The CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre opened in 1920 as a combination vaudeville and motion picture house and subsequently operated for over 50 years in various configurations as a cinema complex only. During the late 1980s the movie complex was gutted and rebuilt as a live performance theatre, with the lobby areas painstakingly restored to the original 1920s design. It reopened in 1989 as the Pantages Theatre with a production of The Phantom of the Opera, which went on to play there for 10 years. It later became the Imperial Theatre, and then the Canon Theatre, before being renamed in honour of Ed Mirvish by his son David in 2011. In September, 2021, Mirvish Productions signed a new 10-year partnership with CAA South Central Ontario that includes naming rights and the theatre became the CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre.
In November, 2021, major renovations began to prepare the theatre for the presentation of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which opened in May, 2022. To create a more intimate, immersive experience, the theatre has been reduced from 2200 seats to 1600 by inserting faux walls to slim down both levels, and shorten the mezzanine by several rows. The two aisles that previously ran the length of the theatre on each side of the centre orchestra have now been combined into one aisle down the centre. The entire theatre, including the beautiful ceiling, has been repainted and custom-designed features including light features, trims and Potter wallpaper added.
Tickets for all performances at the CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre are available online at mirvish.com and by telephone through TicketKing at 1-800-461-3333. (TicketKing is the only official ticketing agent for MIrvish productions). The CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre box office is located at 244 Victoria Street. Check mirvish.com for up-to-date information on box office hours.
Accessibility Services: For assistance booking special access seats or to learn more about any of the theatre’s accessibility services, call 1-800-461-3333.
Rush and Standing Room Tickets: The availability of rush and standing room tickets to Mirvish shows varies by show, date and theatre. Check mirvish.com or call the box office to enquire about availability for a specific show.
E-mail Subscribers to the Mirvish Newsletter receive advance notice of tickets and special offers. Sign up at mirvish.com.
CAA Members enjoy savings of up to 25% on select shows and dates, as well as other benefits such as a 15% concession discount with a valid membership card. You can buy tickets online or by telephone with your CAA Membership number. See mirvish.com for details.
American Express offers Front of the Line tickets to some shows. See mirvish.com for details.
Group Sales: Save on bookings of 15 or more for select performances. Group bookings of 15-29 tickets is available online. For group bookings of 30+ tickets, call 1-800-461-3333. See mirvish.com for details.
NOTE: The theatre seating has been reconfigured to suit the presentation of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Consequently, some of the specific seating notes below from before the renovations may no longer be completely accurate, while other, more general notes will still be applicable and helpful.
LAYOUT
Wheelchair seating is available in several locations throughout the orchestra. Enter through the Victoria Street entrance to use the theatre’s only elevator to the orchestra level. The Yonge Street entrance takes patrons directly to the mezzanine level by way of stairs. To access the orchestra level, you then have to go back down stairs once in the theatre.
The mezzanine overhangs the orchestra at row L.
The lobby is quite small for the size of the theatre and can get extremely crowded at intermission between people lined up at the bar, gathering to socialize, and the inevitable line-up to the women’s washroom extending into the lobby.
There is also a bar/refreshment counter on the mezzanine level and in the Yonge Street Gallery (between the Yonge Street entrance and the mezzanine), and a priority bar for the exclusive use of American Express cardholders located on the east side of the lobby beside the box office.
SEATING NOTES
Row A in the orchestra is open to a cross aisle. We Loons like these seats as there is no one directly ahead to potentially block your view and legroom is open.
READER REVIEWS
“We sat in the front row, AA, and found it way too close to the stage – the visibility was poor.”
“Row DD, Seat 22. I enjoy sitting close to the stage so that I can clearly see the actors’ expressions, although I am short and if I sit dead centre and tall people sit directly ahead of me, it may block my view of all the action taking place at centre stage. It happened that at Matilda an exceptionally tall woman sat ahead of me and to the right, somewhat blocking my direct view of centre stage even from this seat well to the left side of centre. However, I could easily peek around her when necessary and it did not deter from the performance at all – a better seat choice for me than dead centre.”
