Feature: Ilana Lucas Picks The Top Toronto Theatre of 2023
It’s been a strong year for Toronto theatre. I saw 145 shows this year in Toronto and beyond, and am happy to report that theatre is alive and well. I’ve laughed, sobbed, coughed (discreetly into a mask), and cheered my way through our stages in 2023. Here are some local highlights.
Bad Hats/Soulpepper's ALICE IN WONDERLAND Leads Dora Award Nominations
At a press conference held at Meridian Hall, the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA) announced 228 nominations for the 43rd Annual Dora Mavor Moore Awards, which recognize excellence in professional theatre, dance and opera in Toronto for the 2022-2023 season. Also announced at the press conference was the recipient of the Province of Ontario’s Pauline McGibbon Award.
Celebration Theatre Presents BASH'D, Opening June 10
Sean Bradford (Original Cast of The Scottsboro Boys, The Lion King) and Chris Ferro ('All My Children') will explore the effects of homophobic violence in the West Coast Premiere of BASH'D! - A GAY RAP OPERA.
Celebration Theatre Presents BASH’d! A Gay Rap Opera, Previews June 7
Celebration Theatre is thrilled to announce the fourth show in its 2010-2011 Season of Shows, the West Coast Premiere of the gay rap opera BASH'D! - A GAY RAP OPERA, written by Chris Craddock and Nathan Cuckow, music by Aaron Macri, musical direction and additional beatz by DJ Jedi, directed and choreographed by Ameenah Kaplan and produced for Celebration Theatre by Ryan Bergmann and Michael A. Shepperd with Nathaniel Mathis, Cameron Faber and Michael C Kricfalusi III.
Review - BASH'd: A Gay Rap Opera: Love Changes Everything
After earning high accolades from its appearances in both New York and Toronto's Fringe Festivals and winning a Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) award for 'fair, accurate and inclusive representation of people and events in the media as a means of eliminating homophobia and discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation,' the Canadian-created BASH'd: A Gay Rap Opera has moved to the Zipper Factory Theatre for an Off-Broadway run. And while this imaginative and theatrically invigorating celebration of gay marital rights and condemnation of random acts of hatred certainly has its heart in the right place, the awkward sympathy of the story's ending prevents me from giving the show a fully enthusiastic recommendation. I'll try and tiptoe my way through that part later without revealing too much, but first let me tell you about the 90% of the show that comes off extremely well.
BASH'd To End Off-Broadway Run On 8/30
Stephen Kocis, Carl D. White, Paul Boskind, and Michael Filerman, in association with David J. Gersten, today announced that BASH'd!, the new gay musical and the most acclaimed show of the new theater season, would end its Off-Broadway premiere engagement at The Zipper Factory Theater (336 West 37th Street between 8th & 9th Avenues) on Saturday August 30th. BASH'd! was created by Chris Craddock and Nathan Cuckow who star as T-BAG and FEMINEM, respectively, and has music by Aaron Macri and is directed by Ron Jenkins.
BASH'd To End Off-Broadway Run On 8/30
Stephen Kocis, Carl D. White, Paul Boskind, and Michael Filerman, in association with David J. Gersten, today announced that BASH'd!, the new gay musical and the most acclaimed show of the new theater season, would end its Off-Broadway premiere engagement at The Zipper Factory Theater (336 West 37th Street between 8th & 9th Avenues) on Saturday August 30th. BASH'd! was created by Chris Craddock and Nathan Cuckow who star as T-BAG and FEMINEM, respectively, and has music by Aaron Macri and is directed by Ron Jenkins.