BWW Interview: WICKED's Lauren Haughton Talks DON'T STOP BELIEVIN' BENEFIT for BC/EFA and the Actors FundOctober 19, 2014The Actors' Fund of Canada and members of the National Touring Companies of WICKED and THE BOOK OF MORMON will host DON'T STOP BELIEVIN', an evening of song and dance, at the Panasonic Theatre on Monday, October 27. The performance starts at 8:00 PM with the VIP Plus reception beginning at 6:30 PM. The Panasonic Theatre is located at 651 Yonge Street, Toronto. Net proceeds will benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (BC/EFA) and the Actors' Fund of Canada.
BWW Recap: Someone Goes Missing on Tonight's SLEEPY HOLLOWOctober 13, 2014The episode opens tonight with Crane learning to drive. We learn that he's been practicing with Jenny - but in this scene Abbie is the instructor. In a very touching moment Crane tells Abbie the reason she is insisting he learn to drive is in the event something terrible should happen to her. Crane gets an amber alert on his cell phone that a child has gone missing. I have to say, I am very impressed with the way Crane's knowledge of modern devices is being portrayed. Slowly but surely, we see him adapt to new things.
WICKED & THE BOOK OF MORMON Tour Casts Set for BC/EFA and Actors' Fund Fundraiser, 10/27October 8, 2014The Actors' Fund of Canada and members of the National Touring Companies of WICKED and THE BOOK OF MORMON will host DON'T STOP BELIEVIN', an evening of song and dance, at the Panasonic Theatre on Monday, October 27. The performance starts at 8:00 PM with the VIP Plus reception beginning at 6:30 PM. The Panasonic Theatre is located at 651 Yonge Street, Toronto. Net proceeds will benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (BC/EFA) and the Actors' Fund of Canada.
BWW Recap: Evil is Abundant in SLEEPY HOLLOWOctober 6, 2014SLEEPY HOLLOW opens this week's episode with a bank robbery! After learning that they are barred from visiting their former captain at the request of his lawyer, Henry Parish, Abby and Crane follow him to a bank where he uses an enchanted coin to make a bank employee rob the place.
BWW Recap: Another Monster is Born on SLEEPY HOLLOWSeptember 29, 2014This week SLEEPY HOLLOW picks up right after where we left off last week. Katrina is still being kept captive by the horseman. Crane and Abby are still planning to rescue her, and through a dream Crane learns the horseman intends to bind himself to her using an ancient ritual.
The Factory Theatre Will Not Invite Critics to Opening NightSeptember 26, 2014I wasn't going to write anything about an email I got earlier today – in which I learned the Factory Theatre in Toronto wasn't going to invite critics to openings anymore. However, I thought it could make for a good excuse to start a dialogue I think is worth having: Does anyone care about what critics have to say?
Chilina Kennedy Gives Birth to a Baby Boy!September 23, 2014BroadwayWorld wishes to congratulate Chilina Kennedy on the birth of her son, Henry Benjamin Kennedy James. Henry was born earlier today weighing in at 8lbs and 6 oz's.
TV: Get a First Listen at the Broadway-Bound 'N THE QUEEN OF PARIS'September 23, 2014Canadian-based Monlove Enterprises today announced that tickets to the world premiere of N THE QUEEN OF PARIS at the Elgin Theatre in Toronto will go on sale on September 24, 2014. The new musical, which will open exactly one year later, was inspired by the Champagne atmosphere and rags-to-riches romance of Emile Zola's classic novel Nana with its gaslight glimpses into the backstage world of Parisian theatres, 'Joie de vivre' and courtesans' salons.
BWW Recap: SLEEPY HOLLOW is Back and Better Than Ever!September 22, 2014After a quick recap of Season 1, tonight's episode of SLEEPY HOLLOW jumped right into the action - one year after where the last season left off. Immediately the show jumps into action with an interaction with the headless horseman. But not all is at it appears. After a quick gun fight, our witnesses learn that a key once used by Benjamin Franklin is in fact the key to purgatory.
BWW Exclusive: Backstage at Cirque du Soleil's 'KURIOS'September 19, 2014BroadwayWorld has exclusive photo coverage from backstage at Cirque du Soleil's KURIOS. See the full photo gallery below! What if you could alter reality at will? Delve into a world of curiosity where seeing is disbelieving: the world of KURIOS - Cabinet of Curiosities from Cirque du Soleil. The show immerses you in a mysterious and fascinating realm that disorients your senses and challenges your perceptions, leaving you to wonder: 'Is it real, or just a figment of my imagination?'
