Winter Getaway: The Wizard of Oz in Toronto!

Every year we try to get our girls tickets to something as a Christmas gift (you know, experiences over “stuff”. Which isn’t to say that they didn’t get any “stuff”.) This year, we decided to surprise them with a family getaway to Toronto for Mirvish’s The Wizard of Oz. While the kids put on a nice polite show when opening the gift on Christmas Day, the thrill of it never really hits them until we arrive at our destination …this time the stunningly beautiful Ed Mirvish Theatre (formerly the Canon Theatre), where we were greeted by giant-sized ruby slippers!

Six year old Frannie adored the show, never taking her eyes off the stage. (She had to catch all of the details in order to answer her own incessant questions from the drive there: How will they do the tornado? How will they put “Surrender Dorothy” in the sky? How will the monkeys fly? Will all of the songs be the same? You get the idea.)

As for four year old Maggie, she covered her face at the first appearance of the Wicked Witch of the West (played by Lisa Horner, who completely stole the show) and spent most of the time on one of our knees, but she also enjoyed it, and was later quoting lines that we thought she missed.

Dorothy is played perfectly by 20 year old Danielle Wade, who was voted into the role after 8 gruelling weeks and 16 episodes of CBC’s Over the Rainbow.

Here I am with the girls in front of a poster:

(On a completely random note, I believe there is irony in the fact that this is my first time wearing a beautiful jacket handed down to me by a friend as it was too tight on her chest…and I wore it over a double pushup bra and almost immediately popped two buttons off.)

Now Frannie can’t wait to watch the movie again in order to properly compare it to the theatrical production. Hey, I’m never one to back away from a teachable moment. But don’t worry, I won’t make her write it out in a Venn Diagram or anything. It’s holidays, after all!

I did lament the cost of the tickets a bit before Christmas, until my husband reminded me that people pay as much to attend professional sporting events. After the show, I was quite satisfied that we got our money’s worth…and more! I’d definitely recommend it for any little Wizard of Oz/live theatre lovers.

We stayed at the Marriott Toronto Eaton Centre, which is always a favourite due to a great pool and hot tub and an indoor connection to downtown Toronto’s largest shopping mall. I’ll leave you with a shot of the girls striking a pose with the Sears mannequins which greeted us each time we entered the mall. (I have no idea where they get this drama queen thing from.)