Toronto Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 11

BWW Review: ANASTASIA Journeys From Screen to Stage With Grace
by Isabella Perrone - December 08, 2019

In the last decade or so, musicals based on movies have become a regular occurrence. It seems like several new shows are opening each year, so it's not surprising that a?oeAnastasia,a?? Don Bluth's semi-unconventional take on a princess movie, made the transition a?' and thankfully, the end result m...

BWW Review: I BE LIKE... at Bad Dog Comedy Theatre
by Louis Train - December 06, 2019

Thorne and Mullen have a natural stage chemistry, an easy back-and-forth that lets them bounce dialogue and jokes off each other like a game of table tennis. They are joined in I BE LIKE.... by Gavin Pounds, who opens the show with a stellar bit of inspirational comedy, and is a welcome addition to ...

BWW Review: STAND! Movie Musical
by Louis Train - December 06, 2019

Although STAND! is full of romance, it is boldly honest in its historical depictions. Xenophobia and racism take centre stage in the story. Canada gets at best an ambivalent treatment, as a place where the lucky are lucky but the unlucky struggle just to avoid harm. One of the central questions of t...

BWW Review: FIGARO'S WEDDING is rapturously charming opera for a modern audience
by Isabella Perrone - December 04, 2019

FIGARO'S WEDDING, first staged by Against the Grain in 2013, is a perfect example of how a good story and timeless music can transcend hundreds of years and switch languages, and still be rapturously funny. Featuring an English libretto by director Joel Ivany, the production still utilizes Mozart's ...

BWW Review: New Choreography and a Powerhouse Cast Make For a Fur-midable Production of CATS
by Isabella Perrone - November 30, 2019

CATS is a show that, on paper, isn't necessarily an easy sell. The narrative is simple: once a year a group of cats come together for the jellicle ball, and their leader Old Deuteronomy selects one cat to ascend to the Heaviside Layer and be reborn into a new life. There isn't too much structure to ...

BWW Review: SOLDIER ON at Berkeley Street Theatre
by Louis Train - November 29, 2019

SOLDIER ON comes to us from the UK, where a variety of audiences, military and non-military alike, have had the chance to enjoy its easy humour and satisfying plot. It tells the story of a group of servicepeople and their families who have come together to talk through their issues and put on a show...

BWW Review: BETWEEN RIVERSIDE AND CRAZY says what needs to be goddamn said at COAL MINE THEATRE
by Louis Train - November 29, 2019

In life, we all get dealt a hand the moment we're born. The choice is whether to play it or try for better cards. Walter Washington never knew his own father, but he kept trading in his cards, refusing to become a wanderer, a deadbeat. He got a job on the force, an apartment, a family, a spoon colle...

BWW Review: Song and Spoken Word Make POLY QUEER LOVE BALLAD a Touching Tale of Love and Romance
by Isabella Perrone - November 29, 2019

What happens when a monogamous lesbian songwriter and a polyamorous bisexual poet fall in love? Boundaries are set, broken, upheld, muddled, and re-established over and over again in a story that reflects the complications of modern dating and romantic relationships....

BWW Review: THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO is a Magical Romp for Kids and Adults Alike
by Isabella Perrone - November 27, 2019

Pinocchio is not a new story by any means, and according to director Sheila McCarthy's program note, it's been translated into 260 languages since it was written in 1881. With such a wealth of imaginings and interpretations already in the world, Brian Hill (book) and Neil Bartram (music and lyrics) ...

BWW Review: A JUBILANT HOLIDAY INN at SHAW FESTIVAL
by Michael Rabice - November 25, 2019

A frothy holiday confection playing out in Hollywood inspired Technicolor-come-to-life is the best way to describe the Shaw Festival's jubilant production of Irving Berlin's HOLIDAY INN now onstage at their Festival Theatre. Based on the 1942 movie of the same name starring Bing Crosby and Fred A...

BWW Review: HERE ARE THE FRAGMENTS examines mental illness through immersion and exploration
by Isabella Perrone - November 24, 2019

HERE ARE THE FRAGMENTS combines strong acting, independent exploration, and topical subject matter to create one of the most unique theatrical experiences in Toronto right now. Created by Dr. Suvendrini Lena, it's an immersive look into the life of Dr. Chauvet (Allan Louis), a Black doctor who is di...

BWW Review: BETWEEN BREATHS Leaps Joyously Out of Sadness at Factory Theatre
by Louis Train - November 23, 2019

Dr Jon Lien, the whale man of Memorial University, earned his nickname over a lifetime of rescuing trapped whales off the coast of Newfoundland. His brilliant career, as well as the painful circumstances surrounding his death, inspired Newfoundland's own Robert Chafe to write BETWEEN BREATHS, a shor...

