Priscilla is replaced (Postponed?) by Legally Blonde. Additionally, Stomp, Rent, Mamma Mia and Grease will all be passing through the Canon Theatre. This leaves the Princess and the Royal Alexandra dark for long periods...
I was stunned by the changes....What will Dancap do besides Toxic?
2012: American Idiot 01/14, In The Heights 02/11, Warhorse 02/18, The Book of Mormon 02/23, The Gershwins Porgy and Bess 02/24, Anything Goes 02/25, Godspell 02/26, Shrek 03/31, Ghost (West End)04/11, Singing In The Rain (West End) 04/12, Matilda (West End) 04/13, Leap of Faith 05/02, Evita 05/03, Jesus Christ Superstar 05/04, Newsies 05/05, The Book Of Mormon 05/06, West Side Story 06/02, Beauty and the Beast 07/07, Million Dollar Quartet 07/28, La Cage 10/13, 10/27 Sister Act, 31/10 Once, 11/01 Rock of Ages, 11/02 Spiderman, 11/03 Newsies, 11/15 Jekyll & Hyde
The Priscilla change was not really a surprise, it was rumoured for a while. It seems like the norm for Mirvish to postpone/cancel shows and then reinstate them later (WWRY, Boys/Photograph, now Priscilla).
I wouldn't be surprised if we saw a Billy Elliot sit-down either completely replacing Priscilla or opening Spring or Fall 2011. Toronto was supposed to have the North American premiere (pre-Broadway) but that fell through. Expect Mirvish to bring in the tour, if a sit-down doesn't happen.
As for Dancap, the company is around 3 years old. I don't understand how anyone can really expect them to be on par with Mirvish at this time. Having said that, they have done fairly well in those three years. I predict some big things in the next year or two for them. Whether that has something to do with the Sony Centre or their own theatre!?, I'm not sure.
BILLY would likely be a long tour stop because, like with WICKED, the producers would be FOOLS to have a sit down when there's one in Chicago, because Chicago does pull audience members from southern Ontario. It's just too close.
Actually, the producers have said that it will be "Chicago's production," and that they will run it there "as long as people are buying tickets." They further announced that they are CONSIDERING launching a second production to tour if the show does truly take off in Chicago (if not, yes, it will close and the Chicago production would then become the tour). It's the same model that MAMMA MIA used in Toronto years ago, only the second production is still in "consideration."
Given that the subscription info has all gone out, and Priscilla was a big draw, it's strange that they would re-jig the schedule like this. (Although I suppose it's better that we know earlier than later.) I hope Priscilla is, in fact, a postponement, and not an ruse to eventually cancel.
And given all the big shows on (or about to) tour (In the Heights, South Pacific, Billy Elliot, etc.; Is Xanadu really touring? Did it go someplace after Chicago?), it's a bit sad that they're bringing us re-treads like Stomp, Grease, Rent and Mamma Mia.
And does the Priscilla postponement mean they want to put that show in the Princess of Wales, but think Sound of Music will last though next summer?
Coach Bob knew it all along: you've got to get obsessed and stay obsessed. You have to keep passing the open windows. (John Irving, The Hotel New Hampshire)
Mirvish Productions announced yesterday it will be replacing its highly anticipated all-Canadian production of Priscilla Queen of the Desert with a two year-old American tour of Legally Blonde the Musical.
Mirvish director of communications John Karastamatis insists the change is due to logistics, but it's a piece of news likely to disappoint a lot of people, most notably all those local actors, technicians, musicians and theatre artists who had looked forward to a long stretch of employment with Priscilla. They are now going to see almost all of those jobs go to a company from the U.S.
But it's also disappointing to those of us who were looking forward to the excitement of Priscilla coming to our city.
Its Australian and London reviews indicated that this was a show with a lot of flash and glitter, true, but a generous portion of heart and a strong message about the dangers of sexual stereotyping.
Based on the cult favourite 1994 movie, it tells the story of a group of strange loners in the Australian outback who discover their real selves in the process of forming a drag act that lip-synchs to disco favourites.
Backed up by a reportedly knockout production, it could have packed a real punch here.
But that punch is being pulled and in its place, we're getting the theatrical air-kiss known as Legally Blonde the Musical.
Again based on a movie (this time the 2001 Reese Witherspoon vehicle about bubble-headed Elle Woods and how she conquers Harvard Law School), the musical version opened on Broadway in 2007.
I saw it during its San Francisco tryout and found it pallid, plastic and predictable.
When it opened in Gotham, the reviews praised its enthusiasm, but little else. "Flossing between songs is recommended for anyone who attends Legally Blonde, the nonstop sugar rush of a show," said Ben Brantley in The New York Times, going on to say seeing it approximated "the experience of eating a jumbo box of Gummee Bears in one session."
It was nominated for seven Tony Awards (but not Best Musical), although it didn't win any of them. And although its run of 585 performances was respectable, the show wasn't generally regarded as a hit.
The show has been on tour since September 2008 and to try to pass off its appearance here nearly two years later as some kind of coup is ? in all fairness ? stretching things just a little.
There's also something just a bit murky about how Priscilla is being handled. It was announced with great fanfare last December, auditions were held and parts were cast.
But no contracts were forthcoming, causing actors and agents to grumble. They were finally assured all would be settled by July 1, but no one had heard anything until yesterday. As recently as last week, Karastamatis assured the Toronto Star that Priscilla would be part of next year's season.
So what happened?
There are several possibilities.
The show is very expensive and to mount a new all-Canadian version of it at this time might have proved to be too much for the Mirvish balance sheet.
