The non-Equity staging at Toronto Truck Theatre will shutter Jan. 15 after some 9,000 performances. On Aug. 19, 1977, the curtain rose on what is billed on the troupe's website as "North America's longest running show." The original Mousetrap, by Agatha Christie, began life as a 30-minute radio play, "Three Blind Mice," presented by the BBC to honor the late Queen Mary's 80th birthday, according to the TTT's production notes. A long running London staging began in 1952, starring Richard Attenborough, and is still running after 50 years.
Lack of business is cited as the reason The Mousetrap — a classic murder mystery revived in theatres internationally — will snap no more, although the producer Peter Peroff told papers tourism was down due to everything from SARS to the war in Iraq to mad cow disease in Alberta.
