Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia
Mirvish, David
Multi-faceted producer, art dealer, and theatre owner and operator, based in Toronto Ontario. David Mirvish was born in 1945, the son of Edwin Mirvish. With his father, he restored and operated the Royal Alexandra Theatre and for a few years, until 1998, the London Old Vic Theatre. In 1993, they constructed the opulent Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto's theatre district. David Mirvish also owns and operates the Ed Mirvish Theatre (formerly the Canon Theatre), and the Panasonic Theatre.
David Mirvish produced the London production of Candide; the Toronto/Broadway production of Spoils of War (starring Kate Nelligan); and the Tony-nominated Mikado (directed by Brian MacDonald).
He has also enabled the touring of North America of many European productions, artists and companies including the Berliner Ensemble.
Mirvish productions has enjoyed long runs in Toronto, notably the Canadian productions of the Broadway hits Rent and The Lion King , and the London sensation Mamma Mia!.
In the 2000/2001 season it co-produced Theatre Passe Muraille's production of Michael Healey's The Drawer Boy; the Fringe Movement hit The Drowsy Chaperone (by Lisa Lambert, Greg Morrison, Don McKellar and Bob Martin); and the Soulpepper Theatre Company's production of A Flea in Her Ear. In 2000, the Mirvishes won seven Dora Mavor Moore Awards and took four more in 2001. In 2006, they launched the premiere of the extravagant musical version of Lord of the Rings, which then relocated to London to lukewarm reviews.
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Mirvish Productions, the company launched a season of fourteen plays, including remounts with Canadian casts of its most popular successes: Les Miserables and Cats; a new Disney musical entitled Aladdin; and an "off-Mirvish" series, featuring the Canadian premiere of George F. Walker’s Dead Metaphor.
David Mirvish is a Member of the Order of Ontario and the Order of Canada (1995), amongst many other awards and accolades for his contributions to Canadian culture. In 1998, he and his father, Ed Mirvish, were awarded the Herbert Whittaker Award for Distinguished Contribution to Canadian Theatre by the Canadian Theatre Critics Association. In 2012, he was appointed Chancellor of the University of Guelph.
Profile by Gaetan Charlebois and Anne Nothof.
Last updated 2018-07-01
Mirvish, Edwin
Producer, theatre impressario, and businessman, born in Colonial Beach, Virginia in 1914, the son of Jewish immigrants from Lithuania; died July 11, 2007 in Toronto Ontario. He came to Canada in 1923, and after struggling through several unsuccessful businesses, became well known as Honest Ed, of discount department store and restaurant fame. He was chairman and owner of the Royal Alexandra Theatre, which he purchased, refurbished, and saved from demolition in 1962. Ed and his son David Mirvish presented many notable productions at the Royal Alex, including the Mikado, which originated at the Stratford Festival (directed by Brian MacDonald), that went on to to Broadway, and was nominated for a Tony.
He bought and refurbished London's prestigious Old Vic in 1982, and after several financially challenging, but critically applauded seasons, sold it again in 1993.
In 1993, he and his son built the Princess of Wales Theatre for the production of large-scale musical theatre, and Canadian productions of Broadway hits, such as Miss Saigon, Rent, The Lion King , and the London sensation, Mamma Mia!. For good or ill, Ed Mirvish was seen as initiator of the return of foreign-originated and big-budget theatre to the Toronto.
However, he also collaborated with smaller Toronto "alternative" theatres. In the 2000/2001 season the Mirvishes co-produced Theatre Passe Muraille's production of Michael Healey's The Drawer Boy; the Fringe Movement hit The Drowsy Chaperone (by Lisa Lambert, Greg Morrison, Don McKellar and Bob Martin); and the Soulpepper Theatre Company production of A Flea in Her Ear. In 2000 the Mirvishes won seven Dora Mavor Moore Awards and took four more in 2001.
Edwin Mirvish was an Officer of the Order of Canada, amongst his many other awards.
Profile by Gaetan Charlebois and Anne Nothof. Additional information provided by Lindy Cooksey.
Last updated 2010-12-14
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The Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia web site was originally conceived and developed in 1996 by Gaetan Charlebois—theatre critic, playwright, and actor.
