DEAR SUBSCRIBER,

ONSTAGE
N E W S L E T T E R j une 2 0 1 6
DEAR SUBSCRIBER,
Welcome to the 2016/17 Mirvish Theatre Subscription Season!
If you requested to receive your tickets by regular mail, you will find your
tickets to the first two shows of the season enclosed in this mailing.
CUISINE & CONFESSIONS
November 1 — December 4, 2016
Princess of Wales Theatre
COME FROM AWAY
Photos: Acrobats: Olivier Tétreault; Come From Away: Chris Bennion
November 15, 2016 — January 8, 2017
Royal Alexandra Theatre
For a seating map of the new Royal Alexandra
go to mirvish.com/subvip Your seats may have
changed from the old layout.
New ticket stock!
We are now using new ticket stock for Mirvish Subscribers.
We hope you enjoy these more convenient tickets — they
are easier to fit in your wallet or handbag!
If you requested print-at-home tickets, check your inbox
and print your tickets before coming to the theatre.
Please examine your tickets carefully and make sure
you have received tickets to both shows. If you have
not received all of your tickets or require changes to
the date of your performances, please call Mirvish
Subscriptions as soon as possible.
New
criptions
Hours for Mirvish Subs
IDAY 8:30
MONDAY – FR
AM – 7:00 PM
TICKET EXCHANGES & ADDITIONAL TICKET PURCHASES
can be made through TicketKing during these extended hours:
Monday – Friday: 9:00 AM – 8:00 PM
Saturday: 10:00 AM – 8:00 PM
Sunday: 12:00 PM – 4:00 PM
New!
SUBSCRIBER
VIP AREA ON
Exclusively for current
season ticket holders!
Check it out today!
Mirvish Subscriptions
284 King Street West, Suite 310 | Toronto, M5V 1J2
HOURS Monday – Friday | 8:30 am – 7:00 pm
416.593.4225
1.800.771.3933
[email protected]
NEED
EXTRA
MATILDA
TICKETS?
Mirvish
Subscribers
save 20%
on Tues-Fri Evening
& Wed Matinee
performances from
July 5 – August 26
Call
416-593-4225
1-800-771-3933
mirvish.com/subvip
USE PROMO CODE:
SUBSEXTRA
Terms and Conditions: Offer valid for performances from July 5 to August 26, 2016. All
prices in Canadian dollars and include 13% HST
and $3.25 CIF. Seating is subject to availability
and restrictions may apply. Offer not available
on previously purchased tickets and cannot
be combined with any other offers. Offer
may be terminated at any time. No refunds or
exchanges.
$2.5 MILLION RENOVATION OF THE
ROYAL ALEXANDRA THEATRE
The legendary and iconic Royal Alexandra Theatre, one of the oldest
continuously operating legitimate theatres in North America, closed its
doors on May 15, 2016, to undergo a major renovation and restoration.
Opened in 1907, the Royal Alex was
built by the “boy millionaire” Cawthra
Mulock “as a public and cultural service”
to the city. He boldly stated it would
be “the finest, most modern on the
continent.”
When will the renovation
take place?
By 1963, only operational a few weeks
a year, the theatre was threatened with
demolition. Businessman Ed Mirvish
bought the building and saved it from
the wrecking ball. Immediately he set
about restoring the building, stripping
the interior to its floorboards and making
sure the theatre remained the finest on
the continent for its next half century.
We have listened to our theatre patrons –
especially our Subscribers! When the
theatre was built in 1907 it was proclaimed to be “the finest, most modern,
on the continent.” It is time for the
theatre to be updated for 21st Century
audiences, so we can offer them the
best comfort possible when attending
our shows. It is also an opportunity to
restore the theatre to its original beauty.
Today, 109 years later, David Mirvish will
give the Royal Alex another restoration,
this time to welcome it to the 21st century.
Photo of David Mirvish by Todd Carol
The renovations began in May and will
continue until October 2016.
Why are you doing this
renovation?
What is being changed?
All the beautiful and elegant elements
of the interior, including the beaux-arts
Article Continues on Back >>
For more information on the restoration, visit
Theatre that
starts a conversation
Fight
Night
FIVE CANDIDATES. FIVE ROUNDS. YOUR VOTE. ONE SURVIVOR.
November 2016
“A cross between
big brother and an
italian elec tion.”
—The Independent
The Studio180 production of
influenced plaster mouldings on the balcony fronts
and ceiling will be cleaned and restored.
The capacity of the theatre will be reduced from
1,497 seats down to 1,244 seats. This will allow for
extra legroom throughout all seating areas.
Brand new seats will be installed on all levels. These
will look identical to the original 1907 seats, including the distinctive RA insignia brass seat-end plates.
