Results tagged “mirvish”

It's been a very exciting week for Toronto Fringe enthusiasts. First, there was the announcement of the festival's partnership with both Mirvish and the Randolph Centre for the Arts, which means the Fringe Club beer tent will move from the Tranzac to the parking lot behind Honest Ed's (which happens to be across the street from new Fringe location Randolph). The move makes a lot of sense in terms of giving the festival a central, highly visible hub that's pretty much exactly in the midpoint of the festival's various reaches to Tarragon in the north, UofT in the east, and Factory/Passe Muraille in the south. Those interested in participating in next year's festival had better get a move on it, though: the new, early application deadline this year is this Wednesday.

It's only on for the rest of the week, so you'll have to hurry, but as far as seeing theatre in this town goes, getting tickets to August: Osage County is about the best favour you could do yourself this year. The Pulitzer Prize–winning Steppenwolf production—coming to us by way of sold-out runs in Chicago, Broadway, and the West End—brings Oscar-winner (and Roseanne's mom) Estelle Parsons to the Toronto stage, along with a highly talented ensemble cast and a phenomenal script by Tracy Letts. Rumoured to be in talks for big screen development, this is the perfect chance to catch this bold and original work in its purest form.

Here at Drama Club, we generally consider Mirvish shows to be outside our purview (although that certainly doesn't stop them popping up elsewhere on Torontoist). But when we heard that the much ballyhooed Broadway darling Spring Awakening was coming to the Canon Theatre, we couldn't help feeling...intrigued. Maybe it was our geeky theatre-school memories of the scandalous Wedekind play the new musical is based on. More likely, it was Lucille Bluth singing "Mama Who Bore Me" on 90210. Regardless, it was with a healthy amount of curiosity (and perhaps a soupçon of dread) that we went to the theatre on opening night.

What Honest Ed’s lacks in architectural artistry compared to more high-brow institutions, it makes up for in self-promotional bombast. From its "quirky hand-painted signage" to the low-price Toronto souvenirs, badly painted Elvis busts, and abandoned theatre props, Honest Ed’s is a museum of kitsch. Now a local illustrator, Christopher Hutsul, has designed a stationery set paying tribute his neighbourhood’s "foremost local architectural landmark."

Torontoist loves local artists, and we love short films, so naturally we try to support local artists who make short films. This Tuesday, recent York film grad Nick Butler is organizing the Annex Film Party, a fundraising event for his new project, A Thing of the Past.

The grand dame of Toronto's performing arts venues, the Royal Alexandra Theatre, celebrates its 100th birthday tomorrow. To mark the event, the Mirvishes have organized a free open house from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., during which you can go on a self-guided backstage tour, eat free grub at the BBQ in front of the theatre (weather permitting), or catch a tribute performance from the original members of the 1969 Canadian cast of Hair. (No word on whether they'll get naked onstage again.)

Every weekday morning, bright and early, we feature a photo (or two) from a photographer in the Torontoist Flickr Pool. It's our way of giving the many excellent photographers in our pool the attention that they deserve.

Canadian Bar Association demands that Stephen Harper negotiate with the United States to return Omar Khadr to Canada. The country's largest legal organization (and Khadr's own American military lawyer, for that matter) states that Khadr will not get a fair trial in the United States, which is obvious. Also obvious: the likelihood of Harper doing exactly dick about it.

"Honest Ed" Mirvish passed away nearly a month ago, but Toronto is still in mourning. On Sunday, August 12, his family will be hosting a celebration of life outside of the Honest Ed's Emporium (581 Bloor Street West) in lieu of Ed's famous annual birthday party—he would have turned 93 on July 25.

Stage Struck: 100 Years At The Royal Alex, a free exhibition commemorating the Royal Alexandra Theatre's centennial, opened yesterday at the Toronto Reference Library. Torontoist was at the opening to oggle at the rare playbills, posters and other paraphernalia that would make any theatre geek weak in the knees.

"Honest Ed" Mirvish was many things—successful merchant, theatrical impressario, civic booster. For almost as long as his store at Bloor and Bathurst has operated, he also brought smiles to the faces of advertising bean counters at local newspapers.

Bluma Appel, philanthropist and patron of the arts, died last night in a Toronto hospital from complications of cancer. She was 86.

