There are many cultural and artistic industries in Canada and all over the world. In particular, there are many theatres in and around London, Ont., including the Grand Theatre.
Is the theatre industry still a thriving industry here in the forest city?
There are many reasons to protect the theatre industry: the economy, community, education, identity, and future of the city, but the most important reason is that it is the core foundation that supports the quality of life of people.
The Grand Theatre, one of the well-known theatres here, is known for world-class theatre created and built in London.
Grand Theatre Executive Director Lyndee Hansen, pictured in an interview with XFM News Jan. 13, 2026. (Hayden King/XFM News)
“I started as the production manager when I arrived here at the Grand and was in that position for six and a half years, and then I spent three years as the producer of the organization, and then for the last 18 months have been the executive director here at the Grand,” said Lyndee Hansen, executive director of the Grand Theatre.
Hansen started at the Grand 11 years ago, so she knew the Grand and theatre industries better than anyone else.
“I think London has an exciting and vibrant theatre industry here. I think the Grand is the large regional theatre for the city, but there’s lots of great independent and amateur theatre happening here as well,” she said.
Hansen said that the Grand puts on a large variety of shows as the regional theatre.
“We believe that part of our mandate is to ensure that Londoners get a taste of everything, so we do musicals, drama, new work.”
The Grand is looking back at the classics with “The Importance of Being Earnest.”
“We’re about to open the 2024 Pulitzer Prize-winning play Primary Trust, so one of the things that is important to us is that the Grand Theatre and London audiences get a chance to experience the best that live theatre has to offer absolutely,” she added.
Hansen also explained that audience behavior has shifted significantly since the pandemic.
“As we started to come back in 2021 and 2022, we saw a slow return by audiences and that older audiences were more cautious. One of the exciting things about that, though, is that we’ve seen a lot of new audiences come through the door.”
It does mean change, and the buying patterns have definitely changed.
“We are seeing great success with our subscriptions at the moment, but we also know that people in this moment are having to choose their entertainment because the world is just feeling very expensive right now with the cost of housing and the cost of groceries, that people who may have bought two or three or four shows in the past are sometimes buying just one or choosing to come and see Frozen versus going to see The Grinch or vice versa,” she said.
Therefore, funding remains a major concern of the Grand.
“There needs to be growth in funding for the industry to properly rebound and to thrive,” she said. “Funding for arts and culture has been stagnant for a long time.”
Hansen added that The Grand is never just thinking about one show.
“I think we do a great mix of things, and different people want different things. You know, I meet with folks who want more musicals, and other people who say, please don’t do any more musicals. People who want dark, intense theatre, and other people who want light comedies,” Hansen said.
“I think in terms of thinking about what is it going to be that propels The Grand forward, I think it’s moving forward with all of those voices in mind, and ensuring that we continue to have something that’s exciting for everyone absolutely.”
Tourism London Director of Culture and Entertainment Sean Murray, pictured Jan. 14, 2026. (Emily Kim/XFM News)
The director of culture and entertainment tourism at Tourism London, Sean Murray, said that since the recovery of the pandemic since 2020, there was a hit to the obviously the Grand Theatre has got back up on their feet and put on some pretty substantial productions.
“There’s a definite return to form, and I think recovery is a great word to use because audiences are filling out some of the theatres throughout the town,” Murray said.
“The fact that there’s a space for companies to try something new and keep innovating our industry shows that there’s a lot of potential for that.”
Also, Murray said that London is a very creative city, and there’s a lot of people coming from different creative backgrounds, whether that’s production, whether that’s writing, or whether it’s performance itself.
“It really puts us in an environment where a lot of these productions can grow,” Murray added.
Tourism London is seeing more people expanding offerings, trying things with new takes on dinner theatre, new takes on interactive theatre.
Lastly, he said that London is not the size of Toronto or some of the other cities, but there is a niche that London fills, and Tourism London is doing that with some very high-quality performances.
“So, I think that the production value is certainly there. It’s just towards London’s job to make sure that the world is aware that we have this high-quality product. That’s it.”
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