Re: A Revitalized Toronto Pins Its Hopes on the Hobbits: NYT
From the Chicago Tribute:
Toronto behind the curtain
Canada's struggling arts capital bets heavily on Hobbits, new shows to revive scene
By Chris Jones
Tribune arts critic
Published March 26, 2006
TORONTO -- In the glory days of the 1990s, this appealing and sophisticated Canadian city on Lake Ontario drew huge numbers of fun-seeking American visitors, especially from Michigan, Ohio and New York, but many from Chicago, to a vibrant arts-and-entertainment town. A short flight or drive across a low-key border, and one could see a slew of huge, fresh entertainment spectaculars from a "Phantom of the Opera" that ran for a decade to a colossal "Showboat," produced by local boy Garth Drabinsky. Toronto was Broadway North.
Not anymore. Unlike Chicago's booming scene -- boosted by its rediscovered urban center and the large amounts of city investment in renovated theaters -- Toronto's entertainment industry has been trapped in a long, downward spiral.
How badly did Toronto think it needed "The Lord of the Rings," the colossal, $28 million musical spectacular that officially opened here Thursday night to high hopes but reviews that fell far short of expectations?
Badly enough that the Ontario government agreed to risk $3 million in public money in this for-profit show -- not for the building but, incredibly, the actual production -- despite charges that deficit-strapped provincial taxpayers were now being asked to subsidize someone's singing hobbits.
There was a cultural direction to reverse. Drabinsky's empire, which had spent a fortune advertising Toronto shows in American newspapers, proved to have been built on a fiscal house of cards. More recently, "The Producers" and "Hairspray" closed far earlier than expected here. "Wicked" decamped quickly for Chicago -- increasingly the bete noire of envious Toronto arts boosters.
Last spring, the Chicago-based Second City pulled the plug on its ambitious multitheater entertainment complex at 56 Blue Jays Way that also housed a production of "Tony 'N' Tina's Wedding" and an Italian restaurant. The building, in the heart of Toronto's entertainment district, was costing in excess of $1 million a year in overhead. It now stands empty.
"The total loss for me and my partners," said Andrew Alexander, the owner of Second City, "was approaching $9 million." Alexander said he thought seriously of pulling Second City -- a longtime part of the cultural fabric here -- out of Toronto altogether. He didn't have the heart -- Second City now has re-opened in a new, far-smaller theater across the street where the rent and capacity are both much lower and business is on the upswing. But this still was a major retrenchment by a brand name in Toronto entertainment.
So what on earth happened on the shores of Lake Ontario? Independent Canadian producers such as Jeffrey Lattimer, a veteran of scores of mid-size Toronto shows over the years, can rattle off a variety of problems. Number one on his (and most everyone's) list is the fallout from the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which decimated American tourism after the new millennium. There was the demise of Drabinsky and the rise of Chicago, whose greenery-loving mayor is regarded here as something of an urban prophet. There's also a widespread sense that the various levels of government in Toronto have not cared sufficiently about urban culture in years.
Lattimer also said there has been a cultural shift in Toronto away from going out to see comedy and other live entertainment. "Everyone here used to go to Second City twice a year," Lattimer said. "It was just what you did."
Clearly, that's a much tougher sell now. Second City Toronto has had to confront the reality that the loyal local audience that loved and cherished its shows in the days of SCTV or Mike Myers has now grown older, probably had kids, probably moved to the suburbs, and doesn't go out so much anymore. "We've had to make sure that people now know we're not your parents' Second City anymore," said Klaus Schuller, who runs Second City Toronto.
Second City Chicago, which is driven far more by tourists, has not faced the same problems. And it also innovated far more quickly in the 1990s, ditching the old styles of sketch comedy for new, fast-paced shows with recurring characters that appeal to younger audiences.
And in the post 9/11 world, there are other factors in play for a city that always has relied on American spending. The rising Canadian dollar -- now not far from parity with the American greenback -- means Toronto is no longer as financially attractive to U.S. visitors.
Guarding the border
Worse maybe is yet to come. The Ontario culture and entertainment industry is staring with terror at the impending new passport requirements for Americans crossing the border.
"Only two Americans in 10 carry passports," wrote the worried columnist John Ibbitson in The Globe and Mail on Thursday. "A whole lot of them will just give the Shaw Festival [in nearby Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont.] a pass rather than waste time filling out forms and getting their pictures taken."
With all that gloom and doom in the air, the people with a vested interest in resuscitating the Toronto arts and entertainment scene have decided to make a full-court press.
And it is beginning with Mr. Frodo.
The city has rallied behind this spectacle in startling fashion. On Thursday, The Toronto Star ran an entire special section (without any advertisements) dedicated to the show, as if Gandalf were appearing in the World Series. And local business owners are paying close attention -- and nervously wondering whether the show will be the kind of long-range hit that will raise everyone's boats.
