CALGARY THEATER REVIEWS

Having never attended a show at the Stage West Theatre here in Calgary, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. As a former performer for Jubilations Dinner Theatre, and a fan of Edmonton’s Mayfield Dinner Theatre, I was well versed in what the dinner theatre experience could be. Stage West finds a...

The Candlelight® concert series is a special treat for music lovers of all ages and varying music tastes. The concert took place in an ecclesiological Gothic Revival style church built in 1911 - 1912 with a behemoth organ at its centre. The architectural grandeur of the vast sanctuary enhances the ...

There’s a reason that the ballet holds rank as an elite art form, and Alberta Ballet’s production of ‘Swan Lake’ is evidence of just such a title. Arguably the most famous ballet in the world, ‘Swan Lake’ is a story of love, deception, and loss. We must count ourselves amongst the truly ...

Every so often, we encounter stories so powerful that they remind us of the fragility of our human lives. We do our best to avoid thinking about death, mortality, and other crippling fears that are hard to handle, but it is important to have an appreciation for these truths. In a world of increasing...

Faraway kingdoms, magical interventions, and larger-than-life puppets may sound like child’s play but The Tale of the Gifted Prince has found a way to combine all of these into a heartfelt tale of self-discovery. This brand new musical is based on the novel ‘The Remarkable Journey of Prince Jen�...

The joys of watching live theatre include seeing the sweat pouring down performer’s faces, from an acceptably social distance, and knowing that it’s a combination of the powerful stage lights and the inexplicable desire to include live flames in a show about four boys who died in a car crash... ...

When it comes to political theatre, one's mind does not immediately turn to Stage West Theatre Restaurant. But if there's one thing Calgarians have come to learn, it's that Stage West loves to bring all kinds of comedy to the stage to entertain their audiences. Their current production of The Outsid...

Two lovers, scorned, and now playful rivals, are brought together in the pursuit of love and happiness. Two more lovers are brought together and separated by jealousy and anger only to find each other once again in the afterlife. One of Shakespeare's timeless romantic comedies, Much Ado About Nothin...

Theatre Calgary has been delighting audiences with A Christmas Carol for 30 years, changing up the adaption, cast, and production every few years to keep audiences coming back for more. This year, director Stafford Arima has taken Geoffrey Simon Brown's adaptation and presented Calgary with a brand ...

Under direction by Artistic Director Darcy Evans, the story follows four children as they travel through a wardrobe to the land of Narnia where an eternal winter has been sent by the White Witch, but rumors of a prophecy and the return of the King: Aslan, the Lion, send them on an adventure to save ...

Mamma Mia is one of those contemporary classics. It's a guaranteed hit anywhere you play it because the songs as recognizable, the story is fun and playful, and it is at once heartfelt and outlandish. But that doesn't mean you can ignore the fact that the dancing is action-packed, the songs have a s...

From the moment the lights go down in the Southern Jubilee Auditorium, you as an audience are transported into 19th century Paris. A small apartment filled with destitute artists with dreams bigger than their bank accounts. Five acts, three fifteen-minute intermissions, and an aria or two later, the...

Iceland, the Governor-General Award-winning play by Nicolas Billon, presents three monologues to tell the same story of greed, desire, and need. First, we meet an escort trying to make a new life and send money back home to her family. Then, a business man who believes that everything and everyone c...

Alberta Theatre Projects has opened their 2019/2020 season with a hilarious comedy that reminds us: we don't always have to like our family even if we love them. Written by Kristen Thomson (I, Claudia) and directed by Darcy Evans, The Wedding Party is one not to be missed....

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RENT tells the story of six New York artists struggling to survive at the end of the millennium. With a plot so complicated, it could be an opera (Puccini's La Bohéme), RENT is also a classic and one dear to many theatre-lovers' hearts. Book, Music, and Lyrics by Jonathan Larson, this 20th Annivers...

A man discovers he is eighth in line to become Earl of Highhurst. But his newly discovered family won't even acknowledge his existence so he sets out to murder each one in line to succeed him until he becomes the Earl. The cast works tirelessly to keep the pace of the show while telling this ever-so...

The highly anticipated season-closer of Billy Elliot the Musical has been a long-time coming for Theatre Calgary. With the promise of an all-Calgarian cast and more musical showcasing from emerging artists, there was a lot of excitement leading up to opening night. I left the Max Bell Theatre with t...

There is a great need in Calgary for Queer stories to be told, for emerging artists to be highlighted, and for local directors and creators to take the stage. Artists' Collective Theatre's production by Mike Bartlett does all of those things....

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In 2013, Calgary's own Stage West Theatre presented the Pechet Family Musical Award to a brand new show called Come From Away. Six years, two dozen awards, and over 675 Broadway performances later, this Canadian musical has made a pitstop in Calgary on its way around the world. Broadway Across Canad...

John & Jen is not a musical I had a lot of (re: any) familiarity with. It's a 1996 Off-Broadway musical from the mind of Andrew Lippa and Tom Greenwald that never quite reached the same notoriety as some of their other works. But, in the words of director Darryl Lindenbach, this show is a labor of l...

As the closer to Alberta Theatre Project's 2018/2019 season - and coming off of the announcement in August of 2018 to exchange this show for another - all eyes were on The New Canadian Curling Club...Directed by Artistic Director Darcy Evans, this two act play set the goal of diversity and inclusive...

Four chairs and a keyboard are all you need to create a fantastic, original musical about how to create a fantastic, original musical. 15 years after the original premiere of [title of show], Birnton Theatricals has brought these two nobodies in New York to the Calgary stage....

A sequel to the Tom Smith farce previously produced by Stage West in 2017, we return to the Convent of the Sisters of Perpetual Sewing not long after the events of the first show and find that things have settled down. A hypnotism, a few magic tricks, and a visit from the Holy Mother herself lead to...