theatre
Racing Demon Royal Alexandra Theatre
Momix Princess of Wales Theatre
The Marriage of Figaro Royal Alexandra Theatre
Fame Royal Alexandra Theatre
The Vinyl Cafe Christmas Royal Alexandra Theatre
1999
The Number 14 Royal Alexandra Theatre
Chicago Princess of Wales Theatre
Proposals Royal Alexandra Theatre
The Master Class Royal Alexandra Theatre
Jolson Princess of Wales Theatre
Our Town Royal Alexandra Theatre
Notre Dame de Paris Princess of Wales Theatre
The Pajama Game Princess of Wales Theatre
Fame Princess of Wales Theatre
Cabaret Princess of Wales Theatre
Oliver! Princess of Wales Theatre
Art Royal Alexandra Theatre
The Needfire Royal Alexandra Theatre
2000s
2000
Enigma Variations Royal Alexandra Theatre
The Memory of Water Winter Garden Theatre
Blue’s Clues Canon Theatre
The Lion King Princess of Wales Theatre
Mamma Mia! Royal Alexandra Theatre
Dame Edna: The Royal Tour Canon Theatre
2001
Stones in His Pockets Winter Garden Theatre
A Flea in Her Ear Elgin Theatre
The Drawer Boy Winter Garden Theatre
The Full Monty Elgin Theatre
The Drowsy Chaperone Winter Garden Theatre
Saturday Night Fever Canon Theatre
2002
The Graduate Canon Theatre
Syncopation Winter Garden Theatre
Cats Canon Theatre
Zadie’s Shoes Winter Garden Theatre
Blast Hummingbird Centre
Brachetti Canon Theatre
Contact Canon Theatre
Wingfield on Ice Winter Garden Theatre
2003
Mambo Italiano Elgin Theatre
Aida Canon Theatre
Two Pianos Four Hands Elgin Theatre
Chicago Canon Theatre
Scaramouche Jones Winter Garden Theatre
The Adventures of a Black Girl in Search of God Harbourfront Centre
The Producers Canon Theatre
Jesus Christ Superstar Canon Theatre
2004
Copenhagen Winter Garden Theatre
The Hollow Crown Princess of Wales Theatre
Hairspray Princess of Wales Theatre
The Last Empress Hummingbird Centre
The Rat Pack Canon Theatre
A Couple of Blaguards Winter Garden Theatre
2005
Da Kink in My Hair Princess of Wales Theatre
Wicked Canon Theatre
Evita Princess of Wales Theatre
Chun Yi: The Legend of Kung Fu Princess of Wales Theatre
Les Misérables Princess of Wales Theatre
Billy Crystal: 700 Sundays Canon Theatre
Riverdance Canon Theatre
Dame Edna: Back With A Vengeance Royal Alexandra Theatre
Movin’ Out Canon Theatre
2006
The Boy Friend Royal Alexandra Theatre
The Lord of the Rings Princess of Wales Theatre
The Innocent Eye Test Royal Alexandra Theatre
Nomade: At Night the Sky is Endless Canon Theatre
Wingfield’s Inferno Royal Alexandra Theatre
Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me Canon Theatre
Spamalot Canon Theatre
Legends! Royal Alexandra Theatre
Wicked Canon Theatre
Pippin Royal Alexandra Theatre
Chicago Princess of Wales Theatre
2007
Orpheus Descending Royal Alexandra Theatre
The Phantom of the Opera Princess of Wales Theatre
We Will Rock You Canon Theatre
e-DENTITY Royal Alexandra Theatre
Vida Royal Alexandra Theatre
High School Musical Princess of Wales Theatre
Cats Princess of Wales Theatre
Dirty Dancing: The Classic Story on Stage Royal Alexandra Theatre
Sweeney Todd Princess of Wales Theatre
John McDermott: Bringing Home Christmas Princess of Wales Theatre
Christmas with the Rat Pack Princess of Wales Theatre
2008
The Mirvish theatre family doubled in size with the purchase of the 2300-seat Canon Theatre – now the Ed Mirvish Theatre (renamed in 2011) — and the intimate, 700-seat Panasonic Theatre.
Whistle Down the Wind Princess of Wales Theatre
Twelve Angry Men Princess of Wales Theatre
The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, Parts I and II Princess of Wales Theatre
Hairspray Princess of Wales Theatre
Twelve Angry Men (Return) Princess of Wales Theatre
We Will Rock You Panasonic Theatre
Spamalot Canon Theatre
A Chorus Line Canon Theatre
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Canon Theatre
The Sound of Music Princess of Wales Theatre
2009
Medea Canon Theatre
The Color Purple Canon Theatre
Spring Awakening Canon Theatre
Dora the Explorer: Search for the City of Lost Toys Canon Theatre
Riverdance Canon Theatre
My Mother’s Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding Panasonic Theatre
The Harder They Come Canon Theatre
The Boys in the Photograph Royal Alexandra Theatre
Stomp Canon Theatre
August: Osage County Canon Theatre
Stuff Happens Royal Alexandra Theatre
Fiddler on the Roof Canon Theatre
Cloud 9 Panasonic Theatre
2010s
In This Decade
In 2011 the Canon Theatre is renamed the Ed Mirvish Theatre, in 2012, the Off-Mirvish series is launched, and in 2016 Come From Awaybecomes an international blockbuster.
In the decade’s final year, a pandemic shutters theatres around the world. But theatre will survive, as it has for millennia.
Come From Away Royal Alexandra Theatre (Suspended due to Covid-19)
The Phantom of the Opera Princess of Wales Theatre
She The People CAA Theatre
Hamilton Ed Mirvish Theatre (Suspended due to Covid-19)
Riverdance 25th Anniversary Show Princess of Wales Theatre
Us/Them CAA Theatre (Suspended due to Covid-19)
Summer Princess of Wales Theatre (Suspended due to Covid-19)
2021
Blindness
Award-winning playwright Simon Stephenshas adapted Nobel Prize-winner José Saramago’s dystopian novel Blindness as a sound installation on the stage of the Princess of Wales. Juliet Stevenson voices the Storyteller/Doctor’s wife in this gripping story of the rise and, ultimately, profoundly hopeful end of an unimaginable global pandemic.
