TStar: Mirvish nabs erotic musical
Feb. 4th, 2008 04:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hesOr what I call... sex on a platform will scandalize Mirvish's subscription season... ;)
Mirvish nabs erotic musical
Feb 03, 2008 04:30 AM
Martin Knelman
David Mirvish has snared Spring Awakening, the most sensationally erotic musical on Broadway, for his 40,000 subscribers, the Star has learned.
This exuberantly shocking next-generation show – which won eight Tony awards last year, including best musical – begins its North American tour next September at San Francisco's Curran Theatre. It won't reach Toronto's Canon Theatre until 2009.
But the Canon will be packed with Mirvish shows all season. Despite the fact the theatre was recently sold, and will now be managed by rival Aubrey Dan, Mirvish has a 15-year lease, expiring in 2015. And he will be using the theatre for more weeks this season than ever.
Seven Mirvish shows are set to occupy the Canon, including two non-subscription offerings and five of the six shows in the subscription series.
Among the subscription shows is A Chorus Line, a revival of the phenomenally successful 1975 show about the hopes and dreams of would-be Broadway hoofers. The original – conceived, choreographed and directed by the late Michael Bennett – was one of the longest-running shows of all time. The revival opened in New York in October, 2006, and is now hitting the road.
Making a welcome return to this city is Spamalot, the Monty Python musical that enjoyed an extended summer run at the Canon in 2006. Last time around, it was on subscription. This time it won't be.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang will be the second non-subscription show of the season. It's a pre-Christmas holiday season family show with music and lyrics by Richard and Robert Sherman (of Mary Poppins fame). In this show, however, the songs are secondary to the props, especially a car that flies.
At a time when the musical theatre is dominated by revivals and retreads, Spring Awakening (which started small before transferring to Broadway) provides shock therapy and reaches out to new audiences.
Based on Frank Wedekind's 1891 masterly play about erotic stirrings among a dozen adolescents in a provincial town in Germany, the musical zaps the narrative with a rock score (music by Duncan Sheik, words by Steven Sater) and a lot of dirty dancing.
What will the traditionally conservative Mirvish audience make of the material, which features homosexuality, masturbation, abortion, suicide and drugs? It may not be easy to swallow for those seeking a spoonful of sugar.
But Mirvish has plenty for them. As previously announced, a revival of the final Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, The Sound of Music, co-produced by Mirvish and Andrew Lloyd Webber, will open at the Princess of Wales Theatre in September for an open-ended run likely to last two years.
Meanwhile, the other Mirvish-owned theatre, the Royal Alex, will be tied up with the insanely popular Dirty Dancing for a long time.
As reported by the Star's Richard Ouzounian, Mirvish will partner again with Lloyd Webber, with a new version of his soccer musical, The Beautiful Game. Featuring music by Lloyd Webber and words by Ben Elton (who also directs it) the show, now called The Boys in the Photograph, will arrive at the Canon near the end of the 08/09 season after an initial run in Winnipeg.
Details of the 2008-2009 Mirvish season will be officially announced at a media conference tomorrow.
Mirvish nabs erotic musical
Feb 03, 2008 04:30 AM
Martin Knelman
David Mirvish has snared Spring Awakening, the most sensationally erotic musical on Broadway, for his 40,000 subscribers, the Star has learned.
This exuberantly shocking next-generation show – which won eight Tony awards last year, including best musical – begins its North American tour next September at San Francisco's Curran Theatre. It won't reach Toronto's Canon Theatre until 2009.
But the Canon will be packed with Mirvish shows all season. Despite the fact the theatre was recently sold, and will now be managed by rival Aubrey Dan, Mirvish has a 15-year lease, expiring in 2015. And he will be using the theatre for more weeks this season than ever.
Seven Mirvish shows are set to occupy the Canon, including two non-subscription offerings and five of the six shows in the subscription series.
Among the subscription shows is A Chorus Line, a revival of the phenomenally successful 1975 show about the hopes and dreams of would-be Broadway hoofers. The original – conceived, choreographed and directed by the late Michael Bennett – was one of the longest-running shows of all time. The revival opened in New York in October, 2006, and is now hitting the road.
Making a welcome return to this city is Spamalot, the Monty Python musical that enjoyed an extended summer run at the Canon in 2006. Last time around, it was on subscription. This time it won't be.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang will be the second non-subscription show of the season. It's a pre-Christmas holiday season family show with music and lyrics by Richard and Robert Sherman (of Mary Poppins fame). In this show, however, the songs are secondary to the props, especially a car that flies.
At a time when the musical theatre is dominated by revivals and retreads, Spring Awakening (which started small before transferring to Broadway) provides shock therapy and reaches out to new audiences.
Based on Frank Wedekind's 1891 masterly play about erotic stirrings among a dozen adolescents in a provincial town in Germany, the musical zaps the narrative with a rock score (music by Duncan Sheik, words by Steven Sater) and a lot of dirty dancing.
What will the traditionally conservative Mirvish audience make of the material, which features homosexuality, masturbation, abortion, suicide and drugs? It may not be easy to swallow for those seeking a spoonful of sugar.
But Mirvish has plenty for them. As previously announced, a revival of the final Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, The Sound of Music, co-produced by Mirvish and Andrew Lloyd Webber, will open at the Princess of Wales Theatre in September for an open-ended run likely to last two years.
Meanwhile, the other Mirvish-owned theatre, the Royal Alex, will be tied up with the insanely popular Dirty Dancing for a long time.
As reported by the Star's Richard Ouzounian, Mirvish will partner again with Lloyd Webber, with a new version of his soccer musical, The Beautiful Game. Featuring music by Lloyd Webber and words by Ben Elton (who also directs it) the show, now called The Boys in the Photograph, will arrive at the Canon near the end of the 08/09 season after an initial run in Winnipeg.
Details of the 2008-2009 Mirvish season will be officially announced at a media conference tomorrow.