DAVID AND HANNAH MIRVISH PRESENT THE 2025/26 OFF-MIRVISH THEATRE SUBSCRIPTION SEASON!
For Immediate Release
Media Contact: John Karastamatis, Sue Toth, Erin Nantais
5 OUTSTANDING SHOWS:
Steve Martin and Edie Brickell’s BRIGHT STAR
AVA: THE SECRET CONVERSATIONS starring Elizabeth McGovern
THE WOMAN IN BLACK KIMBERLY AKIMBO starring Louise Pitre
Virginia Gay’s CYRANO
David and Hannah Mirvish are delighted to announce the 2025/26 Off-Mirvish Season, comprised of five productions – three plays and two musicals. Four of the shows are Canadian premieres and one is a North American premiere.
“It’s hard to believe we’re celebrating our 15th Off-Mirvish season,” said David Mirvish. “When we began this series in 2011, it was to showcase shows that were quirkier and perhaps a little more challenging. And we hoped to be able to partner with local companies and find bigger audiences for work that began life in more intimate spaces.”
Hannah Mirvish added: “Ultimately, it was and continues to be about bringing together artists and audiences for unique, entertaining and thought-provoking theatre.”
“Off-Mirvish casts a wide net by design, but we often find the shows share themes by coincidence,” continues David. “In 2025/26, the shows explore the commonality of our human experience through the connections, and the choices, we make.
“In Bright Star, featuring the Tony® Award-nominated score by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell – and co-produced in Toronto with the Actor-Musician focused company Garner Theatre Productions – we explore the chance encounter of a literary editor and an aspiring young writer returning home from fighting in WWII, a connection that will change both their lives.
“Ava sees Academy Award, Golden Globe and Emmy Award-nominated actor Elizabeth McGovern star as Hollywood's original femme fatale, Ava Gardner, as she looks back on a life lived large and wonders how much of it she wants to make public.
“The Woman in Black delighted and haunted audiences in London’s West End for 33 years and tells the tale of a lawyer looking to exorcise the fear that grips his soul. That ground-breaking production is coming to Off-Mirvish.
“In Tony® Award-winning Best Musical Kimberly Akimbo – which has its Canadian Premiere in a co-production with Montreal’s Segal Centre for Performing Arts and stars the luminous Louise Pitre – we meet a young girl with a rare genetic condition determined to find happiness against all odds and embark on a great adventure.
“And, lastly, Cyrano – a new adaptation of Edmond Rostand's classic play that was a 5-star hit in Edinburgh and London and is making its North American premiere with us – is a love letter to hope; to language and desire; to the irrepressible magic of theatre.”
Hannah Mirvish explains: “That's the magic created when artists and audiences come together. The excitement when the lights go down and a hush falls on the audience. That awe when the actors step on stage. Those goosebumps when a song reaches into your soul, or a monologue takes your breath away. That rush as you’re leaving the theatre, dying to discuss everything you just saw. The power of theatre cannot be understated, nor contained. So, this Off-Mirvish Season, let’s let it out, because theatre is life.”
Subscriptions to the Off-Mirvish Season are $261 to $336 (up to 48% off regular prices) and are now on sale at mirvish.com/offmirvish and 1.800.461.3333.
All performances will be at the CAA Theatre, 651 Yonge St. (south of Bloor – and not at Yonge and Dundas).
The 2025/26 Off-Mirvish Subscription Season is sponsored by CAA South Central Ontario.
BRIGHT STAR
Music, Book & Story by Steve Martin
Music, Lyrics & Story by Edie Brickell
Directed by Jacob Wolstencroft
Produced by Donna Garner and Tricia Soltys
Canadian Professional Premiere
A co-production with Garner Theatre Productions, Toronto
September - November 2025
Inspired by a true story and featuring the Tony® Award-nominated score by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell, Broadway’s Bright Star tells a sweeping tale of love and redemption set against the rich backdrop of the American South in the 1920s and ’40s.
