Former names | Panasonic Theatre |
---|---|
Address | 651 Yonge Street Toronto, Ontario Canada |
Owner | KingSett Capital [1] |
Operator | Mirvish Productions |
Capacity | 700 |
Construction | |
Opened | 1911 |
Rebuilt | 2005 |
Website | |
mirvish.com/caa-theatre |
The CAA Theatre, formerly the Panasonic Theatre, is a theatre located at 651 Yonge Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is operated by Mirvish Productions. On December 1, 2017, Mirvish Productions announced a marketing partnership with CAA South Central Ontario, which included renaming the venue that was known as the Panasonic Theatre. [2]
In February 2023, the Toronto Star reported that Mirvish sold the property in 2015, and that the current owner, private equity firm KingSett Capital, was planning to redevelop the site as a high-rise mixed-use building. [1]
The original Second Empire building was built in 1911 as a private residence, then gutted and converted to a movie theatre in 1919 and known as The Victory. [3] [4] It was renamed The Embassy in 1934 and known by a number of other names over the next sixty years, including the Astor, the Showcase, and the Festival.
In the 1970s, the Festival Theatre was a key venue of the Toronto International Film Festival (then known as the Festival of Festivals). [4]
In 1993, the building was renovated for live theatre productions and renamed The New Yorker Theatre. [4]
In 2004 and 2005, most of the building was demolished, with only the facade preserved. The old building was replaced by a new state-of-the-art live theatre and concert venue, known as The Panasonic Theatre. In 2005, the building was acquired by Live Nation and in 2008 by Mirvish Productions.
In February 2023, the Toronto Star reported that Mirvish sold the property in 2015, citing property records. City records also indicate the current owner, private equity firm KingSett Capital, has applied to the city to redevelop the site as a 76-storey, mixed-use building, retaining only the façade of the CAA Theatre building. [1]
Productions are listed by the year of their first performance. [5] [6]
The Toronto Fringe Festival is an annual theatre festival, featuring un-juried plays by unknown or well-known artists, taking place in the theatres of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Several productions originally mounted at the Fringe have later been remounted for larger audiences, including the Tony Award-winning musical The Drowsy Chaperone, and the sitcom Kim's Convenience.
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Mirvish Productions, commonly known as Mirvish, is a Canadian theatrical production company, based in Toronto. Founded in 1986 by David Mirvish with his father, Ed Mirvish, it is the largest commercial theatre company in Canada. Mirvish Productions own and operate four theatres in the downtown Toronto area: the Royal Alexandra Theatre, Princess of Wales Theatre, Ed Mirvish Theatre, and the CAA Theatre.
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Come from Away is a musical, with book, music and lyrics by Irene Sankoff and David Hein. It is based on the events in the Newfoundland town of Gander during the week following the September 11 attacks, when 38 planes, carrying approximately 7,000 passengers, were ordered to land unexpectedly at Gander International Airport. The characters in the musical are based on actual Gander residents and stranded travelers they housed and fed.
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