Photo Flash: See Inside The Newly Renovated Royal Alexandra Theatre

Last week BroadwayWorld got to tour the newly renovaed Royal Alexandra Theatre ahead of the opening of COME FROM AWAY and the grand re-opening of the crown jewel of the Mirvish theatre empire.

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." Which the theatre proved to be, especially in the opinions of the scores of legendary performers who have played on the Royal Alex Stage over the years - everyone from Al Jolson to Katharine. They loved how the three-level auditorium design brought the audience as close as possible to the performers onstage, creating an intimacy that has never been matched in other theatres. Audiences also valued the intimacy, and they loved the unparalleled sightlines and the excellent acoustics.

In 1963, 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.

Today, 109 years later, the Royal Alex has been given another restoration, this time to welcome it to the 21st century.

All the beautiful and elegant elements of its gracious interior, including the beaux-arts influenced plaster mouldings on the balcony fronts and ceiling, have been lovingly cleaned and restored to their original look.

Architect John Lyle's revolutionary design of the auditorium - that introduced the concept of cantilevered balconies so that no audience member's sightline of the stage was blocked by pillars - remains wonderfully intact.

Some of the substantial changes include:

The capacity of the auditorium, which is currently 1,497 seats, has been reduced to 1,244 seats. This allows for extra legroom - up to 9 inches more - throughout the seating areas, bringing the auditorium in line with the increased height of our modern population.

The auditorium has three seating levels: orchestra, dress circle and balcony. The orchestra has been reduced by 75 seats, the dress circle by 70 seats, and the balcony by 108 seats.

Brand new seats have been installed. These look identical to the original 1907 seats - with their distinctive RA insignia brass seat-end plates (called end standards, in the trade) and wire hat-racks under the seats.

The new seats are much wider than the original ones, with many 23 inches wide (compared to 19 inches of the old ones).

The rake of the orchestra level, which has been altered over the years, has been restored to its original angle.

"Our goal is to continue to build Toronto's reputation of being a great theatre city. The Royal Alex has always been the jewel of the city, and we want to ensure it always will be..." said David Mirvish.

Take a look at the photo gallery below!

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