Mirvish Productions unveils 2026-27 subscription season, including four musicals and a Stratford Festival transfer
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This year’s season included ‘& Juliet,’ based on the catalogue of Swedish pop producer Max Martin.Dahlia Katz/Supplied
Mirvish Productions has revealed its 2026-27 subscription season, which will feature four musicals, a docu-concert, an Agatha Christie mystery and a remount of Salesman in China, originally produced at the Stratford Festival in 2024.
The company has dubbed the season “Operation Mirvish,” an homage to Operation Mincemeat, the musical spy comedy playing in Toronto from October until December.
“Having a loyal subscriber base creates a situation where we can grow and feel confident in the other things we offer,” said producer Hannah Mirvish in an interview, adding that when all four Mirvish theatres are running, there are approximately 48,400 seats to fill each week.
Blockbuster programming, she said – recognizable Broadway hits, for instance, or musicals that borrow from the catalogues of famous pop artists – helps prop up the company’s riskier ventures, from original Canadian shows to existing works with all-Canadian casts.
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The subscription season opens in September with Hell’s Kitchen, the musical inspired by the life and creative output of Alicia Keys. Notably, it’s the only jukebox musical on the roster – this year’s season included & Juliet, based on the catalogue of Swedish pop producer Max Martin; MJ, about the life and music of Michael Jackson; and Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical.
“I think ‘jukebox musical’ is a limiting term,” said Mirvish, adding that the genre can mean anything from a musical biography to a show like Mamma Mia or & Juliet, where the story feels “fully cooked” alongside its score.
“There are those traditional jukebox musicals that still exist,” Mirvish continued. “But Hell’s Kitchen doesn’t feel like that at all. A lot of the music was originally written for the show. Some of her greatest hits are in there, but it doesn’t feel like a jukebox musical in the traditional sense, not at all.”
Next comes The Karate Kid: The Musical, written by Robert Mark Kamen and Drew Gasparini. An adaptation of the 1984 film of the same name, the Canadian premiere will use stylized choreography and movement to capture the action of the story.
Following Operation Mincemeat comes 13 Going on 30: The Musical, which, after its Toronto engagement, will head to the West End. Another film adaptation, the musical is written by Josh Goldsmith, Cathy Yuspa, and First Date collaborators Alan Zachary and Michael Weiner.
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Mirvish declined to confirm if 13 Going on 30 and The Karate Kid are pre-Broadway engagements, but said getting new shows to Broadway is “always the goal, to a certain extent.”
“That’s the case for any show,” she continued. “The hope is that our shows are so good that they immediately go from us to Broadway because of how good they are. And we have great audiences.”
The season continues with a U.K. import of Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap, widely considered to be the longest-running play in the world.
Then, in April, comes Inside the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, a docu-concert from Prince Edward Island’s Harmony House. Mirvish presented Inside American Pie, another Harmony House project, at the CAA Theatre in 2025 to substantial audience acclaim, and will bring the show back to Toronto this spring. (Mirvish also helped to export that show to the U.K. for a two-week run at Curve Theatre in Leicester, which starts at the end of this month.)
“We really believe in that work,” said Mirvish. “Whenever we do something Canadian, the goal is always to promote it on a larger global stage. We’ve always done as much as we can to support the local community, and to be a showcase for everything going on here. The challenge is that we have a very, very large number of seats to fill.”
It’s notable that a significant portion of Mirvish’s 2026-27 subscription programming comes either from Canada or the U.K., with less of an American presence than in previous years. When it comes to the current moment of “elbows up” nationalism, Mirvish acknowledged that audiences are increasingly choosing not to go to the U.S., but added that completely shutting out American tours, artists and contractors from the business is an untenable – and undesirable – outcome for a company of Mirvish’s size and international repute.
“To close the door to American work would be doing a disservice to the theatre community as a whole,” she said. “People are not their politicians, just like I am definitely not every Canadian politician.” Mirvish added that fewer new Broadway shows are launching tours these days – the big-name shows that are currently touring, she said, such as Phantom of the Opera or Beauty and the Beast, might turn up as add-ons to the subscription season.
Closing out the season is Salesman in China, Leanna Brodie and Jovanni Sy’s play about Arthur Miller’s 1983 trip to China to stage Death of a Salesman. The show received universally positive reviews during its Stratford and National Arts Centre runs, and will be presented next summer in English and Mandarin with subtitles. Casting has not yet been confirmed.
“I’ve been in love with Salesman in China since I saw it at Stratford,” said Mirvish. “It’s such a powerful piece and we have such an opportunity to introduce it to a new audience, on a bigger stage and with a different platform. It’s so beautiful – I am truly excited that we get to present it.”
