A Theatre Lover’s Guide to Toronto

Every city has its own unique theatre scene and Toronto, Canada is no different. With a rich history of theatre productions and a buzzing Entertainment District, Toronto has a reputation for high-quality theatre. Whether you’re new to the city or looking to deepen your knowledge of the historic and vibrant Toronto theatre scene, this guide will cover all the must-know aspects of what Toronto theatre has to offer.

Toronto Theatre History

At the turn of the 20th century, many of Toronto’s historic theatres were built, including the Royal Alexandra, Massey Hall, and the Elgin and WInter Garden Theatres. After WWII, the theatres were run down and had to take on other purposes to stay afloat – the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres served as movie houses and were even home to a martial arts dojo.

The 1960s and 1970s were a huge time for Canadian theatre. There was a large interest in producing the works of Canadian playwrights, especially as the 100th anniversary of Confederation took place in 1967. Playwrights like David French, Judith Thompson, and James Reaney grew in popularity and several iconic Toronto theatre venues were built during this time including Tarragon Theatre, which specialized in new Canadian works; Theatre Passe Muraille, considered to be Canada’s oldest alternative theatre; and Buddies in Bad Times, the largest and longest-running queer theatre company in the world.

During the 1960s, Toronto businessman Ed Mirvish bought and restored the Royal Alexandra Theatre and began bringing major Broadway and West End shows to Toronto. Megamuscials had become such a hit with the Toronto audiences that, in the 1990s, the Mirvish’s built the Princess of Wales Theatre with the specific purpose of bringing Miss Saigon to Toronto. At the time there wasn’t a theatre big enough in Toronto to match the scale of London’s Theatre Royal Drury Lane, so the Mirvish’s made sure the building was big enough to fly the helicopter of Miss Saigon onto the stage.

The Mirvish’s purchased and refurbished many of Toronto’s most prominent theatres. In the 1980s, the Ontario Heritage Trust purchased the Elgin and Winter Garden theatres, refurbishing them to their original glory. A production of Cats ran at the Elgin Theatre for nearly two years following its reopening. Along with the megamusicals being brought in by the Mirvish’s, Toronto was at the top of its game for huge productions.

Toronto contains the largest concentration of stages in Canada and is considered to be the third largest English-speaking theatre district in the world, after London’s West End and Broadway in NYC. Large-scale touring Broadway and West End productions come to Toronto regularly and, with a huge number of independent theatres and festivals, there is no shortage of entertainment in Toronto.

Shows That Started in Toronto

Toronto is known as a hub for trying out shows before sending them off to Broadway or the West End. Below are a few of the major productions that took place in Toronto before going on to major success – you might be surprised by some of the shows!

Camelot (1960) – This was the inaugural show at the O’Keefe Centre, starring Canadian legend Robert Goulet alongside Julie Andrews. The opening night production clocking a runtime of 4.5 hours(!) and composer/lyricist team Lerner and Loewe both suffered major medical emergencies that required them to be hospitalized during the run on the production.

Showboat (1993) – This production premiered in Toronto before heading to Broadway the following year. It was co-produced and directed by Harold Prince, and was noted for the edits made to the book and music.

Ragtime (1996) – The world premiere of Ragtime was at the then-called Ford Centre for the Performing Arts and ran for nine months before transferring to Broadway in 1997. A concept album entitled Songs from Ragtime: The Musical which featured the Toronto cast was released in 1996 and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theatre Album.

The Drowsy Chaperone (1997) – This Canadian musical first began at the Toronto Fringe Festival. Over nine years, the show expanded its production and played at Theatre Passe Muraille (1999) and Winter Gardens Theatre (2001). After further development, Drowsy hit the Marquis theatre on Broadway in 2006.

Lord of the Rings (2006) – The show had a pre-West End try-out in Toronto, but the audience reception was poor. The show didn’t find much success in London either, and the Broadway transfer of the production was shut down.

Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (2010) – Already a hit in Australia, New Zealand, and the UK, Priscilla did a pre-Broadway engagement in Toronto before heading to Broadway. Producers decided the show needed more Madonna music and added songs to the score before its Broadway debut in 2011.

Aladdin (2013) – After initial productions in Utah and a European premiere, Disney’s Aladdin had a pre-Broadway try-out at the Ed Mirvish Theatre in Toronto.

Come From Away (2017) –  Initially created in 2012 as a 45 minute workshop with the Canadian Music Theatre Project, Come From Away continued on to La Jolla Playhouse and Seattle Rep before returning to Toronto in 2017 for a sold-out pre-Broadway run at the Royal Alexandra Theatre.

