Toronto Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 22

BWW Review: The Canadian Opera Company's LOUIS RIEL - A Step in the Right Direction
by Taylor Long - April 24, 2017

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...

BWW Review: Shakespeare's Reflection on Humanity is Powerfully Human in Why Not Theatre's PRINCE HAMLET
by Taylor Long - April 22, 2017

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...

BWW Review: MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS Makes For A Fun Night of Frivolous Theatre
by Alan Henry - March 24, 2017

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....

Review Roundup: World Premiere of SOUSATZKA in Toronto - All The Reviews!
by Alan Henry - March 24, 2017

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 by Grac...

BWW Review: Drabinsky's SOUSATZKA - Lackluster Material, Brilliantly Performed
by Alan Henry - March 24, 2017

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...

BWW Review: THE BOOK OF MORMON Will Make Toronto Believe All Over Again
by Alan Henry - March 02, 2017

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....

BWW Review: COME FROM AWAY Is A Loving Tribute To The Best In All Of Us
by Alan Henry - November 23, 2016

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....

BWW Review: THE AENEID at the Stratford Festival is an Important Piece of Art
by Lauren Gienow - September 03, 2016

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 ...

BWW Review: JOHN GABRIEL BORKMAN at the Stratford Festival is a Powerful Night at the Theatre
by Lauren Gienow - August 29, 2016

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...

BWW Review: THE HYPOCHONDRIAC at the Stratford Festival is a Clever Laugh-Riot
by Lauren Gienow - August 22, 2016

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...

BWW Review: FATHER COMES HOME FROM THE WARS
by Maral Chouljian - August 06, 2016

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....

BWW Review: SWEENEY TODD at Shaw Festival
by Michael Rabice - August 01, 2016

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...

BWW Review: Victorian Charmer ENGAGED Right at Home at Royal George Theatre
by Michael Rabice - July 11, 2016

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...

BWW Review: MATILDA is the Must See Summer Musical
by Alan Henry - July 08, 2016

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....

BWW Review: BREATH OF KINGS: REBELLION & REDEMPTION at the Stratford Festival
by Lauren Gienow - July 06, 2016

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....

BWW Review: A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC at the Stratford Festival is Art at Its Finest
by Lauren Gienow - June 29, 2016

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...

BWW Review: A WOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE at SHAW FESTIVAL
by Michael Rabice - June 27, 2016

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...

BWW Review: ALICE IN WONDERLAND at Shaw Festival
by Michael Rabice - June 22, 2016

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...

BWW Review: MRS. WARREN'S PROFESSION is Sophisticatedly Scandalous
by Jason Carlos - June 10, 2016

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 ...

BWW Review: SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE at the Stratford Festival is Full of Heart
by Lauren Gienow - June 08, 2016

The North American premiere of SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE opened on Saturday night at the Stratford Festival's Avon Theatre. This feel-good production is full of hilarious characters, stunning costumes, and clever references to the works of William Shakespeare. Most of all, though, it is full of heart....

BWW Review: OUR TOWN is a Poetic Look at Life, Love and Death
by Jason Carlos - June 08, 2016

The Shaw Festival tackles Thornton Wilder's masterpiece OUR TOWN, directed by Molly Smith. The quiet tale is presented in three acts, following the story of a small town at the turn of the century. A number of years pass between each act, allowing for audiences to delve deeper in the lives - hopeful...

BWW Review: AS YOU LIKE IT at the Stratford Festival is a Fun Night at the Theatre
by Lauren Gienow - June 06, 2016

AS YOU LIKE IT opened on Friday at the Stratford Festival's Festival Theatre with a party…a literal party. Director, Jillian Keiley has set this production in her native Newfoundland, and as such, the play starts and finishes with the actors dancing about the stage and in the aisles whilst an on-sta...

BWW Review: A CHORUS LINE is 'One Singular Sensation' Under Director Donna Feore
by Alan Henry - June 04, 2016

This week A Chorus Line at the Stratford Festival confirmed what I've already long suspected: Donna Feore is one of the greatest directors of musicals of our time. Year after year she has managed to put out a top notch main stage musical for the festival as good as anything you'll see on Broadway, T...

BWW Review: THE LION THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE at the Stratford Festival is a Magical Experience
by Lauren Gienow - June 04, 2016

THE LION THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE (from Schulich Children's Plays) opened at Stratford Festival's Avon Theatre on what became a magical Thursday evening. Based on the book by C.S. Lewis and dramatized by Adrian Mitchell, this production, directed by Tim Carroll is enchanting and fun for the entire...

BWW Review: ALL MY SONS at the Stratford Festival is Memorable and Moving
by Lauren Gienow - June 02, 2016

A memorable and moving production of Arthur Miller's ALL MY SONS opened at Stratford Festival's Tom Patterson Theatre on Wednesday evening. It is the story of a family trying to live a post-WWII American Dream, yet unwilling to acknowledge what had to be sacrificed in order to achieve it. The entire...