Post City Magazines | June 2008, Aubrey Dan by Adam Nayman

Aubrey Dan

T.O.’s newest theatre mogul on his battle with Mirvish, his favourite musical and why he loves to call North York home

by Adam Nayman

BY THE TIME you read this story, we will know if Aubrey Dan was successful in his attempt to block the sale of Toronto’s Canon and Panasonic theatres to David Mirvish, a headline-grabbing move that could wind up reshaping Toronto’s entertainment landscape.

Last month, the North York– based producer — whose year-old Dancap brand has mounted soldout presentations of the Broadway hits The Drowsy Chaperone and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee — commenced legal proceedings against Mirvish Productions and New York’s Key Brand Entertainment, alleging that the latter violated a contract that would have seen Dancap Productions take control of both venues.

The media wasted no time in painting Dan as the underdog in this clash: a Globe and Mail piece on the situation ran under the headline “Ambitious impresario faces an uphill battle.”

“This is an uphill battle, no question about it,” says Dan in an interview conducted a few days after he applied for an injunction in Ontario Superior Court. “When one is in a position where you’re filing a statement of claim against a partner … well, nobody wants to go down that street. It derails the focus of one’s business. My goal is very straightforward: to bring the best of Broadway to Toronto, to expose them to it so that they can build a habit of appreciating wonderful theatre.”

When I ask if the difficulties of getting litigious with a business partner are compounded by the stature of the third party — “Mirvish” sits pretty high on the list of local household surnames — Dan responds with a rather pointed bit of diplomacy. “I’ve said publically that I have the greatest respect for the Mirvishes — especially [the late] Ed [Mirvish], who is an institution here in Toronto. He has done a lot for the city, beyond giving out his turkeys. But I find myself being thwarted and facing a virtual monopoly that doesn’t like competition.”

Regardless of whether or not Dan is on solid legal footing — the case is extremely complicated, involving a series of seemingly contradictory agreements dating back to the much-publicized dissolution of Garth Drabinsky’s Livent — his argument that Toronto’s commercial theatre scene could benefit from some behind-the-scenes diversity seems sound.

“The more [competition], the better,” he asserts. “It raises the standards of the shows.”

Expectations are already high for Dancap’s summer presentations, including the Toronto premiere of the Tony Award–winning Jersey Boys (starting Aug. 21 at the North York Centre for the Arts) and the naughty puppet hijinks of the Sesame Street satire Avenue Q (July 29 to Aug. 31 at the Elgin Theatre).

Although Dan has had success mounting revivals of beloved shows like My Fair Lady, he says he’s particularly interested in contemporary properties that he believes have the ability to engage a wide audience.

And at this point, it’s fair to assume that Dan has a practised critical eye: he’s in New York several times a year scouting shows. “I will quote my friend Kevin McCollum from New York, who produced Rent, In the Heights and many other shows,” says Dan. “He believes that ‘the magic of theatre is that you start on earth and bring somebody to the heavens.’ A show needs to move the needle of people’s hearts.”

He cites In the Heights, which received 13 Tony nominations, as an example of a show with the sort of broad appeal that transcends typical thinking about theatregoing demographics — just as his use of the North York Centre for the Arts goes against conventional wisdom that big-ticket shows are mounted downtown.

“It’s not about uptown or downtown. Theatre is a magnet for tourism, and the show will drive the process. What you need are theatres, you need real estate.”

This observation could easily lead us back to a discussion of the Mirvish–Key Brand imbroglio, but Dan chooses to focus the conversation on a theatre he already uses regularly.

“I’ve always loved the North York Centre for the Arts. I have great memories of seeing shows here, and I knew that the right titles could bring it back to life.” He notes that the house was rocking — if one can use such an obviously un–Lerner and Lowe–ish term — for My Fair Lady.

“We had people singing along in their seats, singing along in the aisles. It’s about creating memories, establishing memories and reliving memories,” he says.

Dan has his own fond reminiscences, of course. He says that the first show to make a big impression on him was Hair. “The soundtrack was my second favourite album as a kid, right after the Beatles. And subsequently, I had the pleasure of doing the revival here in Toronto.”

But Dan was no theatre brat. He got a degree from the University of Western Ontario in administrative and commercial studies and made his name — and fortune — in the world of generic drugs before turning his attention toward the proscenium.

“I’ve been very fortunate,” he says of his various business ventures. “And my philosophy is that the more money I make, the more money I am able to give away.” Dan’s penchant for philanthropy is well established. Last year, he and his wife Marla donated $8 million to Sunnybrook’s women and babies program. He’s also contributed to Baycrest, and to his alma mater. Go to Western’s website, and you’ll find a listing for the Aubrey Dan program in management and organizational studies. “The focus of [the program] was changed. Before, students who went there who wanted to be a chartered accountant had to leave the school and go somewhere else. Now, they can go straight through to be a CA or a CFA,” he says.

It’s unlikely that any of these aspiring accountants will end up becoming theatre producers. Dan acknowledges that his professional trajectory is wholly unique. The question, then, is whether Dancap will eventually take the next step toward funding or commissioning original theatre pieces rather than presenting touring shows.

“In due course,” says Dan carefully. “It’s a step by step process. You start by presenting shows touring North America. Then you produce or license shows. The third step, which is creating one’s own work, is a two- to fiveyear process. The foundation of the company needs to be really strong because the time devoted from a creative perspective is massive. There’s enough out there already that I can fill theatres for the next three to five years. To create one’s own intellectual property, that’s a whole different mindset. I hope to get there, but if I don’t, it’s not the end of the world.”

He implies that it would also not be the end of the world if his application for an injunction failed — not that Dan is expecting to lose this particular battle. “Because of my background, I have a pretty good understanding of the legal side of things,” he says. “And I have the resources to be able to fight a good fight.” And if he has to go to Plan B? “I have Plans A, B, C and D,” he says smiling. The Alphabet City denizens of Avenue Q would surely approve.