BWW Review: Mirvish's OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD is Brilliant and ImaginativeSeptember 18, 2014The play Our Country's Good had its opening night last night at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto. The play, which has been brought across the pond by presenter David Mirvish is about a colony of convicts who are cast in a play by an officer of the navy at the urging of his captain. Of course, not all members of the colony take kindly to the sentiment of using convicts as actors over laborers. Ultimately, the underdogs do triumph and the play is a hit.
Ryan G Hinds Begins Buddies In Bad Times Cabaret ResidencySeptember 17, 2014Returning to the Buddies stage this Fall, the critically-acclaimed cabaret artist Ryan G. Hinds begins a season-long Residency at Buddies in Bad Times, under the musical direction of Mark Selby. Fabulously exploring everything from Disney villains to Aznavour chansons, Grace Jones tangos, Roy Orbison ballads and the theatre music of Kander & Ebb, this Residency promises grit, glitter, and laughter along with introspection in an intimate venue. For the first time, Hinds? distinctly diva style will be backed by a trio of musicians: Selby on piano, Ross McIntyre on bass and Julian Clarke on percussion.
Photo Flash: Inside the Mirvish Season Launch EventSeptember 16, 2014David Mirvish has finalized all the details and shows for his 2014-15 line-up of shows. There will be seven shows in the Mainstage Subscription Series, three in the Off-Mirvish Subscription Series and nine bonus shows not on subscription. That brings the total to a record 19 shows for the 2014-15 season. The season lineup was announced during an event held on September 16 at The Royal Alexandra Theatre. The shows slated to play Toronto over the next year are: Wicked (now playing), The Book of Mormon (now playing), Our Country's Good (now playing), Arcadia, The Heart of Robin Hood, Blithe Spirit, Titanic the Musical, Kinky Boots, Disney's Newsies, Buyer and Cellar, Boom, Vanya and Sonya and Masha and Spike, Julie Madly Deeply, The Boy With Tape on His Face, Donny and Marie: A Broadway Christmas, Jersey Boys, Blades on Stage, Dame Edna's Glorious Goodbye, and Once.
BWW Video: Meet the Guy and Girl From Toronto's Upcoming 'ONCE'September 16, 2014I'm thrilled to announce that BroadwayWorld has learned the casting for the Toronto sit down production of ONCE. The Toronto production of the Broadway hit musical will feature Ian Lake as Guy and Trish Lindstrom as Girl. I had a moment to sit down with Lake and Lindstrom after their performance at the Mirvish Productions Season Launch Event this morning and talk about their upcoming performances at the Royal Alexandra Theatre.
BWW Interview: Andrea Martin On Her New Book 'LADY PARTS'September 12, 2014Fans of Andrea Martin should know that she's written a wonderful, moving, incredibly funny, and honest series of essays that have been published by Harper Collins into a book titled 'Lady Parts.' Ms. Martin immediately sets the tone of her book in the introduction, where she confesses the greatest deceit that she has done unto her fans. 'I need to set the record straight. I am not Canadian. I am American.' While Ms. Martin has lived in and spent much of her career in Toronto, she was in fact born in Maine and is of Armenian descent. If you decide to not return her book (which she suggests in the introduction) and can live with the fact this Ms. Martin is not Canadian, you're in for a real treat.
BWW Review: THE LAST FIVE YEARS Movie is a Marvelous Adaptation of Jason Robert Brown's Off-Broadway MusicalSeptember 8, 2014The film adaptation of 'The Last Five Years,' based on the musical by Jason Robert Brown, had its world premiere last night at the Toronto International Film Festival. 'The Last Five Years' is a musical chronicling a relationship taking place over a five year period. Jamie Wallerstein is a young, talented up and coming novelist who falls in love with Cathy Hiatt, a struggling actress. Their story is told almost entirely through song. All of Cathy's songs begin at the end of their marriage and move backwards in time to the beginning of their love affair, while Jamie's songs start at the beginning of their affair and move forward to the end of their marriage. They meet in the center when Jamie proposes.
BWW Review: WICKED Continues To Amaze Audiences 9 Years After Toronto DebutSeptember 5, 2014One can't help but leave the Ed Mirvish Theatre on a high after a performance of 'Wicked,' a musical now in its 11th year on Broadway. The Wizard sings a tune in the show which begins with 'I am a sentimental man,' and as I watched him call the guards just before Elphaba (the Wicked Witch) takes flight at the close of the first act - I realized that this lyric perfectly summed up my thoughts on the production I was seeing tonight.