At an online media announcement - pre-taped in front of Meridian Hall with physically distanced protocols in place - streamed June 8 on the Dora Awards YouTube channel, the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA) announced 243 nominations for the 41st annual Dora Mavor Moore Awards.
The theatre shook with applause for Jully Black last night as she opened the musical CAROLINE, OR CHANGE at the Winter Garden Theatre. She was one of many in the cast to give powerhouse performances in a dramatically and musically challenging show.
Following announcements earlier this year of a new annual residency at the historic Winter Garden Theatre and the inaugural production of the residency - a reimagined and expanded staging of their 2012 hit, CAROLINE, OR CHANGE, again in co-production with frequent collaborators Obsidian Theatre - The Musical Stage Company shares a sneak peek at this hotly anticipated show.
Broadway star Chilina Kennedy returns to Stratford for a one night only in-concert performance of Leslie Arden's acclaimed Canadian musical THE HOUSE OF MARTIN GUERRE. Stratford audiences may remember Ms. Kennedy from her much lauded lead performances in WEST SIDE STORY, EVITA, and JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR to name just a few. Since then, she transferred to Broadway with the rest of the company of JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, and then played over a thousand performances on Broadway as the title character in BEAUTIFUL: THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL. Currently, she is starring as Dina in the national tour of THE BAND'S VISIT. BWW had the chance to speak with Ms. Kennedy a few days after she concluded the Toronto run of THE BAND'S VISIT. She shared her excitement to finally return to the Stratford Festival, and her passion for THE HOUSE OF MARTIN GUERRE.
With the new Tom Patterson Theatre taking shape on the banks of the Avon River, the Stratford Festival is thrilled to announce key casting as it builds the acting company for its monumental 2020 season.
Chilina Kennedy and Adam Brazier will lead a star-studded ensemble in the special concert version of Leslie Arden's award-winning musical The House of Martin Guerre. Directed by Richard Ouzounian, the show will be performed one night only on November 4 at Stratford's Avon Theatre.
As I took my seat in the lobby of Stratford's Festival Theatre on Monday night, the eager patron next to me leaned in and proclaimed a?oeThere is quite the buzz in here!a?? She was absolutely right. We had both arrived early enough to grab seats for WHY WE TELL THE STORY: A CELEBRATION OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN MUSICAL THEATRE--A much anticipated cabaret event conceived by Festival actor Marcus Nance who can currently be seen in LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS and BILLY ELLIOT. After initially selling out months before the Festival season even began, the high demand of this show led to more chairs being added and eventually to 'standing room only' tickets being sold so that as many people as possible could witness what indeed turned out to be a magical night of words and song.
If you are in Stratford, Ontario and are looking for a good time, look no further than this season's production of horror comedy rock musical LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS. There aren't a whole lot of shows that can call themselves a horror comedy rock musical, but if you frequent these parts…or, you know, have a pulse, chances are you saw one last year too. The success of last season's THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW has sent the message that audiences get a kick out of the subversive escape that this kind of show can offer, and so, Director/Choreographer Donna Feore is serving up another delicious hit in the same vein as ROCKY HORROR (puns intended).
Donna Feore's gritty new take on Billy Elliot the Musical, the Tony Award-winning blockbuster musical from Lee Hall and Elton John, is now on stage at the Stratford Fesitval. The production officially opens on Tuesday, May 28, at the Festival Theatre.
For the past several seasons, Stratford's Festival Theatre stage has been home to classic musical theatre productions with catchy tunes that audiences might find themselves humming long after the company had taken its final bow. This season, the musical living on that stage is a little different. It is not a classic from the golden age of broadway, the music, while moving, is likely not that familiar ear worm that you will wake up singing, and the story is as gritty and high stakes as many of the Shakespearean productions we have seen on that stage in recent years. BILLY ELLIOT officially opened to a raucous standing ovation on Tuesday evening, making it clear that Stratford audiences are more than happy to branch out to something a little different.
At a press conference held May 28 in the Davies Takacs Lobby of the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre Centre, the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA) announced 282 nominations for the 40th Anniversary Dora Mavor Moore Awards, which recognize excellence in professional theatre, dance and opera in Toronto. On Tuesday, June 25 at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, 49 Dora Mavor Moore Awards, the Silver Ticket Award and the Jon Kaplan Audience Choice Award will be presented.
BroadwayWorld has a first look at The Stratford Festival's Little Shop of Horrors. The production is currently in previews and opens on Friday, May 31.
From the creative team that made history with Stratford's longest-running production, The Rocky Horror Show, comes another cult rock musical, Little Shop of Horrors. Previews begin today at the Avon Theatre and the production opens on Friday, May 31.
Everyone's favourite nanny arrives just in time for the holiday season! One of the most successful and beloved Broadway musicals in the world, the YPT Production of Disney and Cameron Macintosh's Mary Poppins will be presented on the Mainstage fromNovember 5, 2018 to January 6, 2019.
Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino has announced key casting for the 2019 season, including Michael Blake as Othello and Amelia Sargisson as Desdemona in the season opener, Othello, one of Shakespeare's greatest and best-known tragedies.
Everyone's favourite nanny arrives just in time for the holiday season! One of the most successful and beloved Broadway musicals in the world, the YPT Production of Disney and Cameron Macintosh's Mary Poppins will be presented on the Mainstage fromNovember 5, 2018 to January 6, 2019.
'People come, people go,' 'some have, some have not.' Simple lyrics that can expose a myriad of stories and wounds. Just what one would expect in a busy hotel. No one is ever quite sure what happens behind the closed doors of a grand hotel, but outward appearances are often just that, appearances that don't always belie the truth. Given those opportunities for musical intrigue, The Shaw Festival is producing an elegant production of GRAND HOTEL at their Festival Theatre for their 2018 Season.
A collection of eccentrics sashay through the revolving doors of the Grand Hotel as the Golden Twenties in Weimar Berlin comes alluringly to life in the Shaw Festival's main stage musical Grand Hotel. Directed by Eda Holmes, with music direction by Paul Sportelli and choreography by Parker Esse, Grand Hotel soars with song and dance encapsulating the era's zest for life. Grand Hotel begins previews May 3 at the Festival Theatre.
All good epic adventures begin somewhere. A new adaptation of C.S. Lewis's The Magician's Nephew by Michael O'Brien makes its world premiere and opens the Shaw Festival's 2018 season. Under the direction of Artistic Director Tim Carroll, the creative team and cast bring the story of Narnia's origins and its mythical multiverse to the Festival Theatre stage.