Thank you for the invitation to appear before the committee, and gratitude to the clerk and her team for their guidance and support.
I'm a Toronto-based commercial theatre producer and representing the Canadian Commercial Theatre League, a relatively new organization.
The live commercial theatre industry in Canada is made up of independent producers, producing organizations, presenters and investors who generate and support the creation of new and existing theatrical work, and in the process employ thousands of artists, crew members, ushers and administrative staff and provide indirect employment to hotels, restaurants and local retail.
In addition, we support the not-for-profit sector by financially enhancing productions in these theatres and by commercially producing works started at not-for-profit theatres.
Private money is raised to support capitalization costs for commercial theatre and that money is injected into the economy. Our only sources of revenue to meet our weekly operating costs are from box-office sales, so the effects of COVID-19 on our industry have been catastrophic.
I had the idea to create a musical based on the extraordinary humanity, kindness and sense of community in Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador on 9/11 and the days following. I'm the originating producer of Come From Away, the most successful Canadian musical in history.
When COVID-19 gripped the world, five productions of the show in the U.S., U.K., Australia and Toronto shut down.
At home, our sector raised concerns that commercial theatre producers and presenters were not eligible for any emergency support under Canadian Heritage relief programs. With international precedent in hand, we had numerous meetings with MPs, ministers, staffers and bureaucrats, pleading our need for emergency relief, tax relief, and/or a government-backed insurance program due to the loss of business interruption coverage as a result of a pandemic.
We, like all other arts and culture organizations in this extraordinary moment, needed help.
The Americans passed the Save Our Stages Act, which established the shuttered venue operators grant. Come From Away's Broadway and North American touring productions each received $10 million U.S. to support reopening and associated pandemic expenses. The Australian production received over $1.6 million Australian from their restart investment to sustain and expand fund.
The London production of Come From Away benefited from tax relief measures implemented by the U.K. government, including a temporary reduction in the VAT. Commercial theatre producers and presenters were also eligible to apply for relief under the U.K. culture recovery fund.
Despite the lack of government support here at home, determined to reopen Come from Away in Toronto, $1.5 million in private money was committed, and with heightened risk, Mirvish Productions reopened the show. Reopening coincided with the Omicron variant. Two days after reopening, the Government of Ontario placed a 50% capacity limit on theatres, further eroding consumer confidence in attending theatre.
After pausing the show due to cast illness, and with no Canadian Heritage emergency supports available, the excruciating decision to permanently close Canada's most successful musical was announced on December 27, 2021.
What was lost? It was good-paying jobs for those on stage and off, millions in HST revenue, and hundreds of millions of dollars in economic impact to the Toronto economy.
Subsequent to the closing of the show, the current minister and his staff have been responsive and engaged in a number of robust conversations regarding support for the commercial theatre sector in Canada, and we are grateful for those ongoing conversations.
Come From Away continues to run on Broadway, in London's West End, on tour across North America, and recently wrapped up in Sydney and will reopen in additional Australian cities later this year.
Come from Away is but one example of a number of shows in Canada that commercial producers and presenters have closed, postponed or cancelled at significant cost.
We need a recognition of the economic impact of what we do, and we need the implementation of similar programs for our sector that have catapulted the for-profit film and television industry into one of the most successful in the world. We need to operate at 100% capacity or we further erode consumer confidence.
To ensure our sector's sustainable recovery and to succeed now and in the future, we need immediate access to emergency COVID-19 funding; a government-backed insurance program; tax-credit programs in similar scope to what has been provided to for-profit Canadian film and television productions; support for encouraging diverse voices in the Canadian commercial theatre sector; and implementation of recommendations proposed by the Creative Industries Coalition so that the skilled people who make theatre have financial security and wellness supports to continue in our industry.
I remain grateful for the support the Government of Canada has provided to the arts and culture community and hope our recommendations for our sector are worthy of your support and implementation so that we can receive the necessary aid to continue our contributions to country and community.
Thanks very much.