The show is selling very well in London, but is not the barn-burning hit everyone hoped it would be and that ? coupled with many reviews that stressed how raunchy the material was ? might have given the Mirvish organization pause.
David Mirvish is also one of the producers of the smash London revival of La Cage aux Folles, which has announced it's coming to Broadway in 2010. Might it be starting its out-of-town tryout in Toronto? And wouldn't two drag queen musicals be too much in one season?
When asked about these three possibilities, Karastamatis insisted instead that, "The reason is logistic ? venue, dates and availability of creative team (a member of which just died of a sudden heart attack)."
But even allowing for the recent tragedy, wouldn't all those other issues have to have been taken into consideration before the show was even announced?
I think the actors, musicians, technicians and other local theatre artists who all thought they had a job with Priscilla are entitled to an explanation.
And those of us who prefer seeing exciting original productions featuring local talent instead of tired American tours might like to hear that explanation as well.
It's odd that Ouzounian doesn't mention the official line at all about Priscilla moving to the start of the 2010-11 season. Even if he thinks it's actually going to end up being cancelled, he should at least state that Mirvish claims it's only a postponement.
CP is giving the reason for the delay (cancellation?) of Priscilla as the size of the set which Tag has always said was too big for RAT. This suggests that they need the POW for it, which I guess might suggest that The Sound of Music is sticking around for awhile.
Mirvish postpones 'Priscilla' musical
By THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO - Mirvish Productions in Toronto is shaking up its current season, adding several new shows - including the Broadway hit "Legally Blonde the Musical" - and postponing "Priscilla Queen of the Desert - the Musical."
The theatre company says "Priscilla," which was to have its North American premiere next spring after a smash showing in London, is being pushed back to the 2010-11 season because of logistics.
A Mirvish spokesman says the venue originally picked for the show, the Royal Alexandra Theatre, can't accommodate the high set that's used to tell the story of a trio of drag queens in Australia.
The production, based on the Oscar-winning film "The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert," is being replaced this season by "Legally Blonde the Musical," which earned seven 2007 Tony Award nominations.
Adapted from the 2001 film starring Reese Witherspoon as a sorority girl in Harvard Law School, "Legally Blonde" will make its Canadian stage premiere at the Canon Theatre on July 6, 2010.
It will be the final show of the current subscription season.
Mirvish has also added four other musicals to the 2009-10 season as off-subscription presentations.
Among them is a production of "Grease," which stars "American Idol" winner Taylor Hicks and was seen last week by Prime Minister Stephen Harper at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.
The other three off-subscription shows just added to the lineup are "Stomp," "Rent: The Broadway Tour" and "Mamma Mia!" - which have all been mounted in the city before.
The off-subscription presentations will run for limited engagements at the Canon Theatre, beginning this fall.
Mirvish has also bumped up the premiere date for Andrew Lloyd Webber and Ben Elton's musical, "The Boys in the Photograph."
The show, about an Irish soccer team during a civil war, will hit the Royal Alexandra Theatre on Sept. 22 instead of Oct. 20.
Two other productions have also been given dates: the Iraq war drama "Stuff Happens" will start its run at the Royal Alexandra Theatre on Nov. 14, and the farewell tour of Topol in "Fiddler on the Roof" will hit the Canon Theatre on Dec. 8.
"Mirvish director of communications John Karastamatis insists the change is due to logistics, but it's a piece of news likely to disappoint a lot of people, most notably all those local actors, technicians, musicians and theatre artists who had looked forward to a long stretch of employment with Priscilla. They are now going to see almost all of those jobs go to a company from the U.S. "
Those jobs are going to a company from the US? He does understand, doesn't he, that actors, et all probably weren't even offered jobs yet and that BLONDE will be there for a standard tour stop, NOT a sit down run like Priscilla would have been? He's wording it as though BLONDE is really going to take away jobs and it's not. Those jobs weren't created yet, and the show is still coming in, so those very jobs will still be there... just later. Ouzonian is, as usual, being overly dramatic.
As for Xanadu touring, yes, it is. Markets across the US have already announced it in their seasons.
I enjoyed 9 to 5....It was mindless fun, and I always enjoy Stephanie J Block...I am really itching to know when Dancap will release a season....I would love to see Xanadu and In The Heights (i guess I could go to BUffalo)
2012: American Idiot 01/14, In The Heights 02/11, Warhorse 02/18, The Book of Mormon 02/23, The Gershwins Porgy and Bess 02/24, Anything Goes 02/25, Godspell 02/26, Shrek 03/31, Ghost (West End)04/11, Singing In The Rain (West End) 04/12, Matilda (West End) 04/13, Leap of Faith 05/02, Evita 05/03, Jesus Christ Superstar 05/04, Newsies 05/05, The Book Of Mormon 05/06, West Side Story 06/02, Beauty and the Beast 07/07, Million Dollar Quartet 07/28, La Cage 10/13, 10/27 Sister Act, 31/10 Once, 11/01 Rock of Ages, 11/02 Spiderman, 11/03 Newsies, 11/15 Jekyll & Hyde
Interestingly enough i still think wicked is supposed to happen, it wont be a subscription show, But maybe they will change the venue to the princess after som closes.. it isnt supposed to be here until June 2010.. that could be another reason for Queen being pushed back, Mirvish has had a good relationship with the Wicked company..
Well Dancap has also invested in Wicked. Priscilla (if it happens) has the POW after SOM closes. Canon is booked through next summer. I'm curious as to what will happen with the RA after Stuff Happens closes. As of January it is dark...
I bet they will get little house, as of right now it doesnt have a venue set in stone. neither does young frankenstein, the set could be very tonned down for the tour and possibly fit into the RA..
WIcked producers have said the show is coming back in June 2010..
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