By Vito Palmisano, courtesy Detroit Metro CVB
Detroit
The Foxtown neighborhood has become Detroit’s headquarters for all things cultural. Visitors will find theater, performing arts and other options to satisfy a range of tastes.
“The center of Foxtown is the Fox Theatre, and right down the street is the State Theater,” said Deanna Majchrzak, media relations specialist for the Detroit Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau. “Also in walking distance is the Michigan Opera House and Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts. There’s a range of shows: Broadway shows, musical performances and things for kids, teens and adults.”
The Fox Theatre welcomes a variety of touring productions, concerts and other entertainers. Groups can arrange to take a behind-the-scenes tour, during which they’ll walk onstage and see a backstage wall signed by hundreds of performers who have played there through the years. The tour also includes stories about the Fox family and the ghosts that are said to inhabit the building.
Toronto
The project of a visionary entrepreneur has helped to turn a downtown Toronto neighborhood into one of Canada’s leading theater and entertainment destinations.
“Ed Mirvish was kind of the founding father of live theater in Toronto,” said Janice Solomon, executive director of the Toronto Entertainment District Business Improvement Initiative. “He purchased an old, beautiful theater called the Royal Alexandra and reopened it. That was the beginning of shaping theater and the downtown into a great cultural center.”
Today, the Mirvish family owns several theaters in the entertainment district, where they present both well-known Broadway shows and lesser-known productions for runs that can last a month or more. Upcoming titles include “The Wizard of Oz,” “Cats,” “Anything Goes” and “Les Miserables.”
The success of live theater in the area has ushered in a host of other entertainment options as well. Visitors will find the National Ballet of Canada, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Canadian Opera Company performing in venues around the district. Groups can even catch a screening at a theater operated by the Toronto Film Festival.