The seats will be made with the latest technology and
cushioning for excellent comfort. All the seating will
be staggered to offer the best sight lines at all levels.
My Night
with Reg
By Kevin Elyot
Directed by Joel Greenberg
February–March 2017
“British drama doesn’t get
better than this.” —Evening Standard
How does this affect my tickets?
The three levels of the theatre will now be named:
Orchestra, Dress Circle and Balcony. Balcony seats
will now be marked as Dress Circle and Upper Balcony
seats will be marked as Balcony.
What will be the first production
in the newly renovated Royal
Alexandra Theatre?
The brand new musical Come From Away
will be the first production to play the newly renovated
theatre. It is the second show in the 2016/17 Mirvish
Subscription Season. We believe it is an appropriate
show because it is written by Canadians (the brilliant
wife-and-husband composing-and-writing duo of
Irene Sankoff and David Hein), about a Canadian
subject (the people of Gander, Nfld.) and Broadwaybound. Who could ask for anything more?
The WhyNot Theatre production of
Butcher
By Nicholas Billon
Directed by Weyni Mengsha
March–April 2017
“An excr uciatingly
excellent production.”
—National Post
ALL SHOWS AT PANASONIC THEATRE
ADD MORE GREAT
ENTERTAINMENT
TO YOUR SEASON FOR ONLY
115 $165
$
OR
SUBSCRIBE TODAY | 416-593-4225 | 1-800-771-3933
7 FINGERS de l a main
LES 7 doigts
CUISINE
& confessions
Les 7 doigts de la main invites you into their kitchen for a multi-sensory experience!
Like their acclaimed Toronto debut production of Traces, Cuisine & Confessions
showcases Les 7 doigts innovative trademark acrobatic and choreographic prowess
—but this time, adds sound, smell, and touch (and taste!) to their always-visually
impressive aesthetic mix. A theatrical feast; literally. Cuisine & Confessions explores
stories from our family kitchens—foods prepared, memories made—rituals that underpin
our most important relationships. In the words of world-renowned chef Jacques Pepin,
“there is something evanescent, temporary, and fragile about food. You make it, it goes,
and what remains are memories.”
November 1 – December 4, 2016
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NEED EXTRA TICKETS TO CUISINE & CONFESSIONS?
Mirvish Subscribers can purchase extra tickets to Cuisine & Confessions at 35% off the regular ticket price
for all performances, except Saturday evenings, from November 1 — December 2. (Valid on top-two prices only)
Terms and Conditions: Offer valid for select performances from November 1 – December 2, 2016. All prices in Canadian dollars and include 13% HST and $3.25 CIF. Seating is
subject to availability and restrictions may apply. Offer not available on previously purchased tickets and cannot be combined with any other offers. Offer may be terminated
at any time. No refunds or exchanges.
“A vigorous and upli
S
Before you dismiss this idea as well, let us assure you that the
musical that is Come from Away is one of the most moving,
funny, engaging and heart-warming shows we have ever seen.
It all began when a Fringe hit with an intriguing title made its
way to the Panasonic Theatre a few years back. My Mother’s
Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding was the true-life story of
David Hein that he turned into a charming, affectionate and
life-affirming musical with his wife, Irene Sankoff. When we
discovered it playing at the Fringe in a tiny storefront theatre
in Kensington Market, we rushed to transfer it to the Panasonic,
where it played 11 sold-out weeks to rapturous audiences.
November 15, 2016 – January 8, 2017
Royal Alexandra Theatre
!
Newly Renovated
THE CREATION OF
A NEW MUSICAL
Say you were interested in investing in theatre. A document
comes across your desk letting you know that a song writing
team from Paris and a few Englishmen have adapted Victor
Hugo’s massive novel Les Misérables (at 655,478 words,
number 14 on the list of the longest-written books in the world)
into a stage musical. You may shake your head and think,
“Preposterous. A story so convoluted and filled with arcane
French political history, how could it ever be done?”
Or, say you were in the inner circle and had early word that a
young composer had decided to musicalize obscure poetry
from a dead poet. The poetry has no story and is so personal
it is about the poet’s obsession with cats, of all things. “Foolish
idea,” you may think. “It will never work.”
Yet these two ideas led to two of the most popular musicals
of all time.
Now, say someone told you that a husband-and-wife team
from Toronto had taken elements from the events surrounding
the tragedy of September 11th and turned them into a musical.
“An affecting and stirring
new musical.”
Los Angeles Times
One of the people who saw the show at the Panasonic was
Michael Rubenoff, an entertainment lawyer, theatre producer
and now the associate dean of visual and performing arts at
Sheridan College. Michael was so taken with the show and
how Irene and David had managed to tell a true story through
songs, that he asked them if they knew of the story of Gander,
Newfoundland.
