STAGE TUBE: The Mirvish's ONCE Hosts World's Biggest Blind Date

In what is believed to be the world's biggest blind date, the producers of the musical ONCE in Toronto have arranged for 1,200 single people to go on blind dates on Wednesday, June 3rd at an evening performance of the Tony Award-winning musical. Below, check out this video from this event!

Mirvish Productions sent out an email to over 600,000 theatregoers in Toronto asking for participants in a "social experiment". Acknowledging that meeting people is now more difficult than ever, despite the proliferation of online dating sites and apps, the producers of ONCE wanted to find out if they could help connect people who share a common interest -- that is, a passion for theatre. After all, one of the themes of the musical ONCE is the random meeting and connection of two lonely people through their love of music. Could the same happen with a love of theatre?

Towards this end, theatregoers could register for a blind date by supplying simple facts about themselves -- age, gender, orientation and favourite stage musical. The data was kept simple on purpose, so that the focus was strictly on the shared interest in theatre; not even a photo was required.

Over 5,000 people registered. A computer programme matched the registrants to create 600 couples. They will meet each other for the first time on Wednesday, June 3rd when they take their seats at 8 PM at the Ed MIrvish Theatre for a private performance of ONCE. The entire audience that night will be singles on blind dates.

All that each person will know about his/her blind date is a first name and seat location (dates will be seated together). What happens next is up to chance and chemistry.

At the very least, they will enjoy a performance of ONCE, which has delighted audiences in productions around the world since premiering on Broadway in March 2012.

But maybe, to use a cliche, sparks will fly, and two people will connect over their love of theatre.

To help make this even easier, the entire audience will be invited to an after-party with the cast of ONCE in the auditorium and theatre lobbies.

Whatever happens, the might of June 3rd will be very special. When else has an entire theatre been packed with singles on blind dates?

ONCE opened to rave reviews on February 22nd, 2015 at the Ed Mirvish Theatre, with an all-Canadian cast features IAN LAKE as Guy and TRISH LINDSTRÖM as Girl. STEPHANIE CADMAN as Ex-Girlfriend, NATHAN CARROLL as Andrej, DONNA GARNER as Baruska, 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, BENJAMIN CAMENZULI, GABI EPSTEIN, JEFF HAMACHER, JUSTIN RAISEBECK, ALICIA TONER and SEANA-LEE WOOD. SCARLETT ROSE BILDFELL and EVA GREIG alternate in the role of Ivanka.

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.

Performance Schedule: Tue-Sat 8:00 PM; matinees Wed, Sat & Sun 2:00 PM

Tickets $29 to $130

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

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