Angela Lansbury coming to Toronto stage with Noel Coward’s ‘Blithe Spirit’

TORONTO – Show-biz legend Angela Lansbury will star in the Noel Coward play “Blithe Spirit” in Toronto next year.

Mirvish Productions says the beloved “Murder, She Wrote” star will reprise her Tony Award-winning role as medium Madame Arcati in the comedy at the Princess of Wales Theatre from Feb. 11 to March 15.

The Michael Blakemore-directed revival has already had played acclaimed runs on Broadway and London’s West End. Its stint in Toronto will be part of Mirvish’s 2014-2015 season, which will also see the “Titanic” musical finally sail into the city and figure skating champions including Elvis Stojko glide on ice — in a theatre.

“There are more strong titles, I think, in this season consistently” compared to previous seasons, producer David Mirvish said Tuesday as his company announced new additions to the lineup in a splashy presentation at the Royal Alexandra Theatre.

The Tony-winning “Titanic” will dock at the Princess of Wales from May 20 to June 21. It was supposed to run in the city this summer but was postponed due to a problem securing the right theatre for its subsequent Broadway mounting.

Also slated for the Princess of Wales, starting this Dec. 24, is the newly announced world premiere of “Blades on Stage.” It will feature skating and musical theatre performed by Stojko as well as ice stars including Gladys Orozco-Stojko (his wife), Shae-Lynn Bourne, Violetta Afanasieva and Pete Dack.

“You’re always trying to keep the speed and show this power and I think the challenge will be trying to show this on a smaller stage and trying to stay within this area,” said Bourne.

“I hope that I stay on the stage and I don’t go into the audience, because I love the speed, I love to perform and you can’t help it when you’re flowing,” she added with a laugh. “But we’ll adjust.”

Still, the tight quarters do provide an advantage, say the stars.

“I think it’s an exciting thing because we always want to be on a stage like that, to be able to be that connected and that intimate with an audience,” said Stojko. “We’re always doing a 360 thing that your energy is going all over, whereas this you can really focus.”

The show will mark Stojko’s second time performing at the Princess of Wales after his role as Billy Flynn in “Chicago, the Musical” last March.

Back then, he was a “fish out of water,” said the three-time world champion. “Now I’m going to be a fish back in the water, being on ice onstage.”

The show will also reunite him with what he calls “the old guard” in the figure skating world.

“There’s a lot of friends I’ve known since I was about nine years old,” he said.

“It’s like being with your family again,” added Bourne, whose musician-husband, Bohdan Turok, will be drumming in the show.

Other newly announced productions in the Mirvish lineup include “Dame Edna’s Glorious Goodbye — The Farewell Tour” as well as “Buyer & Cellar” and Rick Miller’s “Boom.”

Previously announced shows include a Toronto production of the hit musical “Once,” which just unveiled its all-Canadian cast, including leads Ian Lake and Trish Lindstrom.

The season also includes the previously announced homegrown version of “Kinky Boots” as well as “Newsies,” “Arcadia,” “The Heart of Robin Hood,” Donny and Marie Osmond’s “A Broadway Christmas,” “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike” and “Our Country’s Good!”

— Follow @VictoriaAhearn on Twitter.