Samantha Wu

Great Scott! Set your DeLorean time circuit to Summer 2025 as the cinematic blockbuster Back to the Future crash lands in Toronto at the CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre. Winner of the 2022 Olivier Award for Best New Musical, Back to the Future: The Musical is adapted to the stage by the movie's creators Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis and directed by Tony Award Winner John Rando. 

Crow's Theatre and The Musical Stage's co-production of Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 was a smashing success during their record breaking run at Streetcar's Crowsnest.

The lifestyle gurus at $20 Sandwich are here to improve your life through the much beloved medium of improv comedy. Playing at Native Earth's Aki Studio as part of the Toronto Fringe Festival, This Show Will Change Your Life is here to deliver what it says on the package.

In a city as gloriously diverse as Toronto, the joys of dealing with immigration bureaucracy is a pain many have endured. In Paper Chase, playing at Tarragon Extraspace at the Toronto Fringe, Erik (played by Hugo van Essen) has to deal with just that. In the span of a mere 30 days, he must prove to the government he has the funds to maintain his residence before he is kicked out of the country.

The drag king members of Frat Haus are facing their biggest challenge ever - eviction! Unless they can secure a $1 million by end of day, they'll lose their home. Whatever will they do? Playing exclusively at Tallulah's Cabaret at the Buddies in Bad Times Theatre for the Toronto Fringe Festival, Frat Haus: Evicted! is a hilarious drag romp featuring cheeky song parodies and a special guest performer each night.

Eleanor O'Brien is on a mission - to spread the word of Plan V! In this one-women feminist comedy extravaganza, O'Brien plays Mama V - the quintessential southern church lady, imagine the love child between Richard Simmons and Dr. Ruth, but she's here to preach about the power and the wisdom cradled within the vagina. Of course, this spectacle is not just for those born with vaginas but for all who appreciate the power of the V. Together, we can save the world one ground-shaking orgasm at a time. 

As a downtrodden teen clad in black while mournfully proclaiming that I, myself, am strange and unusual, the iconic Tim Burton film Beetlejuice was kept close to my dark heart. Eerily bizarre and chock full of campy yet raunchy humor, Beetlejuice didn't instill fear but rather brought delight in what is otherwise a morbid subject - death. Now, on the heels of the recently released Beetlejuce sequel, the CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre welcomes the zany Beetle demon himself to shock and spook Toronto audiences.

Red Like Fruit is a play unlike any play you've likely seen. It's uncomfortable, that's the point - sexual assault is anything but comfortable and here Lauren (Michelle Monteith) is trying to carefully recall her years of sexual abuse from different people in her life but unsure of the credibility of her own memory. She asks Luke (David Patrick Flemming) to tell her story for her. But...why did she ask him?

The much beloved childhood Hasbro board game Clue became a big screen hit in 1985 with the film directed by Jonathan Lynn starring Tim Curry and Madeline Kahn. Now, Toronto audiences get to play along with this laugh out loud lightning paced romp as Clue Live on Stage! takes to the Royal Alexandra Theatre.

From Harmony House in Hunter River, PEI, Mike Ross and a troupe of island musicians bring the story behind Don McLean's iconic song 'American Pie'. Presented as a docu-concert, Mike along with Brielle Ansems, Greg Gale. Alicia Toner, and Kirk White takes the song verse by verse in order to deep dive into this slice of American music history.

On July 13, 1985, history was made with the first ever global concert taking place simultaneously in London's Wembley Stadium and Philadelphia's John F. Kennedy's Stadium. The line up was a dazzling who's who of music's top artists of the era from David Bowie, Paul McCartney, and Queen to Madonna, Phil Collins, and Led Zeppelin.

Fifteen Dogs was adapted for the stage and directed by Marie Farsi. It originally premiered at Crow's Theatre in 2023 before making its current off-Mirvish debut at the CAA Theatre. In approaching the stage adaptation, Farsi discovered that the narrative was delivered in a fashion akin to epic poems like Homer's The Odyssey, quite befitting the two scheming Olympians as the puppet masters of this story.  

What did our critic think of MOULIN ROUGE! THE MUSICAL at CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre?

One of the world's most beloved musicals returns to Toronto for a long term stay into the Spring of 2025. Disney's The Lion King, the stage spectacle directed by Julie Taymor is based on the 1994 animated classic with music and lyrics written by Elton John and Tim Rice. This production has captivated audiences young and old across the globe for over 20 years and now is the best opportunity to introduce a new generation to the King.

Canadian Opera Company launches their new season with a monumental first for the company - the premiere staging of Nabucco, directed by Katherine M. Carter and conducted by Paolo Carignani, the opera that firmly planted Giuseppe Verdi's name as a celebrated composer, first performed in 1842. This epic tale of enslavement to freedom features Soprano Mary Elizabeth Williams as Abigaille, Mezzo-soprano Rihab Chaieb as Fenena, and Baritone Roland Wood in the title role of Nabucco.

You must be living under a rock if you haven't heard of or seen Come From Away, the critically acclaimed musical with book, music, and lyrics written by Irene Sankoff and David Hein that has captured the hearts of audiences all over the world. Based on a true story with characters written after real people, Come From Away tells the tale of 7000 people stranded in Gander, Newfoundland after the September 11 tragedy and the small town that opened their hearts and homes and welcomed them in. 

Life of Pi is an award winning novel by Canadian author Yann Martel. The rapid success of this inspiring novel has lead to both screen and stage adaptations, the latter of which picked up five Olivier Awards including Best New Play, and three Tony Awards. Currently on their North American tour making their only Canadian stop, Life of Pi, written by Lolita Chakrabarti and directed by Max Webster, is on stage now at the CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre until October 6, 2024. 

A summer in Toronto is not complete without spending a night under the stars at the High Park ampitheatre watching a performance by Canadian Stage. For Dream in High Park this year, CS brings back Hamlet with a highly acclaimed cast including Qasim Khan as Hamlet, Beck Lloyd as Ophelia, and Stephen Jackman-Torkoff as Horatio.

When considering the most influential performers in the history of rock, Tina Turner's talent and legacy is counted among titans. Her voice, her signature growl, is unmistakable. Her determination to succeed and survive despite years of abuse at the hands of her husband set her apart from the rest.

Back by popular demand for a limited time is the multiple Tony and Grammy Awards winning new musical Hadestown - music, lyrics, and book by Anaïs Mitchell, directed by Rachel Chavkin - for a limited run at the CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre until May 26. This modern, politically relevant tale combines two classic Greek legends - the stories of Hades and Persephone; and Orpheus and Eurydice - that is sure to lure in audiences like a siren song.