The Maple Leaf will be well-represented on Broadway in 2017, as 9/11-inspired musical “Come From Away” joins a roster of homegrown productions and performers in New York's renowned theatre district.

On the heels of a sold-out Toronto engagement, “Come From Away” is slated to begin previews on Broadway on Feb. 18. Created by Canadian husband-and-wife duo Irene Sankoff and David Hein, the musical is centred on Gander, N.L., which provided refuge to passengers and crew on 38 planes that were diverted when US air space was closed following the Sept. 11 attacks.
Martin Morrow, president of the Canadian Theatre Critics Association, said “the stars are aligning” both for the timing of the show's Broadway debut, and its central message of individuals joining forces under challenging circumstances.
“Not only is it a really strong Canadian musical that is about a Canadian subject with Canadian characters, as well as characters all over the world ... but it's also coming to New York at, unfortunately, a very good time for a positive work about unity and about people coming together,” said Morrow.
“Just after this American election with so much divisiveness and bitterness and talk about building walls and dividing people into different categories ... here's a musical that's all about overcoming that - embracing differences.”
The smash success of Tony-winning “Hamilton” is having a trickle-down effect as musicals are experiencing a resurgence, said Barry Freeman, assistant professor in theatre and performance studies at the University of Toronto.
“There's a hunger within contemporary audiences for authentic, real stories that are really connected to real, relatable experiences,” said Freeman, who is also associate editor of Canadian Theatre Review, and executive editor of Theatre Research in Canada.
Freeman said another Canadian-created production which has already wowed audiences in the Big Apple is the Victoria-grown “Ride the Cyclone.” Described as a part tragedy, part comedy, the quirky musical is about students who die in a freak roller-coaster mishap.
“There will be others like it,” Freeman said of the homegrown musicals. “They're really trailblazing.”
Following his Tony-nominated turn in the reboot of “Les Miserables,” Ontario-raised theatre star Ramin Karimloo is Broadway-bound in “Anastasia,” the musical stage adaptation of the 1997 animated musical film.
And nearly a decade after his fraud conviction, theatre mogul Garth Drabinksy is poised for major return to the stage with the world premiere of “Sousatzka” in Toronto ahead of its Broadway debut.
“I always have to give Garth credit because love him or hate him... the guy loves theatre. You can't keep him away,” said Morrow of Drabinsky, the producer of hit shows like “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” “The Phantom of the Opera,” and “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.”
“He always puts together a strong combination of talent, so it will be interesting to see what comes out of it.”
As Canada celebrates its 150th birthday, Toronto's Soulpepper Theatre Company will be marking a few milestones of its own next summer.
The company will be celebrating its 20th anniversary by staging its first-ever season of work in the US in a four-week, off-Broadway engagement. The crossover hit “Kim's Convenience” - which was recently adapted for CBC-TV and picked up for a second season - will be back on stage, along with several other productions.
Grammy-nominated R&B and pop star Deborah Cox will be taking on the role made famous onscreen by the late Whitney Houston, as the Toronto-born singer tours the US with the musical adaptation of “The Bodyguard.”
North of the border, the Canadian premiere of “The Bodyguard” will feature the entire London West End company when it hits the stage in February at Toronto's Ed Mirvish Theatre.
Women are poised to assume leading creative roles during the Stratford Festival's 2017 season.
Eight out of the 14 productions at the Ontario theatre festival will be directed by women. Stratford Festival's Studio Theatre will present an all-Canadian season featuring the works of three generations of female playwrights. Two of those productions will be helmed by women.
“There still are significant inequities in Canadian theatre... particularly foremost for me in gender and cultural representation,” said Freeman, who is working on a project aimed at increasing the number of female playwrights produced in university theatre programmes in Canada.
Morrow said another production he's eagerly anticipating in 2017 will be staged at the Gateway Theatre in Richmond, B.C., in March.
“The Pipeline Project” is a co-production between theatre company ITSAZOO and aboriginal performance company Savage Society, offering what has been described as a personal account of the ongoing political battles over the Trans Mountain and Northern Gateway pipelines.
“Perfect place, perfect time to be discussing that in the theatre,” said Morrow.