When literary editor Alice Murphy meets a young soldier just home from World War II and with aspirations to be a writer, he awakens her longing for the child she once lost. Haunted by their unique connection, Alice sets out on a journey to understand her past — and what she finds has the power to transform both of their lives.
With beautiful melodies and powerfully moving characters, the story unfolds as a rich tapestry of deep emotion. An uplifting theatrical journey from a cast of actor-musicians that holds you tightly in its grasp as all the actors simultaneously perform as the orchestra onstage. Bright Star is as refreshingly genuine as it is daringly hopeful.
This Canadian professional premiere co-production is with Garner Theatre Productions, a company founded by Donna Garner that specializes in shows performed by Actor-Musicians. Garner was a member of the Canadian productions of two Broadway hits in Toronto that were performed by Actor-Musicians: Once at the CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre and Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 at Crow’s Theatre (which will transfer to the Royal Alexandra Theatre this summer).
Critic’s Pick "The songs boast simple but seductive melodies, and lyrics that have a sweet, homespun quality." - The New York Times
"Smart, funny and charming! Steve Martin is a master." - USA Today
AVA: THE SECRET CONVERSATIONS
Starring Elizabeth McGovern and Aaron Costa Ganis
Written by Elizabeth McGovern
Based on the book The Secret Conversations by Peter Evans & Ava Gardner
Directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel
Produced by Karl Sydow
Canadian Premiere
November 2025
Academy Award, Golden Globe and Emmy Award-nominated actor Elizabeth McGovern stars as Hollywood's original femme fatale, Ava Gardner, in a critically acclaimed new play lauded by Entertainment Weekly as “mesmerizing and electric!”
In 1988, the Golden Age of Cinema’s Ava Gardner sat for a series of real-life interviews with journalist Peter Evans that were to become the basis of an autobiography. There was lots of material to cover – her marriages to Mickey Rooney, Artie Shaw, and Frank Sinatra, her turbulent relationship with Howard Hughes, and the more than 50 films she made, many of them now considered classics of cinema. Also turbulent was Gardner’s relationship with Evans; they went from being the best of friends to the worst of collaborators. Gardner eventually decided to publish her memoir without Evans.
Evans kept his notes and transcripts of those interviews. Twenty-five years later, with permission from Gardner’s estate, he published the interviews and told the story of his time with Gardner. The book was received with rave reviews – Maureen Dowd in the New York Times called it “mesmerizing” – and shone a new light on Hollywood royalty but also explored the relationship of a star interviewee and interviewer.
Now, Evans's book is reimagined on stage, adapted by the star of the show herself, Elizabeth McGovern, and also starring Aaron Costa Ganis as Peter.
“ELIZABETH MCGOVERN CASTS A SPELL AS THE CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD FEMME FATALE!” – Los Angeles Times
“ENTRANCING AND HYPNOTIC! MCGOVERN EMBODIES AVA GARDNER IN A GUTSY EXPLORATION AND SHE DOES SO WITH FIRE!” – Broadway World
Susan Hill’s
THE WOMAN IN BLACK
Adapted by Stephen Mallatratt
Directed by Robin Herford
Canadian Premiere
December 2025 – January 2026
One of the most successful and longest running theatre shows in the history of London’s West End – 33 years and more than13,000 performances – director Robin Herford's original gripping production is now touring North America. Seen by over 7 million people worldwide, The Woman in Black continues to delight and haunt audiences of all generations.
A lawyer obsessed with a curse that he believes has been cast over him and his family by the spectre of a Woman in Black, engages a sceptical young actor to help him tell his terrifying story and exorcise the fear that grips his soul. It all begins innocently enough, but then, as they reach further into his darkest memories, they find themselves caught up in a world of eerie marshes and moaning winds.
Susan Hill’s acclaimed best-selling novel comes dramatically alive in Stephen Mallatratt’s ingenious stage adaptation.
