Toronto Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 31

BWW Reviews: Strong Cast Brings Out Human Bias and Humor in Panasonic Theatre's CLYBOURNE PARK
by Kelly Cameron - February 22, 2013

Clybourne Park opened this week in Toronto and marks the third offering in the Off-Mirvish season. The show is a remount of the hugely successful Studio 180 production from last year, and its easy to see why Toronto embraced it so fully last time around. A Tony and Pulitzer Prize winner, the show ...

BWW Reviews: LES MISERABLES Movie - Passing the Candlesticks to a New Generation
by Kelly Cameron - December 21, 2012

The long awaited feature film version of Les Miserables opens Christmas Day, twenty five years after it first took the world by storm on a West End stage. Directed by Tom Hooper and starring Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway and Amanda Seyfried, the film made the daring choice of having its...

BWW Reviews: Ross Petty's SNOW WHITE: The Deliciously Dopey Family Musical
by Lauren Gienow - December 19, 2012

Currently playing at Toronto's Elgin Theatre until January 5th, is Ross Petty's Holiday Pantomime, 'Snow White: The Deliciously Dopey Musical' Snow White, Red Riding Hood, Pinnochio, and James Bond himself are all here for your entertainment. Music, dancing, audience participation...it all can be fo...

BWW Reviews: Anthony Rapp's WITHOUT YOU a Triumphant Reminder of Importance of 'No Day But Today'
by Kelly Cameron - December 18, 2012

Anthony Rapp brings his one man show 'Without You' to Toronto this holiday season as the second offering in the inaugural off-Mirvish season. A heart-wrenching examination of life and loss, the show proudly proclaims RENT's central message of 'No Day But Today' and helps teach its audience how to l...

BWW Reviews: THE SOUND OF MUSIC - Finnie Jesson leads a fine cast in this reproduction of the original 1959 version.
by Mark Andrew Lawrence - December 11, 2012

Rodgers & Hammerstein's final show, The Sound of Music, has always had a reputation for being overly sentimental and unbearably sweet. Yet, as originally written, the show has much more of an edge. The Civic Light Opera Company has gone back to the original script by Howard Lindsay and Russell Crous...

BWW Reviews: ORDINARY DAYS
by Mark Andrew Lawrence - December 05, 2012

Angelwalk Theatre in association with Winnipeg Studio Theatre are presenting the Canadian premiere of Adam Gwon's musical ORDINARY DAYS. After a successful run in Winnipeg the show has opened at the Toronto Centre for the Arts. With a terrific cast and excellent musical direction this should be on y...

BWW Reviews: THE EXONERATED - An Extremely Moving Piece on the Innocent of Death Row; Plays Montreal's Espace 4001
by Meghan Pearson - November 26, 2012

The Exonerated tells the true stories of six innocent men and women who were sentenced to death. As the separate testimonies unfold a picture is painted of the American criminal justice system and all that is wrong with it....

BWW Review: Centaur Theatre's GOOD PEOPLE is a Love Letter to South Boston
by Meghan Pearson - November 14, 2012

GOOD PEOPLE has been described as a love letter written by the playwright to his hometown of South Boston or 'Southie', and a love letter it most certainly is. The production plays Montreal's Centaur Theatre November 6 thru December 9, 2012....

BWW Reviews: BLOODLESS: The Trial of Burke and Hare
by Kelly Cameron - October 15, 2012

Bloodless: The Trial of Burke and Hare is the first offering from Theatre 20, a brand new Canadian theatre company with a goal to foster the development of new Canadian musicals. Written by Winnipeg playwright Joseph Aragon, the show tells the true story of the West Port murders in Edinburgh in 182...

BWW Reviews: SISTER ACT a Holy Treat for the Whole Family
by Kelly Cameron - October 10, 2012

The 1st National Tour of Sister Act opened at the Ed Mirvish Theatre last week to an audience that included local critics, nuns and even some would-be Dorothys. The show, featuring original music by Alan Menken, is based on the popular 1992 movie of the same name starring Whoopi Goldberg. This new ...

BWW Reviews: Richmond Hill's QUEEN FOR A DAY, Starring Alan Thicke
by Kelly Cameron - September 30, 2012

Queen for a Day had its world premiere Friday night at The Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts, with a stellar cast including America's Favourite Dad Alan Thicke in the role of Jack Bailey. The show examines the popular American reality show Queen for a Day, which gave everyday housewives ...

BWW Reviews: Stratford's HIRSCH - A Compelling Study of a Man in Torment
by Roy Berko - July 28, 2012

HIRSCH is an impressive story and staging which should be seen at The Festival, as it is the only physical venue where setting and person will clearly merge...

