Isabella Perrone is a writer with a love for musicals and theatre that goes all the way back to her childhood. Born and raised in St. Catharines, ON, she would blast Broadway cast albums at home on Saturday mornings and in the family minivan until she knew them by heart. She fell in love with arts journalism in high school when her local newspaper started a program to get young writers attending and reviewing local theatrical productions.
That opportunity led her to pursue and complete a degree in Journalism at Ryerson University in downtown Toronto, surrounded by the largest theatre district in Canada. After finishing school in 2018, she joined BroadwayWorld and completed the Emerging Arts Critics programme to develop her abilities as an arts writer. Isabella's goal is to use her current position as BroadwayWorld Toronto's Lead Editor to promote live theatre and get more people interested in Toronto's thriving arts scene.
Andrew Kushnir's latest work, TOWARDS YOUTH: A PLAY ON RADICAL HOPE, made its debut on February 28 at Streetcar Crowsnest's intimate Guloien Theatre. While the final product is a 2-hour examination of drama classrooms from around the world, Kushnir had to facilitate a detailed writing and editing process to bring months of research to the stage.
The Studio 180 production of OSLO, presented as part of the off-Mirvish season, tells the heavily-dramatized story behind the Oslo Accords. Written by J.T. Rogers and directed here by Joel Greenberg, the play receives a minimalistic interpretation of the 1990s backroom negotiations between Palestine and Israel conceptualized and orchestrated by Norwegian academic Terje Rod-Larsen (Blair Williams).
Soulpepper's production of Kate Hennig's THE VIRGIN TRIAL, originally produced by the Stratford Festival, brings an investigation of power, morals, and misconduct to the stage. The gripping re-imagining looks at Henry VIII's second daughter Elizabeth I (Bahia Watson), a 15-year-old princess who's a few positions behind in line for the throne and extremely charming, if not untrustworthy.
ROSE follows the highs and lows of a nine-year-old on a journey to find herself, with a lively soundtrack and well-rounded cast pushing the plot through a busy storyline.
The 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire displaced an entire city. In AFTER THE FIRE, writer Matthew MacKenzie examines the aftermath of the disaster through two couples. However, the complexity of the plot leads to a somewhat convoluted story due to the amount of exposition and information throughout.
In Damien Atkins's WE ARE NOT ALONE, the playwright and actor leverages his own fears and judgements against an Arizona-based convention full of extra-terrestrial experiencers, believers, and alien-human hybrids to explore the concept of belief in a manner that brings our own existence into question with one simple question: are we alone in the universe?
What happened in the Prime Minister's office on the ill-fated day of Joe Clark's budget vote? Michael Healey's play on the downfall of the 16th PM of Canada, produced by The 1979 Group and directed by Miles Potter, explores the ideology of the morally-motivated Albertan and his interactions with some of the most well-known names in modern Canadian politics.
It's been four years since Damien Atkins's WE ARE NOT ALONE first premiered, but the play is finally making its Toronto homecoming at the Streetcar Crowsnest Theatre in a production directed by Chris Abraham and Christian Barry, and backed by Crow's Theatre, Segal Centre for Performing Arts, and 2b theatre company.
Written by Christopher Morris following years of research in Israel, directed by Daniel Brooks, and produced by Human Cargo with the support of Theatre Passe Muraille, THE RUNNER is an intimate look into the life of Jakob (Gord Rand), a member of the Jewish crisis-response team ZAKA.
After a six-year stint with international productions of The Book of Mormon, Camille Eanga-Selenge has returned to Canada to star in Ross Petty's THE WIZARD OF OZ: A TOTO-LY TWISTERED FAMILY MUSICAL. The show's leading lady recently sat down to discuss her involvement with the show, her favourite co-star, and her globetrotting experience with The Book of Mormon.
After numerous trips to Israel and nearly a decade of writing and refining, Human Cargo's artistic director and playwright Christopher Morris's newest show, THE RUNNER, is ready for audiences at Theatre Passe Murailles. Morris took time to delve into the process behind the show's research and inspiration, giving us a look into how the one-man show was created - and how the idea came to him over 20 years ago.
In a desolate world, to what lengths are people willing to go to feel safe? In YELLOW RABBIT, produced by Silk Bath Collective and Soulpepper and directed by Jasmine Chen in its world premiere, two people must determine what they value most, and suffer greatly at the hands of the leader of a refuge in China called Rich-Man Hill.
WE KEEP COMING BACK, produced by Factory Theatre and Selfconscious Productions, begins with a dream of Warsaw, but strangely enough, never quite gets there. Most ideas expressed go unanswered by the cast, and rightfully so, given the show's foundation.
What happens when you put eight accomplished singers, two dynamic actresses, and a back-up band that steals the show more than once? You get UNCOVERED: JONI MITCHELL & CAROLE KING.
The artists and creatives behind The Musical Stage Company's 2018 edition of UNCOVERED will be preparing for opening night of the popular series, and on Monday, November 13, ten accomplished and dynamic performers will take the stage to cover a wealth of songs from pioneering singer-songwriters Joni Mitchell and Carole King, under the direction of the series' driving force, Reza Jacobs (Music Direction, Vocal Arrangements, Orchestrations).
As the Toronto run of AIN'T TOO PROUD enters the last few weeks of its run, so too does the pre-Broadway tour of the ground-breaking new show based on the formation, life, and legacy of The Temptations. For E. Clayton Cornelious, who's been involved since initial readings, it's been a life and career-changing opportunity. He's earned his first regional nomination in the 2018 TBA Awards for Outstanding Performance In A Featured Role In A Musical, and is preparing for a range of shows and charity work in both New York and his hometown Pittsburgh before opening the show on Broadway at the Imperial Theatre in early 2019.
Caryl Churchill's 2016 work ESCAPED ALONE receives a subtle, simple rendition in its Canadian premiere. Produced by Soulpepper and the Necessary Angel Theatre Company, the piece walks a fine line between mundane and manic for the entirety of its 50-minute view time.
Written by Marco Ramirez and directed by Guillermo Verdecchia in this Soulpepper production, THE ROYALE is described as a match told in six rounds. What viewers actually get is a 90-minute whirlwind of emotion packed to the brim with subtle self-reference and a gut-wrenching showdown between a rising boxing star and a legend come out of retirement to defend his title.
How do you charge a person in the flesh for their actions in a simulation? Produced by Coal Mine Theatre and Studio 180 Theatre, Jennifer Haley's work shines as a multi-world crime investigation.
Sarah DeLappe's first foray into playwriting is a complete knockout, and is brilliantly directed by Courtney Ch'ng Lancaster and produced by The Howland Company and Crow's Theatre.
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