On September 11, 2001, Gander International Airport played an
integral role in world aviation in the hours immediately following
the attacks when all of North America’s airspace was closed
and 38 civilian and 4 military flights bound for the United
States were ordered to land at the airport. More than 6,600
passengers and airline crews, equivalent to 66 percent of the
local population, found themselves forced to stay in the Gander
area for up to six days until airspace was reopened and flights
resumed. Residents of Gander and surrounding communities
volunteered to house, feed, and entertain the travellers.
Irene and David were instantly interested and began to
explore the idea. Part of their research was to visit Gander on
September 11, 2011, the tenth anniversary, when thousands of
the original travellers returned for a reunion. Irene and David
met many of them and learned their stories firsthand. What
they discovered was the stuff of pure drama.
There were stories of love found and love lost. Stories of
cultures colliding and merging. Stories of outsiders becoming
insiders. Stories of misunderstandings and understandings.
In short, what happened in Gander was a microcosm of all of
humanity and the human condition.
Over the next few years, Irene and David sorted through all
their research and structured a show that told dozens of
smaller stories inside the master story.
NEED EXTRA TICKETS TO COME FROM AWAY?
Mirvish Subscribers can purchase extra tickets to Come From Away at 25% off the regular
ticket price for all performances, except Saturday evenings, from November 15 — December 23.
Terms and Conditions: Offer valid for select performances from November 15 – December 23, 2016. All prices in Canadian dollars and include 13% HST
and $3.25 CIF. Seating is subject to availability and restrictions may apply. Not valid on premium seats. Offer not available on previously purchased
tickets and cannot be combined with any other offers. Offer may be terminated at any time. No refunds or exchanges.
Seattle Met
Using the resources allowed to them
at Sheridan College, which has a
brilliant theatre department that has
a particular focus on musical theatre,
they were able to workshop some
of their material with Sheridan’s
talented students.
Mirvish staff attended some of these
workshops. While we were fascinated
with the material, they felt the show
had not yet found its way. It was too
sentimental and too earnest, making
it somehow implausible.
Irene and David continued to work
on the project. A revised script came
to Christopher Ashley, the artistic
director of the La Jolla Playhouse,
a prestigious regional theatre
outside San Diego, CAL, that over
the years has premiered many
musicals that have found their way
to broadway and beyond, among
them Jersey Boys.
woven into the narrative. The beat is
so hypnotic, that you can’t get it out
of your head after seeing the show.
The critics also loved the show, with
the hard-to-please critic from the Los
Angeles Times naming the show one
of the best of the year.
THE SHOWS
IN YOUR
2016/17 MAIN SEASON
SUBSCRIPTION
Even better, audiences loved it,
making the run a sold-out success,
with tickets impossible to secure.
Overheard at one performance
attended by Mirvish staff, an audience
member said to his friends, “That is
the best show I have ever seen that I
knew nothing about coming into it.”
Right after the La Jolla visit, Mirvish
made a deal for the show to play
Toronto, a homecoming of sorts, as
not only is the story set in Canada
and the writers are Canadian, but
the cast features many very talented
Canadians.
JUL / AUG 2017
the 7 FINGERS
CUISINE
& confessions
Come for the circus,
stay for the banana bread!
Again, Mirvish staff attended and
what they saw was absolutely brilliant.
The musical felt real, had true heart
and emotion, honest humour and
depth, and was very moving.
The songs, all of which have an East
Coast, Celtic flavour, were seamlessly
“A moving, thoroughly
entertaining tribute to the
indomitable human spirit!”
artwork : sophie leclerc | photos : olivier tétreault
Come from Away will play Toronto
prior to transferring to Broadway.
Christopher saw the show’s potential
and worked further with Irene and
David. He was so confident that he
programmed it for the Playhouse’s
2015 season and it opened there at
the end of May.
PRE-BROADWAY
Nov / Dec 2016
Nov / Dec 2016
THE
AUDI ENCE
WRITTEN BY
PE TER MORGAN
Illus t ra t ion by Greg S tevenson
ifting ode to humanity.”
Jan / Feb 2017
HHHHH
FEB / MAR 2017
LOVE IS IN THE AIR
Daily Mail
Variety
Photo by Chris Bennion
Remember!
Subscribers no longer
pay service charges
on extra tickets!
CREATED BY
Call 416-593-4225
or 1-800-771-3933
Online www.mirvish.com/subvip
Have your Subscriber Number handy when
ordering to guarantee no service charges.
BAZ LUHRMANN
MAR / APR 2017
Apr / May 2017