Banner season for Theatre Aquarius leaves the pandemic behind

Five shows in the 2025-2026 season accounted for more than 70,000 tickets sold, and a revenue increase of about 52 per cent over the previous year, leading to an operating surplus. 

The devastating effects of the pandemic are finally over at Theatre Aquarius.

Hamilton’s downtown theatre had a standout 2025-2026 season and celebrated with a gathering for board members, sponsors, and supporters on Thursday night after the Aquarius’s annual general meeting. 

Last season culminated with the world premiere of It’s a Good Life If You Don't Weaken, featuring the songs of The Tragically Hip. It sold 20,070 tickets and $959,000 in ticket revenue, according to the theatre's newly released annual report.

“The ambitious new Canadian musical became a defining achievement of a season marked by strong ticket sales, enthusiastic audiences, and renewed financial strength,” said a press release issued by the theatre. 

As part of Theatre Aquarius's National Centre for New Musicals (NCNM), It's a Good Life If You Don't Weaken is an original story by Ahmed Moneka and Jesse LaVercombe set to the iconic music of Kingston’s The Tragically Hip. Directed by Aquarius artistic director Mary Francis Moore, the production also earned an extended run and widespread critical acclaim, with this magazine declaring, "It's everything musical theatre should be."

The season also included the runaway hit in Aquarius’s holiday show Frozen that was extended from its scheduled three-week run to six weeks. Each of the five shows in the mainstage season exceeded their box office targets. 

It added up to stellar numbers.  

Theatre Aquarius sold a total of 71,320 tickets for 158 performances, generating $3.79 million in box office revenue. That was an increase of nearly $1.3 million – about 52 per cent – over the previous season. The theatre reported a $496,345 operating surplus.

“While Theatre Aquarius has been on a slow but steady path to recovery since the pandemic, this year marks a significant turning point for our organization,” said executive director Kelly Straughan. 

In fact, it’s a complete turnaround from the pandemic recovery season of 2022-2023 when the theatre ran a deficit of $466,219. It goes without saying that the extended shutdown hit deeply, but the lingering effects have been long-lasting.

The theatre’s subscriber base fell from about 6,000 to 3,000 after the pandemic and that has been slow to rebuild. 

But single-ticket sales have soared.

The theatre also made a shift from six shows in a season down to five, while increasing programming weeks from 18 to 21. It gives people longer to see a show but also cuts yearly production costs, says Straughan.

She told the gathered AGM crowd in the theatre’s lobby that the operating surplus means that for the first time in her role, she won’t be managing a “white knuckle” ride of finances. 

“Theatre Aquarius is on solid financial footing for the future, and we couldn’t be more thrilled.”

Last season included The Time Capsule, which was set in a Hamilton church basement, the raucous time-travelling BOOM X by Rick Miller, and the Agatha Christie classic Murder on the Orient Express. 

Other highlights of the year included launching a Studio Series of intimate musical performances, and hosting the first NCNM National Musical Theatre Summit, which brought together artists, composers, lyricists, book writers, producers, directors, dramaturgs, presenters, and theatre leaders from across Canada.

“Over three inspiring days, our studio welcomed more than 200 delegates for a dynamic celebration of musical theatre, featuring presentations, conversations and opportunities for connection,” said Moore. 

“We are equally proud that the National Centre for New Musicals has contributed more than $300,000 in direct financial support to artists since its launch. It’s incredibly rewarding to see this investment translating into meaningful development of new Canadian musicals.”

In addition to ticket sales, Theatre Aquarius, a registered charity, credits support from government, donors, corporate sponsors, and community partners for its success. It supports the NCNM, along with Biindigen, Theatre Aquarius's Indigenous-led artist development program, and provided more than 2,000 free tickets to local charitable organizations, 54 subsidized theatre school and camp placements, and 10 professional apprenticeship opportunities.

Other early successes for the NCNM include the world premieres of Pollyanna The Musical, the musical adaptation of Tom Wilson’s memoir Beautiful Scars, and Johnny Reid’s Maggie. 

The momentum of last season has continued into 2026-2027. 

The opening show, Sisters of ’78, exceeded its box-office goal and then its stretch goal, becoming Theatre Aquarius’s best-selling post-pandemic opening production. This season also includes the ever-popular Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, which opens for the holidays next week, and Matilda, which will run over the March Break.

Straughan told HAMILTON CITY Magazine that the theatre has made large investments in its sound system and has access to some of the best performers, creatives, designers and crews in Canada. Many of them live in Hamilton. 

Board chair Ruth Liebersbach credited the theatre's success to its connection with its audiences. 

"Sold-out performances, extended runs, and strong advance sales demonstrated the resonance of our artistic programming and the loyalty of returning patrons, alongside the enthusiasm of new audiences."

In fact, 50 per cent of ticket sales for It’s a Good Life If You Don’t Weaken were to new Theatre Aquarius customers. That included buyers from as far away as New Mexico and Alaska. Frozen also attracted many first-timers.

Those theatre-goers are interested in the whole experience. They go out to dinner, buy show merchandise and specialty drinks at the concession stands, and line up for photo opportunities.

The hope, of course, is that they will become regular attendees.  

The theatre has a strong economic impact, not just from audience members who come downtown to eat, drink, shop and park, but from the roughly 200 artists and production teams hired for Aquarius’s mainstage shows who stay in the city six to eight weeks.

In total, it’s estimated that Theatre Aquarius generates more than $12 million in economic impact, including salaries, construction and production supplies and materials, hotel stays, restaurant and grocery store visits, and other spending.