BWW Reviews: Delightful 42ND STREET Lights Up the Stratford Stage
by Roy Berko - July 28, 2012

Stratford's 42nd STREET is a total delight. Anyone who loves great dancing, fine singing, and creative staging should be enchanted by this production....

BWW Reviews: Shaw Festival's RAGTIME Dazzles
by Mark Andrew Lawrence - June 05, 2012

The Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake offers a dazzling new production of the 1996 musical RAGTIME that makes a case for the show as a great American musical. A terrific cast wins standing ovations nightly at the Festival Theater where the show plays until October 14....

BWW Reviews: THE MATCHMAKER - The Reason We Have Good Things
by Kelly Cameron - June 04, 2012

The Stratford Shakespeare Festival's 60th Season opening week wrapped up on Saturday night with the debut of The Matchmaker, a comedic tale by Thornton Wilder that has never before been presented by The Festival. Funny, touching, witty and poignant, the show both delighted and surprised. Bolstered...

BWW Reviews: 42ND STREET - A Toe-Tapping Triumph
by Kelly Cameron - May 30, 2012

It's safe to say that Stratford has another musical hit on their hands in 42nd Street, a toe-tapping gem of a show that showcases the incredible performers involved in the company this year. The show also marks the return of Cynthia Dale to the Festival after a five year absence. Featuring an incr...

BWW Reviews: It's Much Ado about Comedy in Stratford's 60th Season Opener
by Kelly Cameron - May 29, 2012

Much Ado About Nothing kicked off the Stratford Shakespeare Festival's 60th Season Monday night, and is pleasantly about a lot more than the name might suggest. With stunning performances from Ben Carlson and Deborah Hay as well as a solid supporting cast, gorgeous set and beautiful music the show ...

BWW Reviews: Jerry Herman's DEAR WORLD - Revised & Revived by The Civic Light Opera Company
by Mark Andrew Lawrence - May 29, 2012

Each season Toronto's Civic Light Opera Company revises and revives failed and forgotten shows from Broadway's past. This year it's the 1969 Jerry Herman musical DEAR WORLD based on the Jean Giraudoux play THE MADWOMAN OF CHAILLOT. Barbara Boddy and David Haines lead the cast in making the case for ...

BWW Reviews: Rebecca Caine Delivers a Heartfelt, Funny and Touching Evening of Cabaret
by Kelly Cameron - May 21, 2012

This past Friday Canadian favourite Rebecca Caine returned to Toronto for a very special performance at The Green Door Cabaret. She was joined by special guest Byron Nease, up from Los Angeles for one night only to perform for the first time together since their days in the Original Canadian Cast o...

BWW reviews TARANTARA! TARANTARA! - The story of Gilbert and Sullivan at Fairview Library Theatre
by Mark Andrew Lawrence - May 18, 2012

Although they created many popular comic operas, the backstage relationship of W.S.Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan was anything but light-hearted merriment. The story of their tumultuous partnership is the focus of Ian Taylor's play Tarantara! Tarantara!, currently being presented by Stage Centre Produc...

BWW Reviews: WEST SIDE STORY Sizzles in Toronto
by Kelly Cameron - May 12, 2012

West Side Story is arguably one of the most well known and beloved musicals of all time, and Toronto audiences have a chance to see this gorgeous new production for the next four weeks. Featuring some original Spanish dialogue and gorgeous sets and costumes, the show is fresh, energetic and yet tim...

BWW Reviews: MAN OF LA MANCHA - An Imaginative Staging from The Alexander Singers
by Mark Andrew Lawrence - May 08, 2012

A strong trio of leads ushers us into the world of Don Quixote as The Alexander Singers present the Tony-award winning musical MAN OF LA MANCHA at York Woods Library Theatre until May 13....

BWW reviews CLYBOURNE PARK - a production from Canstage and Studio 180 that is not to be missed!
by Mark Andrew Lawrence - April 23, 2012

"Humans are territorial," states one character midway through the second act of CLYBOURNE PARK. That simple line sums up one of the key ideas at the heart of this Pulitzer Prize winning play by Bruce Norris. The play is being given its Canadian premiere in a brilliant production by Canadian Stage Co...

BWW Reviews: Amicus Productions' PRELUDE TO A KISS is a Magical Romantic Comedy, thru April 21
by Mark Andrew Lawrence - April 17, 2012

Amicus Productions concludes their 2012 season with a magical and enjoyable rendering of the Craig Lucas play PRELUDE TO A KISS. ...

BWW Reviews: LIVE WRONG AND PROSPER Provides the Laughs
by Kelly Cameron - April 16, 2012

Live Wrong and Prosper is the latest offering from the world-famous Second City, on now in Toronto. Spoofing everything from world politics to social media to Rob Ford, the show combines scripted skits with the improvisation the company has become so well known for. You'll laugh, you'll cry - you m...