“The Most Brilliantly Effective Spine-chiller You Will Ever Encounter” - Daily Telegraph
“Guaranteed To Chill The Blood” - Evening Standard
“The Scariest Show In Town” - Chicago Tribune
CRITIC’S PICK “Ingenious - A Journey Into Fear” - New York Times
KIMBERLY AKIMBO
Book and Lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire
Music by Jeanine Tesori
Directed by Robert McQueen
Starring Louise Pitre
Canadian Premiere
A co-production with the Segal Centre for Performing Arts, Montreal
January – February 2026
Kimberly Akimbo is the most Tony Award-winning show of the 2022-2023 season – including Best Musical – and features a Tony Award-winning book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit Hole, Shrek the Musical) and a Tony Award-winning score by Jeanine Tesori (Fun Home; Caroline, or Change; Shrek, The Musical).
Kimberly is about to turn 16 and recently moved with her family to a new town in suburban New Jersey. In this “howlingly funny heartbreaker of a show” (The New Yorker), she is forced to navigate family dysfunction, a rare genetic condition, her first crush…and possible felony charges. Ever the optimist, she is determined to find happiness against all odds and embark on a great adventure.
The legendary Louise Pitre — who originated the role of Fantine in the Canadian premiere of Les Misérables, Donna in the North American and Broadway premieres of MAMMA MIA!, and Edith Piaf in Piaf/Dietrich — stars in this deeply moving and wildly funny musical. Kimberly Akimbo is presented through a special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). www.mtishows.com
BEST THEATRE OF THE YEAR The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, New York Magazine, The New Yorker, Time Out, USA Today, CNN, Deadline, The Wrap, Theatrely, AMNY
“MEET YOUR NEW FAVORITE MUSICAL. So clever, funny and touching, you might want to give everyone on stage a hug. It’s happy-sad heaven. DO NOT MISS IT.” - The Hollywood Reporter
CRITIC’S PICK - “BEST THEATER OF THE YEAR. A DOSE OF PURE JOY. Profoundly funny and heartbreaking. The season’s most moving new musical.” - The New York Times
“THE BEST NEW MUSICAL OF THE YEAR — BY FAR. A wondrous new musical, breathtakingly lovely and riotously funny — as full-hearted as any musical to be seen in recent years.” - The Wall Street Journal
“A HOWLINGLY FUNNY HEARTBREAKER OF A SHOW.” - The New Yorker
“IT FEELS LIKE A MIRACLE. I LOVED IT FROM THE FIRST NOTE TO THE LAST. It’s one of those perfect inventions that convinces you that the world isn’t so terrible after all. Hilarious and heartbreaking, it’s the kind of entertainment — wise, original, moving — that stamps musical theater as one of the best things ever made in America.” - The Washington Post
CYRANO
Written by Virginia Gay after Edmond Rostand
Directed by Clare Watson
Produced by Roast Productions
North American Premiere
March - April 2026
Virginia Gay’s joyous, gender-flipped retelling of Cyrano de Bergerac, packed with music, wit and aching romance, is a love letter to hope; to language and desire; to the irrepressible magic of theatre. A big-hearted, irreverent rom-com for our times.
Cyrano is the most interesting person in any room – a wordsmith, a charmer. She works twice as hard and runs twice as fast as the pretty boys, because she’s deeply ashamed of something about herself. Enter Roxanne: brilliant and beautiful, with a penchant for poetry and a way with words, just like Cyrano. But Roxanne only has eyes for Yan: hot, manly Yan; all brawn-and-nobrains Yan; who is dumbstruck around Roxanne. Probably shy, right? Until suddenly he starts saying the most amazing things. But it’s not Yan writing these perfect love scenes, it’s Cyrano...
★★★★★ “A giddy, sensitive celebration of love… What a treat.” - The Times
★★★★★ “Enormously uplifting and infectiously sweet. This is theatre at its most happy-making. A total treat.” - The Stage
★★★★★ “Dazzlingly clever… witty, knowing, satirical and heartfelt all at once” - Financial Times