Chicago prosecutors expected to ask that the book be thrown at Conrad Black. HA HA HA ROT IN JAIL YOU UNKIND GENTLEMAN [Needless to say, the previous two words originally read...uh...differently. They were swears!—Ed.]. Sorry, that was not very objective. Please amend the previous sentence to read "hee hee hee rot in jail you freaking aardvark." In other news, he may also go bankrupt, making this officially the best news story of the year so far.

Three elephants from the Garden Brothers circus escaped their handlers and took a brief tour of a residential neighbourhood in Newmarket last night. The elephants aren’t kept in cages but do have a rope around their foot to keep them from wandering, which doesn’t work. Local residents said that after initial alarm they were delighted with the unexpected early morning zaniness.

"Honest Ed" Mirvish dies at 92. As the man himself would say: He may be gone, but his bargains sure aren't. Torontoist's obituary for him can be found here. Details on the funeral are here.

Toronto legend Edwin "Honest Ed" Mirvish has died. He was 92.

This Sunday, July 8 from 12 to 9 p.m., Mirvish Village will host the first Pedestrian Sunday outside of Kensington Market. The neighbourhood is home to the landmark discount store Honest Ed’s and is a collection of boutiques, studios and restaurants, founded and named for the Mirvish family in recognition of Toronto’s retail show biz entrepreneur Ed Mirvish.

Last night at the beautiful Winter Garden Theatre, the winners of the 28th Annual Dora Awards were announced in a ceremony hosted by the hilarious Rick Miller (of MacHomer and Bigger Than Jesus fame). The Doras are basically Canada's version of the Tonies, except you can't watch them on TV and see Molly Ringwald and John Stamos jazz-hand their way through a radical new interpretation of Hello, Dolly! As one might expect, the whole affair is generally more sedate and even less people care about the results. But we do! It's also somewhat validating to see shows that Toronto reviewed positively get the respect they deserve (and occasionally shocking to see the same respect lavished on things we thought were crap). Now, there were a lot of awards being handed out last night, so let's be a jerk and ignore the hard work of all the behind-the-scenes people and focus on the flashier trophies.

Last Sunday, Mirvish decided to take a break from its typical assortment of musicals and "plays" and the remount of an acclaimed Stratford production of Tennessee Williams' Orpheus Descending opened at the Royal Alex. And it's really good.

This is it! The chance you've been dreaming about since middle school has finally come true: an open casting call for Dirty Dancing – The Classic Story On Stage. No joke.

We've recently noticed that the so-called Entertainment District is experiencing a noticeable lull in, well...entertainment.

Torontoist's online HQ has been all a-twitter and a-quiver this afternoon with the delicious (if a little startling) news from Mirvish Productions. Below, Paige shares a top-priority emergency dispatch from her 9-5 outpost.

Ed Mirvish: theatre tycoon, city hero and...turkey giveaway guru? People lined up overnight outside Honest Ed's for the 19th Annual Turkey Giveaway on Sunday. Now approaching age 93, Ed himself was sadly not in attendance, but son David Mirvish took over greeting duties.

He was known for his tales of Old Hollywood as much as his ever-present hairpiece, and Toronto just became way more boring without him.

Students at Toronto area colleges and high schools are coping with the shootings at Montreal's Dawson College. The murders also has parents of high-school age children worried.

Last year, Mirvish Productions took an intriguing chance on actor/playwright trey anthony's "'da Kink in my Hair", with little evidence that a production about Black women's experiences would have wide commercial appeal. Tickets at the Princess of Wales theatre often sold-out and anthony [capitalization sic] would see 'da Kink get extended multiple times.

Jane Pitfield is opening a campaign office in the Junction area, close to Mayor Miller's High Park home. Both campaigns are gearing up for the fall and raising money. Mayor Miller is going grassroots and offering anyone who puts up raises $100 for his campaign an "I <3 David Miller T-Shirt." Oh we want one of those.

Despite winning an armful of Dora's, poor ticket sales and a lukewarm critical reception means that the Lord of The Rings musical will be dying an untimely death come September, less than six months after it opened.

What began in Toronto as a bachelor party gift, then a Fringe Festival production, then a Mirvish produced play several years ago, has turned into a Broadway hit! Leading the pack, it garnished thirteen Tony nominations, the most of any play this year. The New York Post even predicted it as the big winner.