“Row A, Seat 15. I loved the clear view from this seat.”
“Row A, Seat 45. I had an excellent view from this seat. Since you are in the first row of this section, there are no worries about peering around heads in front of you or having people manoeuvring past you to their seats. Also, of course, unlimited leg room. Seat 45 is to one side, but not enough to miss any important action on stage.”
“Row E, Seat 43. I had an excellent view from this seat.
“Row F, Seat 44. My view was quite good from this seat. I liked being so much closer to the stage than in the balcony, but you do pay for it.”
“I had a good view from the centre of the orchestra.”
“I sat in Row R and found that I couldn’t see past the person ahead of me without moving side to side. I wish the rows were raked more”
“We sat in the centre orchestra in row R and we had a good view of the stage”
“Row V, Seat 44. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the rear of the orchestra does not seem as far away from the action onstage as I had imagined it would and I had a good view. However, no one sat in the row directly in front of me. I am quite short and I know that if they had, I would have been doing at lot of manoeuvring to try to see.”
“We found the seats to be spacious, plush and comfortable.”
“I dislike this theatre because of the chaos in the small lobby at intermission and after the show.”
“The line-up for the women’s washroom at intermission is ridiculous. If you’re not near the front of the line, it can take the entire length of intermission to get in.”
LAYOUT
Access to the mezzanine is by stairs only.
There is a bar/refreshment counter and washrooms on this level. There is also a bar/refreshment counter in the Yonge Street Gallery (between the Yonge Street entrance and the mezzanine).
SEATING NOTES
If you are a shorter person, the safety railing in front of Row AA may obstruct your view.
Readers consistently mention that the seats in the mezzanine level are not offset nor the rows raked enough. As in any theatre, tall people fare better.
READER REVIEWS
“Row BB, Seat 116. As a short(er) woman, I generally avoid buying seats in the first row of a mezzanine or balcony in any theatre on the chance that the safety railing might obstruct my view, but I was surprised to find that my sight line was still obstructed from this seat in the second row. In fact, three of us in a row balled up our winter jackets and sat on them for the entire production so that we could see clearly.”
“I’ve never had a problem with the view from the orchestra in the past but this time I sat in Row C centre in the mezzanine. My view was blocked entirely by the man ahead of me, who only seemed to be of average height. I had to spend the whole play leaning to one side to see. I won’t get mezzanine seats again.”
“I sat in Row J of the mezzanine and thought the view was great.”
“I find the view from the mezzanine terrible. The seats are not offset or raked well enough for a female of average height to see over the head of the person in the row ahead, requiring me to lean forward or move from side to side as the actors move around the stage.”
“Row V is the 2nd last row of regular seating in the mezzanine. I had to sit very straight and forward in my seat to see the actors at the front of the stage over the people seated ahead of me.”
“The sight lines from the mezzanine are excellent, even in the last row on the raised stools. The stage is quite far away, though, so the experience is more about hearing the music than seeing the actors’ faces in detail.”
“It’s impossible to see the faces of the actors from the seats at the back of the mezzanine and I felt very disconnected from the action happening onstage.”
“The seats are spacious compared to some other theatres, but the sight lines from the upper mezzanine can be challenging for children. Note that Mirvish has free booster seats available at the coat check.”
“I’m 5’11” and I didn’t have any problem seeing from near the back of the mezzanine.”
There is an elevator at the Victoria Street entrance that goes from street to orchestra level. The mezzanine has no elevator service, so wheelchair seating is available on the orchestra level only.
The coat check is located on the mezzanine level.
Booster seats are available at the coat check.
The theatre is equipped with infra-red listening systems for the deaf and hard of hearing. This system requires use of headsets, which are available free of charge at the theatre coat check counter.
The theatre has three bars/refreshment counters: orchestra lobby, mezzanine lobby and Yonge Street Gallery. In addition to the regular bars, there are carts set up in various lobby spaces.
