TORONTO THEATER REVIEWS

"I've heard the lighting is amazing," a woman whispered to me before the show. Clearly designers Astrid Janson and Andre du Toit are doing something right - Soulpepper's VIMY is a visual feast....

CHARM ABOUNDS IN SHAW FESTIVAL'S 'WILDE TALES' A verbose frog, an egomaniacal Rocket, two charming birds, and a sympathetic Prince are not the usual cast of characters in an Oscar Wilde play. But in the ever evolving 2017 Shaw Festival season, his 'WILDE TALES' proves to be an eye opening and joy...

The memory of a fascinating Canadian war hero brought to life by a fascinating Canadian actor. BILLY BISHOP GOES TO WAR is in fine form in Soulpepper Theatre Company's 2017 revival. Aligning with the 150th Birthday of our nation - the musical, written and performed by John MacLachlan Gray and Eric P...

A celebration of the majestic unity of man and nature - ODYSSEO is a mammoth of a show. Presented by Cavalia under a 125-foot tall Big White Top, the show features 65 horses of various breeds and 50 versatile artists (horseback riders, acrobats, aerialists, singers and dancers). ODYSSEO is a thrilli...

Feel the earth move with Chilina Kennedy's powerhouse vocals. Mirvish Productions presents BEAUTIFUL - THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL, with a book by Douglas McGrath and music by Gerry Goffin & Carole King and Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil. The musical follows King's journey - from the sale of her very first s...

Four masters paying tribute to 'the architect'. The 2017 TD Toronto Jazz Festival closed with a concert featuring pianists Kenny Baron, Cyrus Chestnut, Benny Green and Gerald Clayton. 4 BY MONK BY 4 honoured the renown American jazz pianist and composer, Thelonious Monk....

Two musicians, engulfed by the spirit of jazz. Presented by the TD Toronto Jazz Festival, Hiromi played the Koerner Hall on Wednesday evening, joined by jazz harpist Edmar Castaneda. A melange of rock, pop, and jazz - the duo proved that the world needs more piano and harp....

Has Harry Potter reached cult classic level yet? It certainly seemed to last night. Presented by the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts and Attila Glatz Concert Productions, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (conducted by Justin Freer) was joined by the Women's Chorus from Amadeus Choir and the Elmer ...

Spell-binding jams that beg you to dance and dance. CARAVAN PALACE 'blew the roof' off of the Phoenix Concert Theatre last night, performing as part of the TD Toronto Jazz Festival. The seven-member virtuosic electro-swing ensemble pushes the boundaries of jazz with an inventive mesh of music - even...

Written by women, created by women, performed by women. Featuring two one-act operas by Dame Ethel Smyth, Fete Galante and The Boatswain's Mate, SUFFRAGETTE, presented by Opera 5 is a rare undertaking for classical music - but it shouldn't be....

The heart-pounding 'O Fortuna' fills the Roy Thomson Hall to the brim with the sound of a full orchestra and over one hundred voices. The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) presents the finale to their 'Decades Project: 1930-1939', CARMINA BURANA by Carl Orff, featuring the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, ...

Four incredible artists bring to life the stories of four powerful women. LIFE REFLECTED, presented by the National Arts Centre (NAC) is a multi-media journey examining the lives of four women using photography, film, spoken word and music. The NAC Orchestra takes us through four individual pieces, ...

McCAMUS IS BRILLIANT AS KING GEORGE III Mental illness in the 18h Century, aka madness, was as in some respects as poorly understood and accepted then as it is today. Being a monarch would imply that the best care would be at your disposal, but when the malady is unknown, even King George III of ...

Epic storytelling meets emotional physical theatre in Akram Khan's moving production. Based on the tale of Amba/Shikhandi in the Mahabharata, UNTIL THE LIONS explores notions of gender identity, spirituality and passionate confrontation. Director and choreographer Akram Khan has outdone himself in t...

The theme will get under your skin. With some of the most beautiful music ballet has to offer, SWAN LAKE is sure to capture your heart. The National Ballet of Canada is celebrating the 140th anniversary of Tchaikovsky's most iconic ballet with their dark, brooding production designed by Santo Loquas...

Russia seems to be everywhere these days. Conductor and violinist, Vladimir Spivakov and the Moscow Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra performed to an enthusiastic crowd at the Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto, Ontario. The evening was presented by Show One Productions, the same company that recently brought us ...

No one yells 'Stella!' at the ballet - because they don't have to. John Neumeier's A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, inspired by the Pulitzer Prize winning play by Tennessee Williams, had its National Ballet of Canada premiere on June 3, 2017. The ballet dives deeper into Blanche DuBois' psyche, examining t...

THE JAZZ SINGER opened this week, presented by the Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company as a toe-tapping new musical rendition of the story made famous by the film of the same name. While the film shocked the world with its inventive introduction of synced recorded sound, the musical, written by Mich...

A 'ME AND MY GIRL' Not To Be Missed It is infrequent for the theatre god of comedy to shine bright enough to induce glee, but that is what occurred on opening night of the Shaw Festival's utterly charming production of ME AND MY GIRL. An alchemy of sorts has melded a super talented cast with the...

It's time to celebrate Canada's sesqui…sesquicen….sequisecent…150th birthday! What better way to celebrate than with The Second City and their new show, CANADA: THE THINKING MAN'S AMERICA. A mash of improv, stand-up and something involving racoons that words can't quite describe - the show del...

You've never seen a more boho Boheme. Against the Grain Theatre (AtG) presents Puccini's LA BOHÈME in a real Toronto dive bar, The Tranzac Club. AtG is doing something incredible in the world of opera right now - they're growing. When opera houses around the world are reporting declines in ticket s...

You don't always get a second chance at love. The Musical Stage Company's ONEGIN presents this cautionary moral tale in 120 minutes of energetic, interactive musical theatre. A mix of old and new, Pushkin's famous poem and Tchaikovsky's renowned opera meet music and lyrics by creators Veda Hille and...

Ntozake Shange's poetry is in very capable hands with Soulpepper Theatre Company's captivating production of FOR COLORED GIRLS…(for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf). Described as a 'choreopoem', the work is a spirited unity of written word and dance. The text alo...

Heart defects. Cognitive delay. Growth hormone deficiency. These are just some of the symptoms that Cardiofaciocutaneous (CFC) syndrome can present. THE BOY IN THE MOON, by Emil Sher, examines the love and labour involved in raising a child born into these symptoms. Based on a book by Ian Brown, and...

'HIV…You mean, AIDS?' Presented by The Cabaret Company, as part of the Buddies in Bad Times Theatre 2016-2017 season, IT'S ALL TRU examines misconceptions surrounding HIV, preventative therapies and how it relates to the law. Written and directed by Sky Gilbert, the play is an intelligent, intimat...