The Princess of Wales Theatre is a new, 2000-seat playhouse built by the father and son producing team of David and Ed Mirvish, who also own and operate Toronto's historic Royal Alexandra Theatre. The Princess of Wales is the first privately owned and financed theatre built in Canada since 1907 - and the first anywhere in North America in over 30 years. Construction began on August 6, 1991, and the building opened to the public with the musical Miss Saigon on May 26, 1993.

The theatre was built with maximum flexibility in mind. Its stage is one of the widest and deepest in North America - large enough to accommodate the most spectacular theatrical productions - and its technical facilities are state-of-the-art.

The auditorium represents a happy marriage of the best ideas in theatre design from this century and the last. Architect Peter Smith, a winner of the Governor-General's Award for his theatre designs, accepted the challenge of building a large, modern theatre - with a huge stage and fly tower - that would somehow seat 2000, in exceptional comfort, while preserving the elegance and intimacy of a traditional, nineteenth century theatre - and doing it all on a small downtown plot of land.

Smith's solution features a horseshoe-shaped, two-balcony seating plan, with balconies connected to the proscenium by box seats. With seating on three levels - orchestra, dress circle and balcony - the Princess of Wales is surprisingly intimate. None of its 2000 seats is more than 85 feet from the stage, and all enjoy excellent sight-lines in an acoustically near-perfect auditorium.

The award-winning firm Yabu-Pushelberg is responsible for the interior designs of the theatre's spacious lobbies and lounges. The company's work employs the finest natural materials and is characterized by an unusual mixture of contemporary and traditional design themes.

The theatre interior features the work of dozens of highly skilled artists and crafts people, creators of its Venetian terrazzo floors, luminous glass and tile mosaics, blown-glass lamps and hand-made metal light fixtures. The wooden wall panels, doorways, arches, bars and handrails are made from an unusual variety of mahogany - Sapele wood - from Africa. Veneers, sliced in the field on order for this project, were shipped to Toronto and fitted together by expert woodworkers to emphasize a signature swirl in the grain - nicknamed "the Mirvish Swirl". The mahogany woodwork throughout the building covers a total area of over 20,000 square feet.

The colourful murals that decorate the interior walls, the proscenium arch, the fly tower and the spectacular ceiling dome are the work of renowned contemporary artist Frank Stella. The murals cover over 10,000 square feet and represent what is believed to be the largest mural commission of this century. Stella has echoed his mural themes in the sculpted reliefs that face the dress circle, balcony and box seats. Similar sculptures, in cast aluminum, decorate both ends of each row of seats throughout the auditorium.

Frank Stella's mural designs for the Princess of Wales Theatre have been exhibited in art museums around the world, with one original model now hanging in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Canada.

The Princess of Wales is a showcase of all that is best in both traditional and contemporary design. The Toronto Star described it as, "...a glittering glass jewelry case, a sparkling glimpse into a spectacle of total design." In the years since its public opening, the theatre has hosted hundreds of visitors - architects, designers, engineers and theatre professionals from all over the world - who have come not to see a show, but to study the architecture, design and art work of this landmark theatre.

At 300 King Street West, at John St., the Princess of Wales Theatre is in the heart of Toronto's Entertainment District, steps from such major attractions as the CN Tower, the Rogers Centre (SkyDome) and the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

There are three levels of seating in the Princess of Wales: Orchestra, Dress Circle and Balcony. All levels are served by elevator and are wheelchair accessible. Each level offers a lobby and bar/refreshment area.

The theatre's main bar/refreshment area is the Princess Lounge, located on the lower level, just below the box office. The Princess Lounge is open just before and during performances.

Private box seating is also available. Box seats on the Dress Circle level feature private party/reception rooms, the Princess Suites East and West. The Princess Suite West has a private entrance, by elevator from the stage door.

There is also a private suite, the Mirvish Suite, on the basement level of the theatre, beside the Princess Lounge, available for special occasions.