BWW Review: BUFFOON Laughs Through Bared Teeth at Tarragon Theatre
by Louis Train - November 21, 2019

In the world premiere of Anosh Irani's BUFFOON, at Tarragon Theatre, Anand Rajaram plays Felix the clown, a child of the thrilling, vicious world of the circus. On a bare gray stage with nothing but a chair for company, Felix tells his life's story, beginning with his frightening birth, through the ...

BWW Review: Catch a Case of the Warm Funnies at The Second City's UNCONVENTIONAL HOLIDAY REVIEW
by Isabella Perrone - November 20, 2019

Even though the weather in Toronto is flip-flopping between fall and winter, there are plenty of ways to celebrate the holiday season around the city a?' and The Second City's joined that list with the UNCONVENTIONAL HOLIDAY REVUE....

BWW Review: ORPHEUS ALIVE iS A Busy Piece That Takes The Classic Greek Myth In A Modern Direction
by Isabella Perrone - November 18, 2019

The National Ballet of Canada's ORPHEUS ALIVE is a ground-breaking theatrical production, with heavy focus on theatre. Choreographer Robert Binet has taken some huge chances with the incorporation of lengthy, text-driven components (writing, dramaturgy and text direction by Rosamund Small) that do a...

BWW Review: Don't Bet on Theatre Gargantua's THE WAGER
by Louis Train - November 18, 2019

Theatre Gargantua's THE WAGER is a flat-Earth musical with talking birds. ...

BWW Review: ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL is an Opera That's Forgotten its Rock and Roll Roots
by Isabella Perrone - November 16, 2019

ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL's title alone brings a melody to mind, and if you don't hear it in the bratty voices of the kids featured on the album a?' then you'll probably have a different opinion on the opera than fans of Pink Floyd might. While this production leans into the emotional undertones of ...

BWW Review: Community and Unity Overtake Oppression in THE 9TH!
by Isabella Perrone - November 09, 2019

ProArteDanza's latest work, choreographed by Roberto Campanella and Robert Glumbeck, is the impressive result of over a decade of collaboration between its renowned creators. The piece is set to Beethoven's beloved 9th Symphony, and in line with the music, the story unfolds in four movements. Explor...

BWW Review: GISELLE is a Masterpiece of Romantic-Era Storytelling and Dance
by Isabella Perrone - November 09, 2019

Set in a pastoral German village, GISELLE has all the components of a quintessential romantic work. The titular character is a beautiful young woman living with her strict-yet-loving mother (Lorna Geddes). Although a local forester (Piotr Stanczyk) wants to marry her, Giselle has fallen for another ...

BWW Review: Iconic Music and Powerhouse Artists put Stevie Wonder and Prince Center Stage in UNCOVERED
by Isabella Perrone - November 06, 2019

When it comes to covering popular music, navigating the space between individual interpretation while still respecting the original artist's work could be a daunting task. And when the artists whose music is being covered are household names and legends in every way, there's also the need to ensure ...

BWW Review: LET'S RUN AWAY is a Moving Look at Life and Legacy
by Isabella Perrone - November 03, 2019

LET'S RUN AWAY is a deeply personal look into the life of a man through what his late birth mother wrote about him in her memoir; the premise is simple enough, but it's the layers and puzzles scattered throughout the interactions between mother and son that make the story so intriguing....

BWW Review: DON GIOVANNI Gets a Topically Modern and Classically Lavish Production
by Isabella Perrone - November 02, 2019

In this revival of Opera Atelier's 2011 DON GIOVANNI, questions of morality combat comedy in perfect harmony. Under director Marshall Pynkoski, this retelling of the tale of the Don examines his lifestyle as a full-time seducer and contrasts it against the ideals of the women he's loved and left (an...

BWW Review: DEAD PARENTS SOCIETY finds laughter in grief at Buddies in Bad Times
by Louis Train - November 02, 2019

DEAD PARENTS SOCIETY is a sketch comedy revue about mourning. Each skit addresses the death of a parent, the mourning process, going back to work or dating after loss. The premises are grim. The pain is real: each of the performers has lost a parent. The mood is anguished. And the show is hilarious....

BWW Review: TROUT STANLEY Dupes and Shines at Factory Theatre
by Louis Train - October 25, 2019

TROUT STANLEY brims with confusion and delight, like a birthday cake when it's nobody's birthday. Set somewhere in rural BC, it follows a pair of lugubrious but charming sisters, Grace and Sugar, as they cross paths with a mysterious man, Mr Trout Stanely, who's wandered in off the street. Neither t...

BWW Review: CONNECTION Is Brain-Bending Mentalism With A Lot Of Heart
by Isabella Perrone - October 23, 2019

For a different kind of night out, look no further than Beyond Mental Borders and their collection of mental tests. Comprised of Toronto-based mentalists Armand Antony and Alexandra Brynn, CONNECTION takes the traditional approach to magic and modifies it for a modern audience. Over the course of th...