Come fall, Toronto Centre for the Arts will be home to one of the city's newest musical theatre companies.
Angelwalk Theatre, under the hand of artistic director Brian Goldenberg and assistant producer Kevin Horton, will produce the Toronto premiere of the hit Off Broadway musical comedy Altar Boyz, and Tony Award winning writer and composer Jason Robert Brown's The Last Five Years, for its inaugural season.
Both shows will be held in the Studio Theatre at Toronto Centre for the Arts, 5040 Yonge St., north of Sheppard Avenue.
"With the Toronto musical theatre scene, there is not a lot going on on a smaller scale," said Goldenberg, who is moving to North York from York Region. "Toronto Centre for the Arts was looking to develop its Studio Theatre, which is an underdeveloped space, and we were looking to start something. The Toronto Centre for the Arts is a fabulous location."
Altar Boyz debuted in September 2004 at the New York Musical Theatre Festival and opened Off Broadway in March 2005, where it has been running ever since.
The production is a spoof about a fictitious boy-band on the last night of their national Raise the Praise tour.
The Last Five Years is about two New Yorkers in their 20s who fall in and out of love over the course of five years.
"They are both very strong productions," Goldenberg said. "I saw Altar Boyz in New York and it was absolutely hysterical. With The Last Five Years, I wouldn't say it's the exact opposite but it's more dramatic. It's a beautiful production. We want to put on really good quality productions and build an audience who appreciates what we are doing."
Goldenberg isn't a stranger to music and musical theatre.
Goldenberg, who holds and MBA in arts and media management from the Schulich School of Business and a bachelor of fine arts degree in music from York University, is a registered teacher with the Royal Conservatory of Music.
A songwriter, Goldenberg wrote the music and lyrics for the Herbert H. Carnegie Future Aces Foundation theme song in 2001.
His original full-length musical, Seven of Us, premiered at Markham Theatre in 2004.
Goldenberg's work as a music director and producer include the Toronto District School Board Cabaret Singers, York University's Vanier College Productions, Scarborough Music Theatre and Markham Youth Theatre. His production credits include A Salute to Broadway, The Magical Mickey Mystery Tour, Decades Alive and Into the Woods.
Goldenberg, who also finds time to perform with and manage his brass quintet Magnus Brass, was the founding choir director of the Jane Street Singers, a multicultural choir for children living along Jane Street between Finch and Wilson avenues, leading the choir from 1999 to 2004.
Altar Boyz will run Sept. 23 to Oct. 11. The Last Five Years will grace the stage May 8 to May 23, 2010.
For tickets or information visit www.angelwalk.ca