TORONTO - Dancap Productions wants to take its shows across Canada as it gears up for a musical-filled 2011 subscription season that includes "The Addams Family," "9 to 5," "Memphis" and the return of "South Pacific."
"We have a national view and we are starting to book and program shows across the entire country," president Aubrey Dan said in an interview Tuesday, after unveiling next year's lineup at a swank luncheon.
"We are going to be a national company, coast-to-coast, with the idea of bringing these great shows from Toronto nationwide."
Dan wouldn't reveal specifics but said the company typically has the Canadian rights to most of the shows in which it's invested and can therefore tour them across the country.
The Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein classic "South Pacific" -- which recently ended a critically acclaimed run in the city -- is the first show in the 2011 season, running Feb. 15 to April 10 at the Toronto Centre for the Arts.
Toronto-based Jason Howard and Carmen Cusack will return as the leads in the Tony Award-winning tale of American military personnel stationed on a tropical island during the Second World War.
"9 to 5: The Musical," which follows three unlikely office buddies and features a score by country music star Dolly Parton, will play the Toronto Centre for the Arts from June 29 to July 10.
The Pulitzer Prize and Tony-winning "Next to Normal" will run at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts July 19-31. Alice Ripley will reprise her Tony-winning leading role in a story of a family trying to take care of itself.
Twyla Tharp's Tony winner "Come Fly Away" -- a love story featuring four couples, a big band and the vocals of Frank Sinatra -- will be at the Four Seasons Centre from Aug. 16-28.
"The Addams Family," which is based on the cartoon and TV series about a macabre family, features choreography by Canadian Sergio Trujillo and will play the Toronto Centre for the Arts Nov. 16-27. The Broadway production starring Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth earned two Tony nominations.
"Memphis," this year's Tony winner for best musical, closes out the season Dec. 6-24 at the Toronto Centre for the Arts. The tale of fame and forbidden love in 1950s Memphis features music by Bon Jovi founding member David Bryan, and choreography by Trujillo.
This is the first subscription season in about two years for Dancap, which launched in 2007 and recently closed out its two-year run of the smash hit "Jersey Boys."
Dan says some people think Chicago has eclipsed Toronto as "Broadway north" and he wants to make the city a "world-class theatre city" again by bringing shows that have either won or been nominated for a Tony.
"The quality of the production must be really, really high," he said.
"We typically like it to be on Broadway, to have a life there, so we know that it's passed the smell test of just the high standards."
All shows in the 2011 season, excluding "South Pacific," will be direct from Broadway and therefore likely won't have Canadian cast members, he added.
