Mirvish Productions bets big on Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Posted February 7, 2022 6:31 pm.
Last Updated February 8, 2022 1:23 pm.
Marquee lights at theatres across the city have been dim for much of the pandemic, though inside one of Toronto’s most famous venues, an overhaul is taking place out of the spotlight.
“It’s been happening secretly,” says John Karastamatis, director of communications and programming for Mirvish Productions. The theatre company is spending more than $5 million to completely overhaul the CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre on Yonge Street.
The transformative work underway is to create a magical world for the Canadian premiere of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, set to open May 31. The Tony-award-winning play is a continuation of the world-famous book and movie franchise, and this production will feature an all-Canadian cast.
The risk of investing millions into a venue in the midst of the pandemic isn’t lost on the show’s organizers.
“It’s a huge risk because you don’t even know if you’ll be allowed to open, or when you’ll be allowed to open,” says Karastamatis.
Initially, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was supposed to premier in Toronto in September of 2020, but was pushed back because of the pandemic. Theatres have been largely closed over the past two years. Mirvish Productions could have chosen to cancel the show altogether, as it did for Come From Away in December 2021, but instead chose to forge ahead.
“We stuck with it because it’s a great show and will make Toronto a destination as one of only three places to see this show, the others being New York and San Francisco,” says Karastamatis. “To have a unique live experience that isn’t a replica of one of the original books but a brand-new story that continues the original is special, it’s a big deal,” he adds.
“We’re completely reshaping the interior of the theatre and changing the colour palette,” says Athos Zaghi, an architect working on the project.
Zaghi says he wants audience members to be brought into the Potter world as soon as they walk through the doors of the building. “When people come to the space, they absolutely will not recognize the old theatre.”
RELATED: https://toronto.citynews.ca/2021/12/27/covid-come-from-away-toronto/
One of the major changes in the $5 million re-design is extending the stage into the audience, a move that will drop the venue’s seat count from about 2,300 to 1,600. Acknowledging that usually a theatre company wants to sell as many seats as possible, Karastamatis says this is a strategic decision to make the theatre as intimate as possible, sacrificing some income up front for what will hopefully contribute to a successful longer run of the show.
“This won’t succeed unless people have an amazing time,” he says. “Everything is important from when they first step into the building, you want it to be a special and unusual experience.”
