A World Premiere, a Canadian Journey to Oz and THE BOOK OF MORMON Headline Mirvish's 2012-2013 Season

The 2012-2013 Mirvish Production season was announced at the newly renamed Ed Mirvish Theatre to an eager and excited crowd Monday morning.  The season brings no less than six musicals to Toronto (and two bonus shows) including a world premiere, two pre-Broadway runs, Colm Wilkinson’s directorial debut, an all Canadian cast of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Wizard of Oz and a little show about some Mormons.

David Mirvish welcomed members of the media, subscribers and the general public to the theatre promising a most amazing season, and he didn’t let them down.  In fact, he showed just how good a sport he can be by dressing up as various characters from The Wizard of Oz throughout the announcement.  

Toronto audiences were thrilled to hear that the smash-hit musical The Book of Mormon will indeed grace our city when it gets its Canadian premiere in May/June of 2013.  Book of Mormon has quickly become the hottest ticket on Broadway, with many Torontonians lamenting the fact that they’ve visited the Great White Way and been unable to see the show.  Created by Matt Parker and Trey Stone (of South Park fame) the satirical musical won nine Tony Awards including Best Musical and will arrive in Toronto to close out the 2012-2013 season.

Kicking off the season is the North American premiere of Backbeat, a musical based on the Universal Pictures Film about the story behind how the Beatles became the Beatles.  Direct from London, Backbeat is directed by the award-winning David Leveaux and will feature many classic Beatles tunes.

Next in the season is the 2010 Tony Award Winner for Best Musical Revival, La Cage Aux Folles.  The touring production stars George Hamilton and Christopher Sieber, but Toronto audiences may be most excited to see hometown boy Jeigh Madjus returning to the city where he first got his start.  La Cage will run dance into Toronto in Oct/Nov 2012. 

Next up the nuns of Sister Act will try to blend in as the show The New York Post calls “ridiculously fun” has its Canadian Premiere and kicks off its first National Tour. Directed by Jerry Zaks with music by Alan Menken, Sister Act has been embraced on both the West End and the Great White Way for its fun and quirky charm.  It will play Toronto in Oct/Nov 2012 before embarking on a US tour.

Following Sister Act Toronto gets a World Premiere musical as legendary composer Jason Robert Brown debuts his latest work, Honeymoon in Vegas.  Based on the movie by the same name, the show will star Tony Danza as Tommy Korman and will be directed by Gary Griffin.  Both Jason Robert Brown and Tony Danza were on hand for Monday’s announcement to debut music from the brand new production. 

After dressing up as a scarecrow, a tinman and a cowardly lion David Mirvish was joined on stage by Toto himself to announce that Toronto would see an all Canadian production of the Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice musical adaptation of The Wizard of Oz to kick off 2013.  The show is currently a hit on London’s West End, where it used a reality show to cast the lead role of Dorothy.  No word yet on whether Toronto will see a similar show to find our local Dorothy, but one thing is certain, the city is ready to journey down the yellow brick road!

The 2012-2013 season will also feature two bonus shows, the first of which showcases an all Canadian creative team taking on the classic 80s film Flashdance.  The show will be a pre-Broadway North American premiere, featuring the classic tunes you know and love from the movie as well as sixteen brand new numbers by Robbie Roth.  Flashdance will be directed and choreographed by hometown boy Sergio Trujillo, known for his incredible work on pieces such as Memphis and Jersey Boys.  Flashdance will rock Toronto in the fall of 2012. 

Finally, Mirvish announced an exciting new partnership with Theatre 20 as they join together to launch the new theatre company’s inaugural season.  Colm Wilkinson once again took to the stage of The Ed Mirvish Theatre (which he called home for many years as Toronto’s Phantom of the Opera) to announce his directorial debut in Bloodless.  Arguably one of the most exciting and ambitious shows in the season, this production is written by a Canadian (Joseph Aragon) and will feature an all-Canadian cast.  Jeff Madden, Juan Chioran and Donnie MacPhee were on hand to perform a number from the piece, which tells the story of two 19^th century Irish serial killers who go into business selling corpses to anatomy schools in Edinburgh.  Bloodless begins October 2012.

All in all it was a very exciting announcement for musical theatre lovers, and for supporters of Toronto theatre in general.  Book of Mormon may have generated the most immediate excitement and buzz, but the fact that this season offers the chance to showcase homegrown talent is what we should truly celebrate.

For more details please visit Mirvish’s official website: www.mirvish.com

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