Tom Rooney News

Roundup: Check Out The Top Stories From Toronto You Might Have Missed 6/2 - Dora Awards and More!

The 65th season of the Stratford Festival officially opened on Monday night with a production of William Shakespeare's TWELFTH NIGHT. Director, Martha Henry has assembled a fabulous group of players and they do not disappoint. Just the thought of Geraint Wyn Davies, Tom Rooney, and Brent Carver sharing comedic scenes together had me rushing to the Festival Theatre to see this play. All three are as fantastic as one could hope for, but everyone else is equally as enchanting in their roles as well.

This season at the Stratford Festival's Tom Patterson Theatre, audiences have the opportunity to witness Shakespeare's Henriad in a unique and exciting new way.

After a period of brisk advance sales to Members, the Stratford Festival is opening its box office to the public this Friday, January 8.

LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST opened at the Stratford Festival's Festival Theatre on Friday night…and it hit a home run with the audience! Director, John Caird takes one of Shakespeare's earlier plays and makes it feel shiny and new. Assisting with this is an exceptional cast, captivating set design, and beautiful music-but what is truly on display is William Shakespeare's utter love of, and talent with the English language. He makes words and sounds fun, and that is particularly true in this play.

Shakespeare fans will be flocking to an exciting production of THE TAMING OF THE SHREW that is featured on the Festival Theatre stage at the Stratford Festival this season. Director Chris Abraham's recent contributions to the festival (particularly last season's A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM) left patrons wondering what surprises he had up his sleeve for this production. Although SHREW was not altered nearly as much as MIDSUMMER was, Mr. Abraham certainly had fun with the first few scenes and also skillfully managed to find the right tone for what is one of Shakespeare's more unsettling comedies.

HAMLET opened the 63rd season of the Stratford Festival to resounding applause at the Festival Theatre on Monday night. Directed by the Festival's Artistic Director, Antoni Cimolino, this HAMLET is exciting from start to finish. The entire ensemble shines as brightly as the light used to represent King Hamlet's ghost (Note: It is a very bright light).

International Theatre Company in Residence at the Haskell Opera House, QNEK Productions, kicks off it's 23rd season with the dark and delightful comedy Arsenic and Old Lace by Joseph Kesselring. Murderous Aunts, a Boris Karloff look-alike, and a daffy and demented cast of characters - what more could you want?

The production of Chekov's 'The Seagull,' now on at the Berkley Street Theatre, is an uneven disappointment. It fails to engage. Like Theatre 20's production of Stephen Sondheim's 'Company,' presented in the same venue last year, this Crow's Theatre production does not deliver on its exciting promise.

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.

It's your last week to vote for the 2014 BroadwayWorld Toronto Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of December 26th. Voting closes at the end of the year, in under one week!

Time is ticking on your last chance to vote for the 2014 BroadwayWorld Toronto Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of December 19th. Voting closes at the end of the year!

Voting has now opened for the 2014 BroadwayWorld Toronto Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of December 4th.

Voting has now opened for the 2014 BroadwayWorld Toronto Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of December 4th.

Voting has now opened for the 2014 BroadwayWorld Toronto Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of November 25th.

I am pleased to announce the nominees for the 2014 BroadwayWorld Toronto Regional Awards. The response this year from Toronto's theatre community and fans has been incredible. The BroadwayWorld Awards are an award decided by the fans - from nominations all the way to selecting the final winner.

QNEK Productions, the Award-Winning International Theatre Company in Residence at the Haskell Opera house, finishes its 21st Mainstage Season with the highly entertaining and suspenseful thriller, Wait Until Dark, directed and designed by Susan-Lynn Johns with a set built under the guidance of Tom Rooney by the North Country Union High School Building Trades class.

QNEK Productions, the Award-Winning International Theatre Company in Residence at the Haskell Opera house, finishes its 21st Mainstage Season with the highly entertaining and suspenseful thriller, Wait Until Dark, directed and designed by Susan-Lynn Johns with a set built under the guidance of Tom Rooney by the North Country Union High School Building Trades class.

The magic of the Stratford Festival's hit musical Crazy for You has been immortalized in the first full-length cast recording in the Festival's history. The album is filled with beloved Gershwin tunes and a sensational cast bursting with talent: who could ask for anything more?

The Stratford Festival will present its 2014 Legacy Award to Martha Henry. Her extraordinary contributions to the Festival and to the performing arts in Canada will be celebrated at a gala at Toronto's Four Seasons Hotel on Monday, September 29.