TORONTO THEATER REVIEWS

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...

Few things are as exhilarating as bodies being flung into the air without crash mats. This is what you expect when you hear the word 'circus', but THE RETURN by Circa is much more than lifts and flips. Presented by Canadian Stage as the last show in their Spotlight Australia series, THE RETURN doesn...

From the moment the orchestra plays its first note, the production is pure magic. The Canadian Opera Company (COC) ends their 2016-2017 season with a bang, with Puccini's TOSCA. Gorgeous music, grand sets and gripping performances coexist seamlessly in Paul Curran's production of one of opera's most...

From fascination to fear, Canadian Stage's MEETING and ENDINGS are a rollercoaster ride of insight into the human condition. The two works are part of Canadian Stage's Spotlight Australia, a six-week showcase of cross-disciplinary performance running until May 7 and featuring the works of acclaimed ...

Anna Netrebko performed to an adoring sold-out audience at Toronto's Four Seasons Centre on Tuesday evening. Netrebko was joined by husband and Azerbaijani tenor, Yusif Eyvazov and renowned Russian baritone, Dmitri Hvorostovsky. Led by Maestro Jader Bignamini, the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra br...

Colonization is a controversial part of our heritage, and is central to the Canadian Opera Company's (COC) new production of Harry Somers' LOUIS RIEL. The production has sparked discourse on the use of Indigenous songs in opera, the portrayal of Indigenous men and women on stage and First Nations so...

A gender-bending, English and American Sign Language (ASL) bilingual production of Shakespeare's Hamlet may sound ambitious - but it plays as compellingly human. Maybe you're not familiar with the story. Maybe you've seen it a hundred times. Regardless, Why Not Theatre's PRINCE HAMLET will defy your...

Now officially open at the Royal Alexandra Theatre, Mrs. Henderson Presents is a light-hearted take on a rather heavy topic: the holocaust - specifically wartime London....

The reportedly Broadway-bound, world premiere engagement of SOUSATZKA, with book by Craig Lucas, music by David Shire, and lyrics by Richard Maltby, Jr., based on the original novel 'Madame Sousatzka' by Bernice Rubens, opened last night in Toronto! Directed by Adrian Noble and choreographed ...

The much anticipated opening of Sousatzka, the musical billed as the comeback of Garth Drabinsky, took place last night at the Elgin Theatre in Toronto. Sousatzka tells the story of holocaust survivor Madame Sousatzka (Victoria Clark), her prodigy piano pupil Themba (Jordan Barrow) - and how the two...

One of Broadway's biggest hits is back in Toronto and charming audiences for the third time. The Book of Mormon, which today is still one of Broadway's hottest tickets, is back due to overwhelming popular demand....

Come From Away is not a musical about the September 11th terrorist attacks - if anything it is the exact opposite. Come From Away is a musical about all that is good in people - compassion, care, love, acceptance, equality, and treating others with kindness. Truly, it is a musical written for now....

The Stratford Festival's production of THE AENEID, currently playing in repertory at the Studio Theatre, is not your standard version of Virgil's classic epic. Director, Keira Loughran brings an old story into the modern world-and does so to great effect with the World premiere of Maureen Labonte's ...

Director, Carey Perloff has assembled a stellar cast for the Stratford Festival's production of Henrik Ibsen's JOHN GABRIEL BORKMAN at the Tom Patterson Theatre. The Festival has commissioned the World Premiere of the English translation by Paul Walsh. The combination of an extraordinary cast, and t...

A hysterical production of THE HYPOCHONDRIAC opened on Thursday night at the Stratford Festival and the audience clearly enjoyed it thoroughly. Directed by Artistic Director, Antoni Cimolino, and starring Stephen Ouimette, this production is a version by Richard Bean based on Chris Campbell's litera...

Mixing elements from the traditional epic poem with modern theatre, FATHER COMES HOME FROM THE WARS (PART I, II, III), which opened at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts on Thursday, creates a thought-provoking exploration of both oppression and freedom....

From it's ominous sounding opening organ chords, Stephen Sondheim makes it clear that you are in for a macabre evening of theatre as his masterpiece SWEENEY TODD begins. What sounds almost too gruesome to be appropriate for a musical has over the years had audiences and critics alike arguing whether...

The Shaw Festival has unearthed a bit of a gem, that in lesser hands may be considered no more than a cubic zirconium. W.S. Gilbert's ENGAGED is a frothy trifle that seems perfect for a midsummer's night. This delightful piece of Victoriana theatre can best be thought of as a play with thin operet...

A brilliant production of Matilda the Musical opened last night in Toronto at The Ed Mirvish Theatre. The show, which I saw in in London with the original cast, is truly a family musical for the age we currently live in....

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....

The Stratford Festival's first ever staging of Stephen Sondheim's A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC is happening this season at the Avon Theatre. Directed by Gary Griffin, It is clever, it is delightful, it is funny, it is sad, and it is beautifully performed by everyone involved. Everyone I have spoken with who...

Ever the consummate commentator of society and gender, Oscar Wilde has never been afraid of controversy or potentially offending member of both sexes. Never has this been more evident than in his 1893 A WOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE, which is receiving a glamorous new production at the Shaw Festival in Nia...

The Shaw Festival in Niagara on the Lake has pulled out all the stops on it's glittering new production of Lewis Carroll's ALICE IN WONDERLAND. This new version adapted for the stage by director Peter Hinton incorporates newly composed music by Allen Cole. While often an asset, the music can also be...

The Shaw Festival brings to life one of George Bernard Shaw's very own MRS. WARREN'S PROFESSION. Directed by Eda Holmes, the production tells the story of a young woman's discovery of her mother's line of work - prostitution, and the events that follow. Led by Nicole Underhay as the title character ...