"We are selling a lot of clothes to the guys playing the Hobbits," said Jeffrey Brown, the owner of an eponymous Toronto clothing store dedicated to short men, on the day before the show's official opening. "I've got one coming in around half-past two. Is the show any good?"
That depends on whom you ask. Most North American critics were negative, faulting the show for everything from its length to its lack of a true theater score to a lack of clarity in the storytelling. "Bored of the Rings" was a common headline. Brent Carver, the one marquee name in the show, was roundly criticized for his wispy version of Gandalf. British critics, however, were considerably kinder, appreciating the show's grandeur and felicity to its source.
Reviews aside, "LOTR" might be spectacular enough to survive here for a couple of years given the appeal of the title. But after so much negative press, the breadth of its drawing power now seems seriously uncertain, and the likelihood of its making it to Broadway is, to put it mildly, questionable.
The show -- which is expected to open in London in December 2007 -- has that colossal $28 million investment to return. And a long-term future will require hundreds of thousands of people to pony up to $125 Canadian for tickets and commit to a largely humorless show with a running time in excess of 3 1/2 hours. "Mamma Mia" it's not.
"Lord of the Rings" had a troubled gestation period. Early previews had a running time well in excess of five hours. There were local rumors of major trouble. And the major national critics, most of whom had been initially scheduled to attend March 17, were called at the last minute and told they were hereby dis-invited for at least two additional days.
Counting ankles
From his basement perch, Michael Roth, the owner of Toronto's Theatre Q's bookshop, has been charting the judicious cuts by carefully noting the time he sees ankles exiting the theater. "I just hope this attracts a theater crowd," Roth said, nervously, "and not just the sci-fi crowd."
Actually, Toronto will need every kind of crowd. The deal with lead "LOTR" producer Kevin Wallace gives Toronto a guaranteed 18-month run of the show -- to the extent that anything in commercial theater comes with a guarantee. Along with Second City, the show is the centerpiece of a new Ontario Ministry of Tourism commercial that debuted in the border states on Oscar night. "Ontario," it says, hopefully, "now playing."
For sure, Toronto never completely stopped playing. A new home for the Canadian Opera Company, dubbed The Four Seasons Center, is under construction downtown. Soulpepper Theatre, Toronto's rough equivalent of Steppenwolf, has spiffy new $14 million digs in the city's hip distillery district. An exhibit at the Art Gallery of Ontario, titled "Culture City: New Toronto Buildings," showcases several new or renovated arts buildings changing the face of the city. There's talk of a cultural renaissance, fueled by belated public investment.
Over at Second City, they've imported Chicago director Mick Napier for the well-received and droll first show -- aptly dubbed "Second City Reloaded" -- in the new space, which Schuller said was designed to resemble the Chicago mainstage. Ironically, Second City's new home more closely resembles its original Toronto home in the Old Firehall, the scene of its SCTV glory days and now home to a Gilda's Club, Alexander's favorite charity. The troupe also has jumped on the "LOTR" bandwagon: It's opening a late-night parody show titled "Rings! A Fellowship of Fools."
Lattimer said he plans to re-open the shuttered theater complex on Blue Jays Way in April with a show called "BoyGroove," a spoof of the 'N Sync genre, to be followed, he said, by more shows. CanStage company, a local non-profit, is launching a production of "Hair" that it hopes to run for months. And there's talk of more sit-down productions. But a successful stand for "LOTR" has been widely seen as a key component of all that. "Those big draws," said Lattimer, "are essential to everything else."
In a theater world dominated by New York and London, Toronto does have one major advantage over Chicago and other U.S. cities. Canadian audiences and critics are perceived by British producers as far more friendly to their product. That's why the London musical "Billy Elliot" is likely to make its North American debut in Toronto. And it perhaps explains why London critics, compared with their American colleagues, greatly preferred "LOTR" -- Toronto is much closer to a West End aesthetic (far more populist and eclectic) than to Broadway, where purists guard the gates.
That's that good news. But Chicago now competes more strongly than ever, thanks to its bigger population and newly revitalized theater district. It also has become associated with hits such as "The Producers," which matters a great deal in a business fueled by perception.
Torontonians are unfailingly polite. But you can smell the rivalry. "There's always been that competition," said Second City's Schuller. "Over the years, the pendulum has swung back and forth."
Thursday's special "LOTR" section in the Star included a timeline, charting the show's long gestation.
"Mid-December 2004," it reads, "Chicago makes a bid to try and steal `LOTR' out from under Toronto."
As if Chicago were Tolkien's evil Mordor, no Canadian expense was spared to keep the One Ring away from its American rival. It worked.
But was this show worth either the fight or the money? "You may find yourself fighting back tears," Toronto Star critic Richard Ouzounian wrote in his Friday review, "but they'll be ones of disappointment."