Major Theatre Companies in Toronto

There’s no shortage of amazing companies to check out in Toronto. If you’re new to the city, or looking to expand your theatre-going experiences, these are some of the top companies to check out!

• Buddies in Bad Times – the largest and longest running queer theatre in the world.
• Crow’s Theatre – a staple of Toronto’s East End theatre scene, Crow’s specializes in new Canadian play creation.
• Mirvish Productions – Canada’s largest commercial theatre production company, presenting productions from Canada, New York, London, and beyond.
• Musical Stage Company – the largest charitable musical theatre company in Canada, developing new Canadian musicals and producing classics.
• Nightwood Theatre – Canada’s preeminent feminist theatre company.
• Obsidian Theatre Company – dedicated to the exploration, development, and production of Black voices, focusing on African-American theatre.
• Soulpepper – known for their “artist-led” approach, Soulpepper develops new works and has the Soulpepper Academy, a two-year paid training program for theatre artists of all backgrounds.
• Tarragon Theatre – known as “the playwright’s theatre”, Tarragon champions Canadian playwrights and is a hub for developing works.
• Theatre Gargantua� – specializing in devised and physical theatre, it is one of Canada’s leading multi-disciplinary companies.
• Theatre Passe Muraille – translating to “theatre beyond walls”, Passe Muraille is known as Canada’s “original alternative theatre company” and programs independent artists and companies.
• Young People’s Theatre (YPT) – Canada’s largest and oldest professional theatre for young people.

Major Venues in Toronto

• Alumnae Theatre – independent theatre, focusing on the skill development of women in theatre.
• Buddies in Bad Times Theatre – largest and longest running queer theatre in the world.
• Canadian Stage – large-scale Canadian theatre performance works.
• Harbourfront Centre – international center for contemporary arts.
• Factory Theatre – promoting Canadian theatre and diverse theatre artists.
• Mirvish Theatres – a collection of theatres owned by the Mirvish Theatre group, including the CAA, the Ed Mirvish, Eglin, Princess of Wales, and Winter Garden Theatres. They are home to large scale touring and sit-down productions.
• St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts – home to the Jane Mallett Theatre and the Bluma Appel Theatre, the St. Lawrence Center programs theatre, music, dance and comedy shows from Canadian and international artists.

Toronto Theatre Festivals

Especially in the summer, there are loads of great festivals to check out. Toronto has a great scene for emerging artists and development of new works. Here are a few of the top festivals to check out for theatre in Toronto!

Toronto Fringe Festival

Toronto Fringe Festival is held every July, welcoming artists from across Canada and the world to over 30 venues in downtown Toronto. Toronto Fringe is unique as it programs the festival via lottery as opposed to jury selection. The Fringe Board feels strongly that every application has the same amount of merit, so they choose to use a lottery system to keep the application process as equal as possible.

In addition to the Toronto Fringe Festival, the Next Stages Theatre Festival runs in October as a sister festival to showcase indie theatre, which selects the shows via a jury of industry professionals.

The Rhubarb Festival

The Rhubarb Festival is Canada’s longest-running new works festival. Born as a collaboration between Buddies in Bad Times and Nightwood Theatre companies, Rhubarb showcases one-of-a-kind, boundary-pushing pieces. Originally focused exclusively on LBGTQ+ work, the festival has expanded to include a wider variety of alternative performance work and has a no-review policy to encourage experimentation without fear.

SummerWorks

SummerWorks Festival offers four unique streams of programming. Presentations, which are fully-developed new works and touring productions; Lab, which are works still in development and looking for feedback from audiences; Public Works, which are free public performances and artworks presented in public spaces; and Exchange, which are spaces meant for artistic gatherings and conversations. Although it began its life as a theatre festival, SummerWorks has expanded to become a multi-disciplinary artistic festival and showcases theatre, music, dance, and visual arts.

Luminato

Luminato is a massive international arts festival that features over 3,600 performances with over 15,000 artists from more than 40 countries annually. A multidisciplinary festival, Luminato dedicates its programming to big, bold contemporary works of art that work across music, dance, theatre, and visual art.

New Ideas Festival

Running for over 30 years, Alumnae Theatre Company showcases new and experimental one-act plays. With a focus on programming adventurous theatre and giving space for diverse voices, Alumnae Theatre has been women-run for over 100 years and champions feminist theatre works.

Well, that was a whistle-stop tour of all things Toronto theatre. It’s a brilliant theatre scene with a great mix of large-scale productions and independent theatre. Toronto folks – did I miss any of your favorite companies/places/festivals? Drop them in the comments below so we can check them out!