Circle of Life, from Disney’s The Lion King.JOAN MARCUS
Theatre impresario David Mirvish is excited about a new production of Disney’s The Lion King, coming to Toronto in November, and almost as excited about the French-language version, currently doing gangbuster box-office in Paris, and the Spanish version – El Rey Leon! – that continues to be the most successful musical in Madrid.
David Mirvish, CEO of Mirvish Productions: “People attach themselves to a story, and then it comes alive on stage in a whole different way.”Supplied
Maybe all the world really is a stage for the CEO of Mirvish Productions and long-time champion of theatre and the performing arts in Toronto and beyond.
Lion King is just one of seven productions on the 2024-25 playbill for the Main Mirvish Subscription Season. It will be a new “sit-down” production with an all-Canadian cast and crew. (Sit-downs boost local talent and are not part of a tour, instead playing longer in one place, typically on an open-ended run.)
It’s the second time Mirvish has produced a Canadian Lion King here; the first was directed by famed U.S. writer/director Julie Taymor, who adapted the story from film to musical stage. It premiered in 2000 and ran for four years at the Princess of Wales theatre.
Mirvish says introducing the musical to a young generation of theatregoers is a rare opportunity.
“There’s never been a show this powerful, and when it was first done, you just knew it was going to inspire a generation of people to get involved with theatre, whether as audience or as performers.
With a sit-down production, he explains, “we dig deep into our own community and end up making people outside Toronto aware of the talent that’s here.”
Whether on stage or behind-the-scenes, some of that talent has gone on to build careers all over the world.
Left to Right: Jalynn Steele as Tanya, Christine Sherrill as Donna and Carly Sakolove as Rosie in Mamma Mia!JOAN MARCUS
Along with The Lion King, Mamma Mia! was another sit-down production that opened in Toronto in 2000. It too is part of the 2024-25 Mirvish season.
Mirvish laughs when he remembers that it felt like “a huge gamble” when he committed to an initial 26-week run. As it turns out, Mamma Mia! ran in Toronto for five years.
Gabrielle McClinton as Satine in the North American tour of Moulin Rouge.MATTHEW MURPHY
“The original show was such a big part of our history,” he says. “It’s interesting to see, some 25 years later, that this is another show that’s endured.”
The way the world is now, we need happy shows. And we need the arts more than we ever did
— David Mirvish, CEO, Mirvish Productions
Mamma Mia! and The Lion King are the only productions in the new subscription series that will be familiar to local audiences. Canadian premieres include Life of Pi, which won five Olivier Awards in London in 2022, including Best New Play, and three musicals: Moulin Rouge! The Musical, which garnered 10 Tony Awards on Broadway, Beetlejuice and Back to the Future: The Musical. One more show has yet to be announced.
Justin Collette as Beetlejuice.MATTHEW MURPHY
Mirvish believes that Beetlejuice and Back to the Future will also strike a chord with younger audiences.
Both were popular films – a good thing, Mirvish points out, because “young people binge-watch movies at home and look at them over and over again.”
“I saw Back to the Future in London and it’s spectacular,” he says. “It’s that crazy movie, yes, but it’s very different [live] when you feel everything happening around you. This is a musical with a lot of atmosphere and lights and music, [which] all come together in a rock ‘n’ roll way.”
“You get this powerful fandom – we had a taste of it last fall with Mean Girls, which sold out before it got here,” he says.
But no matter what age a fan is, “people attach themselves to a story, and then it comes alive on stage in a whole different way,” he says.
“You begin to understand how audiences are built by symbiotic relationships with [other platforms, like film], something one might have thought would destroy live theatre,” he says. “But it’s done the exact opposite – it has broadened the audience.”
Mirvish Productions claims a subscription audience of 40,000, making it the largest in North America. Among the benefits of becoming a subscriber is a chance to get better seats for lower prices.
Casey Likes in Back to the Future.MATTHEW MURPHY AND EVAN ZIMMERMAN
It’s also a commitment based on trust – theatre lovers sign on because they believe Mirvish will deliver high-calibre performances every year.
“We have great audiences,” Mirvish says. “Subscribers are the backbone, and because of them we can go out and take a risk. Outside of New York and London, we are the single-most vibrant English-language theatre city.”
Theatre is important, he adds, because it can “take you out of your daily life.”
“It helps you look at things a little differently. The way the world is now, we need happy shows. And we need the arts more than we ever did.”
The Mirvish Subscription Series begins in September 2024 with Life of Pi. All tickets and info at mirvish.com
Hiran Abeysekara in Life of Pi.Johan Persson/JOHAN PERSSON
Not in Toronto? No worries.
You don’t have to be in the big city to see great musicals this season. Live theatre is playing all over Southern Ontario, thanks to Drayton Entertainment, which oversees seven stages in five communities: Drayton, Cambridge, Grand Bend, Penetanguishene and St. Jacobs. This season, the company is staging a handful of toe-tapping
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Broadway favourites.
- Jersey Boys, the rags-to-riches story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, is on at the Hamilton Family Theatre Cambridge (Mar. 27-Apr. 21). With plenty of grit and great music, it tells the story of four streetwise kids from a blue-collar Jersey backwater finding their way to international musical success. Oh What a Night!
- Rock of Ages, a rousing “hair band” account of ‘80s rockers in love, unfolds against a background of 28 classic rock tunes. Can’t fight this feeling, people – you’ll be dancing in your seat. Running May 8-June 1 at the St. Jacobs Country Playhouse, north of Waterloo.
- Beehive – The 60s Musical is an homage to the female voices that rocked the flower-power era, from the Supremes, Tina Turner and Janis Joplin to the Shirelles and Aretha Franklin. The energetic revue runs June 5-23 at the Drayton Festival Theatre in Drayton.
- Fiddler on the Roof (June 12-30) and Priscilla Queen of the Desert The Musical (Aug. 15-Sept. 1) – are on at Huron Country Playhouse in Grand Bend.
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