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Samantha Wu - Page 2

Samantha Wu

Samantha is both a writer and a fan of the arts and has been able to find numerous ways to pair the two. Formerly an editor and writer at Mooney on Theatre, she also serves as a photojournalist for The Spill Magazine covering live music entertainment, and Go Globehopper - a travel, dining and tourism blog with a focus on Toronto and abroad. She's passionate about music, theatre, photography, writing, and celebrating sexuality -- not necessarily in that order. She drinks tea more than coffee, prefers ciders over beers, and sings karaoke way too loudly. You can follow her on various social media including Facebook and Instagram.

 




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First Show:

Phantom of the Opera in 1998

Favorite Show:

Les Miserables at the Princess of Wales Theatre, October 2013. Aside from it being a gorgeous Toronto production, it was my favorite memory with a friend who has since passed.

Favorite Stories:

  • Pressure at Royal Alexandra Theatre - Wonderful true story, excitingly performed. Although the title alludes to weather pressure, you can also feel the pressure mounting throughout the performance. This production was stunning.
  • To Kill a Mockingbird at Ed Mirvish Theatre - There is a reason why this novel is required school reading to this day. Racial segregation is, unfortunately, still an issue today. Through the wide eyes of young, susceptible kids, they learn the harsh reality of racial tension.
  • Queen Goneril at Soulpepper Theatre - This fantastic story focuses on the eldest daughter Goneril in the years leading up to the events in Shakespeare's King Lear. This is a wonderful story of a woman's ambition and determination to succeed.
  • Wildwoman at Soulpepper Theatre - The lesser known alleged true story behind Beauty and the Beast, Wilwoman sees Catherine de Medici, driven be scorn and spite, claw and climb her way to the top despite a marriage filled with abuse.
  • Jagged Little Pill at Princes of Wales Theatre - A jukebox musical to beat all jukebox musicals based on the music from Alanis Morissette's generation defining album Jagged Little Pill. The story written around the music is timely, dynamic, raw and uncomfortable in all the best possible ways. You will laugh, cry, and feel remarkably moved.


Review: NO SAVE POINTS at Outside The March
Review: NO SAVE POINTS at Outside The March
June 19, 2023

Outside the March brings another innovative and interactive theatrical experience to Toronto audiences with No Save Points, playing at the Lighthouse ArtScape. Writer and creator Sébastien Heins had a rough time growing up with an ailing mother who suffered from a rare genetic disease that could have passed on to him.

Review: THE HOOVES BELONGED TO THE DEER at Tarragon Theatre
Review: THE HOOVES BELONGED TO THE DEER at Tarragon Theatre
April 9, 2023

The Hooves Belonged to the Deer, playing at the Tarragon Theatre, is an eye-opening revelation story where conflicting situations conspire and lead to a tumultuous end for for Izzy, a young teen Muslim boy coming to terms with his sexuality while under the lure of a local pastor.

Review: ENGLISH at Soulpepper Theatre
Review: ENGLISH at Soulpepper Theatre
February 20, 2023

Soulpepper Theatre launches their 2023 season with English playing at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts. Set in Iran in the spring of 2009, English follows a small adult ESL class where each student and their instructor have their own push-and-pull relationship with their native tongue Farsi and their desire to learn English for a better life.

Review: THINGS I KNOW TO BE TRUE at CAA Theatre
Review: THINGS I KNOW TO BE TRUE at CAA Theatre
February 7, 2023

Things I Know to be True is an emotionally driven tale of a family stretched thin. With four adult children, it's not as easy for two loving parents to swoop in and know the right thing to say or do to make their children's crises disappear. Playing at the CAA Theatre for a limited engagement, this heartbreaking story is sure to help bond families.

Review: PRESSURE at Royal Alexandra Theatre
Review: PRESSURE at Royal Alexandra Theatre
February 1, 2023

What did our critic think of PRESSURE at Royal Alexandra Theatre? Mirvish Productions presents Pressure playing at the Royal Alexandra Theatre until March 5 2023. Fitting to the name, this performance is a pressurized exploration into the days leading up to D-Day in June, 1944. General Dwight Eisenhower (exquisitely played by Malcolm Sinclair) led the Allied Forces on a carefully calculated attack on Nazi-occupied France. With 350 000 lives at stake, the one unpredictable wild card was the often unforgiving weather. The man tasked with delivering the most crucial weather forecast in history fell on Scottish meteorologist James Stagg (Kevin Doyle).

BWW Review: QUEEN GONERIL at Soulpepper Theatre
BWW Review: QUEEN GONERIL at Soulpepper Theatre
September 14, 2022

Set seven years before the tragic events in King Lear, playwright Erin Shields takes on the dynamic character of Goneril, Lear's eldest daughter, posing the question of what drives her ambition?

BWW Review: KING LEAR at Soulpepper Theatre
BWW Review: KING LEAR at Soulpepper Theatre
September 12, 2022

Soulpepper Theatre brings Shakespeare's King Lear, the classic tale of a King's descent into madness and his daughters' struggle with power, to the Young Centre for the Performing Arts until October 1.

BWW Review: 2 PIANOS 4 HANDS at Royal Alexandra Theatre
BWW Review: 2 PIANOS 4 HANDS at Royal Alexandra Theatre
July 1, 2022

Richard Greenblatt and Ted Dykstra are two accomplished pianists who also happen to be pretty darn funny. Together they've created a musical comedic romp, 2 Pianos 4 Hands (2P4H) playing at the Royal Alexandra Theatre, an ode to their lifelong obsession with the 88 keys. If you've ever endured a music lesson as a child, the flashbacks experienced here are all too real.

BWW Review: WHERE THE BLOOD MIXES at Young Centre For The Performing Arts
BWW Review: WHERE THE BLOOD MIXES at Young Centre For The Performing Arts
June 10, 2022

What did our critic think? Soulpepper Theatre along with Native Earth Performing Arts presents Where the Blood Mixes written by Kevin Loring. This production, directed by Jani Lauzon, is a story about loss, reconnection, and generational trauma brought about by the hands of those in charge at the St George's Residential School in Lytton, BC.

BWW Review: IS GOD IS at Canadian Stage
BWW Review: IS GOD IS at Canadian Stage
May 20, 2022

Canadian Stage with Obsidian Theatre Company and Necessary Angel Theatre Company present Is God Is playing at the Berkeley Street Theatre until May 22, 2022, written by Aleshea Harris and directed by Mumbi Tindyebwa Otu. This explosive story of revenge and murder is an eye-opening and revealing exploration of Black women and societal expectations.

BWW Review: ORPHAN SONG at Tarragon Theatre
BWW Review: ORPHAN SONG at Tarragon Theatre
April 12, 2022

Set over 40, 000 years BCE, ORPHAN SONG follows the story of a Homo-sapiens couple struggling through the recent loss of a child. In their travels, they come across a being they've never seen before - a Neanderthal child orphaned and alone. Instinctively, they take the child under their care but language ultimately keeps them apart. 



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