Toronto’s Canadian Stage Company recently presented its production of My Name is Lucy Barton at the Bluma Appel Theatre at the St. Lawrence Centre.Fernando Morales/The Globe and Mail
Toronto’s Canadian Stage was incorporated in 1987 and it has been in the red since then. Not any more. The not-for-profit theatre company has eliminated its accumulated debt after 37 years.
It was accomplished through a special fundraising appeal instigated by donors Paul and Janice Sabourin and matched by current and past board members.
“It was an initiative we were not expecting,” Canadian Stage executive director Monica Esteves said. “It actually surprised us.”
When Esteves and artistic director Brendan Healy took over leadership of Canadian Stage in 2019 and 2018, respectively, the organization’s built-up debt was $1.7-million. According to Esteves, they’ve been “chipping away” at that figure for some six years now.
Helping the bottom line was success at the box office. Last year saw the largest number of single ticket buyers since 2008. The organization reported a surplus of $289,749 for the 2023-24 season.
“What we’ve been trying to achieve is to position Canadian Stage as a civic institution of the city,” Healy said. “I feel it is an obligation to speak to a wide range of Torontonians, whether it be multicultural or multigenerational, and to select programming I felt would appeal to a wide range of people.”
Healy said there were a “substantial number” of first-time ticket buyers this season. He points to the success of Matthew Lopez’s The Inheritance, Part 1 and Part 2, a sprawling epic that made its much anticipated Canadian premiere at the 868-seat Bluma Appel Theatre this spring.
“We’ve seen first-time theatregoers across the board with our programming, but The Inheritance spoke to a queer demographic,” said Healy, who directed the play.
The current Canadian Stage production is Playing Shylock, a topical one-hander starring Canadian actor and Hollywood star Saul Rubinek. Up next, though, is something new and different for Canadian Stage: The Christmas pantomime The Wizard of Oz: The Toto-ly Awesome Family Musical, in association with the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres. The city’s panto legend Ross Petty is on board as executive producer emeritus.
“Pantomime introduces children to the power of live theatre, and what Ross Petty did for almost 25 years was create a new generation of theatregoers,” Healy said. “It is critical that we are building the audiences of tomorrow. Theatre matters, and we should try to make it available to everybody.”
Editor’s note: A previous version of this article incorrectly referred to Canadian Stage as CanStage, a former name. The photo caption incorrectly stated the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts is the home of Canadian Stage; it is one of the theatre company's homes. This article has also been updated to clarify that the theatre company has eliminated its debt after 37 years.