Sara Farb News

Swift advance sales have prompted the Stratford Festival to extend the runs of four productions, just as the box office has opened to the public. Performances of Carousel, The Alchemist, The Physicists and The Last Wife have been added to the schedule.

The Toronto premiere of KINKY BOOTS has found its Charlie Price. Multiple entertainment industry professionals have been tweeting the last few days congratulating Graham Scott Fleming on being cast as the coveted role in the Tony Award-winning musical.

In just over two weeks since she wowed crowds at Soulpepper's Global Cabaret, the great Jackie Richardson joins some of Canada's finest musical theatre talent to celebrate the ;music of Billy Joel and Elton John. Following last year's sold-out Sting concert, 'Uncovered: Billy Joel & Elton John,' this is Acting Up Stage Company's eighth annual concert dedicated to the musical catalogue of a pop star. And for the first time this year, the company has added a second concert to meet demand. The concert will take place Wednesday and Thursday Nov. 12th and 13th at Toronto's Koerner Hall in the Telus Centre for Performance and Learning, aka the Royal Conservatory of Music. Show time is 8 p.m.

Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino's King Lear, starring Colm Feore, is entering the record books as one of the Festival's top-selling Shakespeare productions of all time. To meet the overwhelming demand for tickets, the production is being extended until October 25.

THE BEAUX' STRATAGEM, directed by Stratford Festival Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino opened to raucous laughter and thunderous applause Friday night at the Stratford Festival. With a cast like this, I would not expect anything less. This fun and thoughtful restoration comedy by George Farquhar, presents audiences with many players, harboring many talents... leading to many laughs. Needless to say, I suspect MANY tickets will be sold.

Love between parents and their offspring should be unconditional. As soon as King Lear puts conditions on the love of his daughters, his life unravels: he goes mad. But what really drives him crazy? Is it remorse resulting from his bad decisions? Is it stress, worrying about his daughters? Or is simply old age - dementia or perhaps Alzheimer's? Colm Feore has blended all three, in a gritty portrayal of Lear. One of Shakespeare's tragedies, this play opens the 2014 season at Stratford Festival. Feore is impressive as Lear with an equally good cast in this superior production.

Voting is now underway for Toronto! We have a record number of votes in already, but if you haven't voted yet, click here to vote! If you have voted already, tell your friends.

Voting is now underway for Toronto! We have a record number of votes in already, but if you haven't voted yet, click here to vote! If you have voted already, tell your friends.

Voting is now underway for Toronto! We have a record number of votes in already, but if you haven't voted yet, click here to vote! If you have voted already, tell your friends.

Voting is now underway for Toronto! We have a record number of votes in already, but if you haven't voted yet, click here to vote! If you have voted already, tell your friends.

Acting Up Stage, one of Toronto's top musical theatre companies, kicks off their 10th anniversary season November 18 with its annual smash tribute concert, UnCovered: Sting and The Police. 10 of Canada's top Musical Theatre vocalists will perform 19 of Sting's hit songs, featuring new arrangements by Music Director Reza Jacobs. BWW's own Jeff Madden is thrilled to be a featured vocalist at this concert, and to give an inside look into how this show gets brought to life, through the eyes of a performer.

Stratford Festival Announced it's key casting for their 2014 Season, starting with King Lear, featuring Stephen Ouimette as the Fool and Colm Feore as King Lear.

THE MERCHANT OF VENICE-arguably William Shakespeare's most controversial play, is being tackled this season at the Stratford Festival for the first time since 2007. Under the direction of (Artistic Director) ANTONI CIMOLINO, this production does not shy away from the controversial nature of many characters' anti-Semitic views, and in fact, highlights the danger of such views by placing this production in a timeline leading up to the Holocaust. The constant reminder of what is to come provides a dark and almost eerie backdrop to this production, creating a thought-provoking dark 'comedy' for the ages.

The 25th Anniversary of the Toronto Fringe Festival wrapped up an incredible ten days in our glorious city this past Sunday night, marking a record year in terms of opening 4 day profit despite challenges such as flooding and power outages cancelling shows and closing down theatres. The city came alive with 148 shows performing in venues across the city, selling 57,182 tickets and returning $433,027 to artists. In addition, there were 200 completely sold-out performances, and many shows which were incredibly close. The joy of Fringing is the hidden gems that you discover, and I'm pleased to report I discovered two this year in Bremen Rock Musical and We Are the Bomb. In addition, there are many excellent shows headed uptown for Best of Fringe which begins in 2 days!

Journey through the last one hundred years of musical theatre through the lives and music of Richard Rodgers (Oklahoma, The Sound of Music), his daughter Mary Rodgers (Once Upon A Mattress) and his grandson Adam Guettel (The Light in the Piazza) in The Sweetest Sounds: A Century of Song from Rodgers to Guettell, a musical retrospective of one of Broadway's most important and enduring musical families. Conceived and written by Adrian Marchuk, the show will be presented for one exclusive performance at Birdland Jazz Club (315 West 44th Street- between 8th & 9th Avenues) tonight, February 3 at 5:00 p.m. (Doors open at 4:30).

Journey through the last one hundred years of musical theatre through the lives and music of Richard Rodgers (Oklahoma, The Sound of Music), his daughter Mary Rodgers (Once Upon A Mattress) and his grandson Adam Guettel (The Light in the Piazza) in The Sweetest Sounds: A Century of Song from Rodgers to Guettell, a musical retrospective of one of Broadway's most important and enduring musical families. Conceived and written by Adrian Marchuk, the show will be presented for one exclusive performance at Birdland Jazz Club (315 West 44th Street- between 8th & 9th Avenues) on Sunday, February 3 at 5:00 p.m.

Blue Balloon Productions is proud to present a production workshop presentation of R-E-B-E-C-C-A, written and performed by Sara Farb. This unique solo piece is based on her sister who was born seven weeks prematurely in the month of May, and was diagnosed as mentally retarded at a very young age. The story centres on this real-life Rebecca, as well as on an alternate Rebecca - the one that might have been, had she been born in July - as they celebrate their respective 18th birthdays. These two Rebeccas, although universes apart, ultimately manage to find a connection and unite in a strange and powerful way.

Thom Allison has had a very successful year, receiving rave reviews for his performance in Shaw Festival's Ragtime and guest judging on the CBC hit 'Over the Rainbow'. This holiday season he returns to his first love of cabaret with a special performance entitled 'Shut Up! It's Christmas!' at Buddies in Bad Times. He spoke to BWW about what cabaret means to him, how much he loves Christmas and whether he's been naughty or nice.

This past Monday, stars of Toronto's theatre scene joined together for a fundraiser in support of Acting Up Stage, a 'modern musical theatre' company in Toronto. Artistic Director Mitchell Marcus once again teamed with Musical Director Reza Jacobs to create an evening filled with unique songs by popular composers. Tapestries featured the music of Carole King and James Taylor and included stars such as Cynthia Dale, Jake Epstein, Josh Young and more. BWW is thrilled to bring its readers photos from the special evening.