From the press release

EXCITING UPDATES ABOUT THE MIRVISH THEATRE SEASON:
LEGALLY BLONDE THE MUSICAL added to the 2009-10 Mirvish Theatre Subscription Season

Blockbuster Musicals MAMMA MIA!, STOMP, RENT: The Broadway Tour and GREASE™ all return to Toronto as Special Presentations of the 2009-10 Season

Dates and Venues Announced for THE BOYS IN THE PHOTOGRAPH, STUFF HAPPENS and FIDDLER ON THE ROOF

David Mirvish is thrilled to announce the Canadian Premiere of the Broadway hit LEGALLY BLONDE THE MUSICAL as the final show of the 2009-10 Mirvish Theatre Subscription Season. The show will play July 6 to August 8, 2010 at the Canon Theatre.

It will replace the previously announced PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT THE MUSICAL on the subscription season. PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT THE MUSICAL, currently a smash hit in London’s West End, will be postponed until the beginning of the 2010-11 season.

Mirvish is also delighted to announce the return of four blockbuster musicals to the season as special off-subscription presentations. In chronological order, STOMP, RENT: The Broadway Tour, the new production of GREASE™, starring American Idol Winner, Taylor Hicks and MAMMA MIA! will return to Toronto for limited engagements at the Canon Theatre, beginning this fall and continuing through the summer 2010. Mirvish subscribers will receive priority booking and seating to these encore presentations. 

Explains David Mirvish: “We have wanted to present LEGALLY BLONDE THE MUSICAL from the moment we saw it on Broadway. With PRISCILLA pushing its dates into the following season we finally had the opportunity to do so.

“Similarly, we had been investigating the best time to present some of the most popular titles now on tour. MAMMA MIA!, for instance, which began its North American life with us in 2000 and played here for five solid years, has been an audience favourite. I can’t tell you how happy we are to have the show back in Toronto.

“The same holds true for STOMP, RENT: The Broadway Tour and GREASE™. Each has successfully played here before and, we believe, Toronto audiences will welcome each back with great enthusiasm.

“It will be a busy and full season of theatre.”

Finally, the dates and venues of three shows in the current season are announced: THE BOYS IN THE PHOTOGRAPH will be performed September 22 to November 1, 2009 at the Royal Alexandra Theatre. STUFF HAPPENS will also play the Royal Alexandra Theatre, from November 14 to December 23, 2009. The Farewell Tour of Topol in FIDDLER ON THE ROOF will play December 8, 2009 to January 10, 2010 at the Canon Theatre.

LEGALLY BLONDE THE MUSICAL

July 6-August 8, 2010

Sorority star Elle Woods doesn’t take "no" for an answer.  So when her boyfriend dumps her for someone more “serious,” Elle puts down the credit card, hits the books, and sets out to go where no Delta Nu has gone before: Harvard Law. Along the way, Elle proves that being true to yourself never goes out of style.

In its first year on Broadway, LEGALLY BLONDE THE MUSICAL earned seven 2007 Tony Award nominations, ten 2007 Drama Desk Award Nominations, a 2007 Outer Critics Circle Award and the chorus of the musical was honoured by Actors’ Equity Association’s Advisory Committee on Chorus Affairs (ACCA) with the first ever ACCA Award.  The musical also ranked in the top ten list of the most requested Ticketmaster “Arts & Theatre Events” for 2007.

As on Broadway, Tony Award-winner Jerry Mitchell is the director and choreographer.  Music and lyrics are by both Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin, and the book is by Heather Hach.  The production features scenic design by David Rockwell, costume design by Gregg Barnes, lighting design by Kenneth Posner and Paul Miller, orchestrations by Christopher Jahnke and sound design by ACME Sound Partners.

LEGALLY BLONDE THE MUSICAL is produced by Hal Luftig, Fox Theatricals and Dori Berinstein, in association with MGM Onstage, Darcie Denkert and Dean Stolber.

STOMP

October 20-25, 2009

Showcasing the biggest changes since the late 1990s, this percussive hit has added new surprises creating two new full-scale routines utilizing props like tractor tire inner tubes and paint cans. The young performers “make a rhythm out of anything we can get our hands on that makes a sound,” says co-creator/director Luke Cresswell.

Stiff-bristle brooms become a sweeping orchestra; Zippo lighters flip open and close to create a fiery fugue; wooden poles thump and clack in a rhythmic explosion. STOMP uses everything but conventional percussion instruments – trashcans, tea chests, plastic bags, plungers, boots, and hubcaps – to fill the stage with compelling and infectious rhythms. From its beginnings as a street performance in the UK, STOMP has grown into an international percussion sensation over the past thirteen years, having performed in over 350 cities in 36 countries worldwide.

An overwhelming success marked by rave reviews, numerous awards, and sell-out engagements, STOMP is the winner of an Olivier Award for Best Choreography (London’s Tony Award), a New York Obie Award, a Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatre Experience, and a Special Citation from Best Plays.

STOMP is directed and created by Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas.

RENT: The Broadway Tour

January 19-24, 2010

Adam Pascal, Anthony Rapp and Gwen Stewart will reprise the roles they originated on Broadway in RENT: The Broadway Tour.

RENT: The Broadway Tour is directed by Michael Greif, who received 1996 Tony and Drama Desk nominations as well as the Obie Award for RENT.  Marlies Yearby, who received a Tony Award nomination for her work on the musical, choreographs the show and Tim Weil, the show’s original music supervisor and conductor, serves as music supervisor.

