Stage Door News
Stage Door News
Toronto – David Mirvish, is delighted to announce the all-Canadian cast for the new sit-down Toronto production of the Tony Award-winning ‘Best Musical’ ONCE.
Two young actors from the Stratford Festival will star in the two coveted leading roles. IAN LAKE will star as Guy and TRISH LINDSTRÖM as Girl.
IAN LAKE has performed at Stratford in such classics as Mary Stuart, Othello, Elektra, Cymbeline, The Homecoming, Twelfth Night, The Winter’s Tale, As You Like It, Bartholomew Fair, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Caesar & Cleopatra, Love’s Labour’s Lost. In Toronto he has starred in The Valley and This Is War for the Tarragon Theatre. He is a graduate of the National Theatre School, and the Birmingham Conservatory at the Stratford Festival.
TRISH LINDSTRÖM is currently appearing at the Stratford Festival as “Alice” in Alice Through the Looking-Glass and as “Titania/Hermia” in Peter Sellars’, A Midsummer Night’s Dream: A Chamber Play. Other Stratford highlights include playing “Miranda” opposite Christopher Plummer in The Tempest; “Sally Bowles” in Cabaret and “Helen Keller” in The Miracle Worker. Elsewhere, Trish has appeared in productions across Canada including five seasons at the Shaw Festival; Bloodless (Theatre 20- Founding Artist); The Game of Love and Chance (Canadian Stage); In the Next Room (Tarragon/MTC); Exit the King, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Soulpepper); Assassins (Dora Nomination/TIFT/Birdland); Mimi (Dora Nomination/Tarragon); The Mousetrap (Theatre Aquarius); Mary’s Wedding (Merritt Nomination/Ship’s Company) Dancing in Poppies (Grand); Emily (Charlottetown); The Cassillis Engagement, Hotel Pecadillo, The Crucible, Tinker’s Wedding, Gypsy, Happy End, Plough and the Stars (Shaw).
The rest of the cast includes STEPHANIE CADMAN as Ex-Girlfriend, NATHAN CARROL as Andrej, EMILY LUKASIK as Reza, JON-ALEX MACFARLANE as Bank Manager, BRANDON MCGIBBON as Svec, STEPHEN GUY-MCGRATH as Billy, LAURIE MURDOCH as Da, BRENDAN WALL as Eamon, JEREMY WALMSLEY as Emcee, BEN CAMENZULI, GABI EPSTEIN, JUSTIN RAISEBECK, ALICIA TONER and SEANA-LEE WOOD.
Toronto fell in love with ONCE in December 2013, when the first touring company of the Tony Award-winning musical played here for a limited run; a critical and popular hit, it sold out every single seat during its six-week run. The Toronto Star called ONCE “a perfect illustration of the magic that musical theatre at its best is capable of.” The Globe and Mail awarded it four stars, its highest rating.
About ONCE
Set in modern day Dublin, ONCE tells the story of Guy, an Irish musician who has given up on his music—and his love—and Girl, a Czech immigrant who inspires him to dream again. Over the course of one fateful week, their unexpected friendship and collaboration evolves into a powerful but complicated romance, heightened by the raw emotion of the songs they create together.
ONCE is based on the 2007 Academy Award-winning film of the same name, written and directed by John Carney, and starring Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, who also wrote the original music and lyrics.
The stage adaptation is brought to life by an award-winning team of visionary artists: book by award-winning Irish playwright & screenwriter, Enda Walsh (Penelope, Hunger, The New Electric Ballroom); direction by the acclaimed Scottish director of Black Watch, John Tiffany; movement by Steven Hoggett (Black Watch, American Idiot); and music supervision and orchestrations by Martin Lowe (Mamma Mia!). The set and costume design are by five-time Tony Award winner Bob Crowley (The Coast of Utopia, Mary Poppins), lighting design is by Tony winner Natasha Katz (Aida, The Coast of Utopia), and sound design is by Clive Goodwin.
ONCE was originally developed at the American Repertory Theater (Cambridge, Massachusetts) in April 2011.
A developmental run of ONCE played in November 2011 to January 2012 at New York Theatre Workshop.
ONCE opened on Broadway on March 18. 2012, produced by Barbara Broccoli, John N. Hart Jr., Patrick Milling Smith, Frederick Zollo, Brian Carmody, Michael G. Wilson, Orin Wolf, The Shubert Organization and Executive Producer Robert Cole, in association with New York Theatre Workshop.
The production won eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical. It also won Best Musical from the New York Drama Critics’ Circle, Drama Desk, Drama League, Outer Critic Circle and Lucille Lortel Awards. The original cast recording won the 2013 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.
ONCE is currently running on Broadway at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre (now in its third year) and in London’s West End at the Phoenix Theatre (now in its second year). The national tour is playing across North America and the show’s Australian premiere begins in October 2014 in Melbourne. Future international productions are also planned.
ONCE
Performances Begin February 10, 2015
Previews February 10 to 23 • Media Night Tuesday, February 24
Performance Schedule: Tue-Sat 8 PM; matinees Wed, Sat & Sun 2 PM
(Added shows: Mon Feb 16, Mon 23 at 8 PM, Thur Feb 26 matinee;
No shows Wed Feb 11 matinee, Sun Feb 15 matinee; Wed Feb 24 matinee; Sun March 1 matinee)
Tickets are now on sale
Tickets $29 to $130
Ed Mirvish Theatre, 244 Victoria St., Toronto
Online www.mirvish.com
By Phone 416-872-1212 or 1-800-461-3333
Groups of 12 or more 416-593-4142 or 1-800-724-6420
Photos: Ian Lake and Trish Lindström.
2014-09-16
Toronto: All-Canadian cast announced for Toronto sit-down production of "Once"