Ilana Lucas

CHRIS, MRS., bills itself as a musical version of a Hallmark holiday movie, and it does exactly—and I mean exactly—what it says on the tin. If you are a lover of Hallmark family entertainment, you’ll be over the moon for this show. It boasts entertaining lyrics, killer dance moves, adorable children, and a quirky, can-do spirt. That also means that it has ALL the parts of a Hallmark movie, for better or for worse.

Are you a Christmas cheerleader? A decorated-tree devotee? Do you love Hallmark Christmas movies so much you wish you could see one live? Well, CHRIS, MRS., aims to fulfil that need.

Jani Lauzon’s autobiographical one-act PROPHECY FOG at Coal Mine Theatre encourages its guests to be receptive vessels, to find comfort in sharing an experience around a circle, engaging in the journey together, and sitting amongst the star stuff of which we’re made.

Unadorned, beautifully delivered, linguistically gorgeous and both funny and wrenchingly sincere, it’s one of the most beautiful plays I’ve ever seen, and I think you should see it, too.

In Canadian Stage’s production of Italian playwright Stephano Massini’s The Lehman Trilogy, three powerhouse performances, a surprising and meaningful staging, and a sweeping story outweigh the curious neutrality of the script to create a vital, must-see show with high stock value.

Chaos reigns in Second City’s new sketch offering, CHAOS MENU: DISORDER UP! That’s not surprising; the best types of sketch comedy are, by their nature, somewhat chaotic. For the 88th mainstage show, though, the talented cast (PHATT al, Andy Assaf, Coko Galore, Devon Henderson, Liz Johnston, and Ron Pedersen) really lean into the concept, creating a show that thrives on anarchy.

Maury Yeston and Peter Stone’s TITANIC, winner of five 1997 Tony Awards including Best Musical, sails to Toronto in film form for two showings via Cineplex on November 16th and 19th. BroadwayWorld spoke to Maury Yeston, the show’s award-winning composer and lyricist, in advance of its arrival in Toronto.

It's a fascinating, disturbing work with a powerhouse cast, literally unsettling: never completely relaxing into a style or structure, it stretches deep into the monstrous before snapping back to remind us that the high and low road often originate from the same place.

Sandra Caldwell is, indeed, fabulous. The classy triple threat brings her autobiographical show, THE GUIDE TO BEING FABULOUS, to Soulpepper’s “Her Words” festival. This version of the show triumphantly celebrates what Caldwell long kept hidden: her identity as a trans woman.

Tapestry Opera’s production of Gareth Williams and Anna Chatterton’s ROCKING HORSE WINNER uses a son’s desperate attempts to provide for his mother’s desire for wealth as a cautionary tale about the perils of a hunger that is never satisfied.

In Nikki Shaffeeullah’s A POEM FOR RABIA, three centuries of women come together to explore the currents of change that shape their lives. Expansive and thoughtful, it’s a fearlessly creative play as messy and complex as the themes of colonialism and queer womanhood it investigates, both to its major credit and minor detriment.

Opera Atelier opens its 2023-2024 season on October 26th at the Elgin Theatre with Gluck's ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE. BroadwayWorld spoke to Opera Atelier's founding co-artistic directors Marshall Pynkoski C.M. and Jeannette Lajeunesse Zingg C.M. about what makes this take on the famous myth so unique.

If you call to book a ticket to Coal Mine’s brilliant production of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ APPROPRIATE, you might stumble over the pronunciation. Is it appropriate, the proper actions to take in a particular circumstance? Or is it appropriate, to steal? The answer, shown through a complicated family saga with rotten roots, is that it’s both.

This year’s Harbourfront’s TORQUE dance series opens October 26-28 with Fouad Boussouf’s NÄSS (Arabic for “people”), inspired by his childhood in Morocco and revolutionary Moroccan musicians Nass el Ghiwane. BroadwayWorld spoke to Boussouf about the piece, its world travels before reaching Toronto, and its and ever-changing nature.

Arbery’s play is a fascinating and multifaceted look into the unexamined front of a burgeoning culture war. The Howland Company gives this 2020 Pulitzer finalist the thoughtful, unsettling and passionate production it deserves. It’s the kind of show that you’ll still be talking about weeks later.

Walter Borden at 81 is a powerhouse of a Shakespearean actor. His warmly stentorian diction, the core of THE LAST EPISTLE OF TIGHTROPE TIME, echoes invitingly through the Tarragon mainspace as he tells stories about his life. It’s not always the easiest work to follow, but Borden’s presence serves as an anchor in a sea of non-linear content.

By focusing on the slower, more structured rounds of boxing over the fast-paced hustle of a card sharp, M’Carthy’s production invites us to watch the hands when we really should be watching the eyes. It’s a thoughtful idea that doesn’t fully pay off in dividends of energy and connection to the audience, leading Canadian Stage’s season-opener to be a good production of a great play.

From its initial roll call of types of audience members, Ellis’ thought experiment becomes a sort of interactive poem that comes both to satirize work and to praise it, a funny sort of feel-good cooperative enterprise that is surprising and delightful.

Choosing to attend asses.masses at The Theatre Centre is a big commitment to an intriguing premise. The show, a collaboratively-played video game with a sweeping narrative about a donkey revolution, takes at bare minimum seven hours. It's a long ass show. But despite its outward silliness, with its thoughtful messaging, it’s anything but ass-inine.

This year, FALL FOR DANCE NORTH features Candoco, a company that has created an international conversation around disability and dance. BroadwayWorld Toronto spoke to Charlotte Darbyshire, Candoco’s artistic director, to continue this conversation in advance of the company’s Canadian debut.