RENT, written by Jonathan Larson and directed by Michael Greif, opened at Broadway’s Nederlander Theatre, on April 29, 1996, following a history-making, sold-out, extended-limited engagement at off-Broadway’s New York Theatre Workshop. The musical went on to win every major best musical award, including the Tony Award, as well as the Pulitzer Prize for drama.  RENT played its final performance at the Nederlander Theatre on Sept. 7, 2008, after playing 5,124 performances and 16 previews. RENT is the eighth-longest-running show in Broadway history and grossed more than $280 million during its Broadway run.

GREASE™
Starring American Idol Winner TAYLOR HICKS as Teen Angel
April 7-18, 2010

After spending a hopelessly devoted summer with Sandy Dumbrowski, the new girl in town, Danny Zuko’s world is thrown upside down when Sandy appears at Rydell High on the first day of school. What follows is a rock n’ roll celebration of growin’ up, cruisin’ with friends and goin’ steady.

The new production of GREASE™ features songs from the smash hit 1978 motion picture for the first time ever in a Broadway production including “Sandy,” the Academy Award nominated song “Hopelessly Devoted to You,”  “Grease” and “You’re the One That I Want” – both of which were #1 hits on the Billboard Top 100 list.  These songs will be heard in addition to the Jacobs/Casey songs made famous by the original stage production including “Summer Nights,” “Greased Lightn
in’” and “We Go Together.”

Platinum-selling recording artist and “American Idol” winner, Taylor Hicks, stars in the production as “Teen Angel.”  Hicks made his Broadway debut in the role of “Teen Angel” and has been on the road with GREASE™ since the tour began on December 2, 2008.  Taylor Hicks achieved widespread fame in 2006 as a contestant on the hugely successful FOX singing competition “American Idol.”  On May 24, 2006, Hicks was named the winner of the fifth season of “Idol” with over 63.4 million votes in total, during the live finale which aired to a worldwide audience of over 200 million viewers. 

Directed and choreographed by two-time Tony Award-winner Kathleen Marshall (The Pajama Game, Wonderful Town), GREASE™ features book, music and lyrics by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey.  Additional songs from the film are by Barry Gibb, John Farrar, Louis St. Louis and Scott Simon. GREASE™ features scenic design by Tony Award winner Derek McLane (33 Variations), costume design by two-time Tony Award winner Martin Pakledinaz (Thoroughly Modern Millie, Kiss Me Kate), lighting design by Tony Award winner Kenneth Posner (The Coast of Utopia, Wicked) and sound design by Brian Ronan (Spring Awakening, Curtains).

GREASE™ is produced on tour by Paul Nicholas and David Ian, Nederlander Presentations, Inc. and Terry Allen Kramer by arrangement with Robert Stigwood.

MAMMA MIA!
April 27-June 27, 2010

An independent, single mother who owns a small hotel on an idyllic Greek island, Donna is about to let go of Sophie, the spirited daughter she’s raised alone. For Sophie’s wedding, Donna has invited her two lifelong best girlfriends—practical and no-nonsense Rosie and wealthy, multi-divorcee Tanya – from her one-time backing band, Donna and the Dynamos. But Sophie has secretly invited three guests of her own.

On a quest to find the identity of her father to walk her down the aisle, she brings back three men from Donna’s past to the Mediterranean paradise they visited 20 years earlier. Over 24 chaotic, magical hours, new love will bloom and old romances will be rekindled on this lush island full of possibilities.

Inspired by the storytelling magic of ABBA’s songs from “Dancing Queen” and “S.O.S.” to “Money, Money, Money” and “Take a Chance on Me,” MAMMA MIA! is a celebration of mothers and daughters, old friends and new family found.

Seen by over 40 million people around the world, Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus’ global smash hit musical MAMMA MIA! is celebrating 7 sold-out years at the Winter Garden Theatre on Broadway, and is currently playing a record-breaking engagement on its National Tour in the United States.  The original West End production has played more than 4,000 performances, an international tour has played in more than 40 foreign cities, and the blockbuster feature film adaptation, produced by Judy Craymer and Gary Goetzman, is the most successful movie musical of all time grossing $600 million worldwide.

Produced by Judy Craymer, Richard East and Björn Ulvaeus for Littlestar in association with Universal, the creative team responsible for bringing MAMMA MIA! to theatrical life includes some of the most gifted and celebrated talents of musical theatre and opera. With music and lyrics by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, MAMMA MIA! is written by Catherine Johnson and directed by Phyllida Lloyd. MAMMA MIA! has choreography by Anthony Van Laast, production design by Mark Thompson, lighting design by Howard Harrison, sound design by Andrew Bruce and Bobby Aitken, and musical supervision, additional material and arrangements by Martin Koch.

2009-10 MIRVISH THEATRE SUBSCRIPTION SEASON

THE HARDER THEY COME, the first show of the 2009-10 Mirvish Theatre Subscription Season opened July 23, 2009 and is currently playing at the Canon Theatre through August 23, 2009.

The season continues with: THE BOYS IN THE PHOTOGRAPH, STUFF HAPPENS, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE and The NEW MEL BROOKS MUSICAL: YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN.

Our two bonus shows include: AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY and CLOUD NINE.

The seven show package is priced from only $99 to $579. To purchase subscriptions, call 416-593-4225 or 1-800-771-3933 or www.mirvish.com

AIR CANADA is the Presenting Season Sponsor.