NEWS ITEM: G20 Summit dims Toronto musicals
4 Jun'10

JOHN COULBOURN - QMI Agency

TORONTO - Growing security and traffic concerns for the coming G20 Summit has compelled Mirvish Productions to suspend performances of its two big musicals on King St. W. for the last full week of June.

Mirvish announced Friday that both MAMMA MIA! (at the Princess of Wales) and ROCK OF AGES (at the Royal Alexandra) will shut down during the week of the summit, June 21-27 -- a time when summer tourists normally descend on downtown Toronto in droves.

The touring production of MAMMA MIA! had been scheduled to end its run at the end of that week, so final performances will now be on June 20. In a press release, the company said it had been "assured by the various levels of authority that the G20 would not impact the theatres." But as "more information has been released about the G20 preparations, and as some of this information appears to be inconclusive or contradictory, especially with regard to traffic on King Street West, Mirvish has decided it would be best and safest to suspend performances."

A Mirvish spokesman told the Sun the company stands to lose up to $2 million in ticket sales -- had all 12,000 seats for the week been sold for ROCK OF AGES, and all 16,000 for MAMMA MIA! "The theatrical adage we have always lived by is 'The show must go on,'" David Mirvish said in the release. "But in this instance -- and unprecedented instance for us, as we've always performed our shows -- we have concluded that our audiences are best served by the show not going on."

Mirvish wasn't the first Toronto theatre company to suspend performances. Factory Theatre -- located just a few blocks west of Mirvish's King Street theatres -- announced earlier in the week it will close its production of FEATURING LORETTA, the last show of its current season, a full week earlier than expected. The theatre company cited concerns "due to anticipated issues with public movement in the downtown core ... during the week of the G20 Summit."

Conversely, the National Ballet of Canada plans to carry on as planned with its staging of ONEGIN from June 19-25 at the Four Seasons Centre, at Queen and University (just outside the security zone).

It's not just the producers, of course, who will take a financial hit from the Mirvish and Factory cancellations. A spokesman for the Mirvish organization said there is also a legion of actors, stagehands and musicians who will now miss a week's pay. What's more, the cancellations are sure to hit the entire entertainment district, including restaurants, hotels and cabs.