Mirvish Books Little House, Joseph, Young Frankenstein, Priscilla, August and More for Toronto

By Kenneth Jones
February 17, 2009

Producer David Mirvish will present nine productions on four Toronto stages for the 2009-10 season, with seven on the Mirvish Theatre Subscription.

The slate includes locally produced shows (Cloud 9, Stuff Happens) and touring productions (such as August: Osage County, Fiddler on the Roof), plus the North American premieres of the Australian musical Priscilla Queen of the Desert and Perry Henzell's reggae-infused The Harder They Come, the West End musical with songs by Jimmy Cliff.

Also planned are the Canadian premieres of Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein, the Pulitzer Prize-winning August: Osage County and the new musical Little House on the Prairie starring Melissa Gilbert. A resident Toronto production of David Hare's Stuff Happens, the play about the Bush administration's rush to war, will also be staged (by the Canadian troupe Studio 180).

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Fiddler on the Roof coming to Toronto in 2009
January 20, 2009
Richard Ouzounian

While the current economy may not make it seem like the most appropriate sentiment to express right now, David Mirvish is hoping we'll all be willing to sing "If I Were a Rich Man" by December.

That's when what is being billed as the "farewell tour" of Fiddler on the Roof will come to the Canon Theatre as part of the 2009 Mirvish subscription season, the Star has learned. Starring Topol, the Israeli actor who shot to international prominence in the role of Tevye the dairyman in Norman Jewison's 1971 screen adaptation of the iconic Broadway musical, the show is expected to play here from Dec. 8, 2009 through Jan. 10, 2010, providing a feel-good family show for everyone, whether you choose the menorah or the manger.

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Priscilla Queen of the Desert to Open in Toronto in Fall 2009

By Andrew Gans
December 9, 2008

Priscilla Queen of the Desert, the musical based on the 1994 Australian film about a trio of drag queens who take their show to the middle of the outback aboard a battered old bus nicknamed Priscilla, will make its North American premiere in fall 2009 in Toronto at a David Mirvish theatre.

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Judge sides with Mirvish in dispute over theatres

August 20, 2008
Bruce DeMara
Entertainment Reporter

An Ontario Superior Court judge has rejected an injunction Dancap Productions sought to block the sale of two downtown theatres, paving the way for their sale to rival Mirvish Productions.

Mr. Justice Geoffrey Morawetz issued his much-awaited decision yesterday following a hearing in June in which Dancap argued the Canon and Panasonic theatres on Yonge St. should not be sold by U.S.-based Key Brand Entertainment to Mirvish Productions.

"The important thing is that this (ruling) establishes Key Brand's right to sell us the theatres and it establishes our right to buy," said theatre impresario David Mirvish.

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Broadway veteran cast as leading man in Toronto's Sound of Music
12 youngsters to platoon as six youngest von Trapp children
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
CBC News

The Toronto production of The Sound of Music has unveiled a huge cast of 51 performers, to be led by Elicia Mackenzie, winner of the How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? reality series.

Theatre impresario David Mirvish, who is co-producing the musical with Britons Andrew Lloyd Webber and David Ian, introduced the cast Tuesday in Toronto.

The leading man, Capt. von Trapp, will be played by Burke Moses, a Bostonian who had the role of Gaston in Beauty and the Beast in both New York and London's West End.

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Spamalot

Aug. 14th, 2008 01:04 pm
I'll be out West while Spamalot starts... but just in case someone wants to reach for the Grail...

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Theatre titans stage legal fight
David Mirvish buys Canon, Panasonic sites, spurring lawsuit from rival Aubrey Dan
May 08, 2008
Richard Ouzounian
Theatre Critic

It started out like Twelve Angry Men and ended up like We Will Rock You.

That's how the legal battle between Toronto theatre titans David Mirvish and Aubrey Dan played out yesterday. The men brought their fight for two Toronto theatres into the public eye when a morning news release from Aubrey Dan revealed he had commenced legal proceedings against Toronto's Mirvish Productions and New York-based Key Brand Entertainment.

At issue was the sale of the Panasonic and Canon theatres to Mirvish, which Dan claims is in violation of the management agreement his company, Dancap Productions, had signed with Key Brand.

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Mirvish Plans to Buy Toronto's Canon and Panasonic Theatres; Dancap Bristles

By Kenneth Jones
May 8, 2008

Toronto producer David Mirvish is adding some real estate to his Ontario theatre empire. The man who already owns and programs the Princess of Wales and the Royal Alexandra Theatre has reached an agreement to purchase the Canon Theatre and the Panasonic Theatre.

He will buy the Toronto venues from Key Brand Entertainment, the parties announced. Mirvish productions have a history in the opulent Canon, first known as the Pantages, where The Phantom of the Opera reigned for many years.

Built in 1920, the Canon has been programmed and operated by Mirvish since Sept. 1, 2001, when he entered into a long-term lease for the building with the landlord SFX (which subsequently became Clear Channel and then Live Nation). The 2,300-seat venue was sold by Live Nation in January 2008 to New York-based Key Brand Entertainment.

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