Toronto Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 14

BWW Review: HAND TO GOD is a Disturbing, Complex, and Funny Look at Good Versus Evil…with Puppets
by Isabella Perrone - April 28, 2019

Dark comedy and puppets seem to be a natural link, given the number of film and theatre stories that have incorporated both in the last several years. Coal Mine Theatre's season-closing production of HAND TO GOD, written by Robert Askins, examines the duality of man and the struggle between good and...

BWW Review: Stellar Cast Brings the Ramones to Life in Psychological Bio Play FOUR CHORDS AND A GUN
by Isabella Perrone - April 28, 2019

End of the Century was the album that skyrocketed the Ramones into the public eye, and in FOUR CHORDS AND A GUN writer John Ross Bowie delves into the strain and tension that came with its recording sessions. The collaboration between the Queens, New York band and infamous producer Phil Spector exam...

BWW Review: THE COLOR PURPLE at Neptune Theatre
by Chelsey Robichaud - April 23, 2019

Neptune Theatre's production of The Color Purple is an effortless, empowering production that will be remembered for decades. The show opened April 9th and will end June 2nd...

BWW Review: Canadian Slavery and Women's Mistreatment Motivate ANGELIQUE in Gripping Toronto Premiere
by Isabella Perrone - April 16, 2019

Late playwright Lorena Gale's ANGELIQUE makes its Toronto debut in this Black Theatre Workshop and Tableau D'Hote co-production, presented by Factory Theatre and Obsidian Theatre. The play follows the true story behind Marie Joseph Angelique, an enslaved black woman, as she attempts to navigate the ...

BWW Review: Competing Ideas and Unrealized Plotlines Leave THE CHERRY ORCHARD Struggling to Take Root
by Isabella Perrone - April 02, 2019

In director Soheil Parsa's THE CHERRY ORCHARD, produced by Modern Times Stage Company in association with Crow's Theatre, the concept of nostalgia versus progress seems to be the underlying message. At several moments throughout it's brought front and centre, however the sheer number of characters t...

BWW Review: A DOLL'S HOUSE PART 2 at Mirvish
by Isabella Perrone - March 30, 2019

Mirvish and Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre's production of A DOLL'S HOUSE PART 2 does for theatre what is usually reserved for blockbusters and novels - it provides a sequel, many years down the road, to one of Henrik Ibsen's more controversial works (A Doll's House). Written more than a hundred year...

BWW Review: Robert Markus Triumphs in DEAR EVAN HANSEN
by Taylor Long - March 30, 2019

Pull out your kleenex now. The international premiere of DEAR EVAN HANSEN, written by songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, with a book by Steven Levenson, has arrived in Toronto. The Grammy and Tony Award-winning musical comes to life at Mirvish's Royal Alex Theatre with an impressive, all-Canadi...

BWW Review: Second City Toronto's Hilarious Ensemble Struts Their Stuff in WALKING ON BOMBSHELLS
by Isabella Perrone - March 24, 2019

The Second City's 82nd revue WALKING ON BOMBSHELLS is undeniably a look into the many aspects of what it's like to live in Toronto. From the Osgoode subway station backdrop in its sad, dirty yellow glory and throughout every sketch performed in the show, the latest mainstage offering from the compan...

BWW Review: THE REAR WINDOW Offers a Glimpse into Isolation and Paranoia in Classic Thriller Style
by Isabella Perrone - March 17, 2019

Rife with references to some of Alfred Hitchcock's best-known works, THE REAR WINDOW, based on Cornell Woolrich's short story, It Had To Be Murder, offers a tense look into solitude and desperation. ...

BWW Review: TOWARDS YOUTH Examines the Effect of Strenuous Societies on Drama Students
by Isabella Perrone - March 09, 2019

Making its world debut in the Project: Humanity and Crow's Theatre production, TOWARDS YOUTH brings five different drama classrooms from around the world, transitioning from Toronto to England, Greece, Taiwan, and India. Written by Andrew Kushnir based on his travels with Dr. Kathleen Gallagher to c...

BWW Review: BEARS is a Striking Look at the Struggle and Similarities Between Humanity and Nature
by Isabella Perrone - March 09, 2019

Matthew MacKenzie's award-winning play BEARS has returned to Toronto, taking residency within Factory Theatre. Produced by Alberta Aboriginal Performing Arts and Punctuate! Theatre, the play follows Floyd (Sheldon Elter) as he flees from the scene of a workplace accident. While on the run from the R...

BWW Review: Jeremy Jordan at Aventura Arts And Cultural Center- An Intimate Night With the Tony Award Nominee
by Cristina Pla-Guzman - March 09, 2019

Jeremy Jordan in concert was like meeting up with an old friend for coffee. An incredibly talented, handsome and funny friend… His ease and comfort in the delivery of small conversations with his equally talented and witty music director, Benjamin Rauhala, was refreshing. It felt honest and intimate...

BWW Review: OSLO at Mirvish Breathes Life into the Figures Behind the Oslo Accords
by Isabella Perrone - February 17, 2019

The Studio 180 production of OSLO, presented as part of the off-Mirvish season, tells the heavily-dramatized story behind the Oslo Accords. Written by J.T. Rogers and directed here by Joel Greenberg, the play receives a minimalistic interpretation of the 1990s backroom negotiations between Palestine...

BWW Review: New Home, Same COME FROM AWAY
by Taylor Long - February 10, 2019

The grandeur of the historic Elgin Theatre hasn't overwhelmed COME FROM AWAY. Mirvish's production of the smash-hit Canadian musical has officially moved from the Royal Alexandra Theatre to the Elgin Theatre, making space for the Canadian premiere of Dear Evan Hansen which opens at the Royal Alex in...

BWW Review: THE VIRGIN TRIAL is Politically-Charged Family Drama at its Finest
by Isabella Perrone - February 02, 2019

Soulpepper's production of Kate Hennig's THE VIRGIN TRIAL, originally produced by the Stratford Festival, brings an investigation of power, morals, and misconduct to the stage. The gripping re-imagining looks at Henry VIII's second daughter Elizabeth I (Bahia Watson), a 15-year-old princess who's a ...

BWW Review: ROSE is an Inspirational Look at the Self Despite its Struggle to Balance a Busy Story
by Isabella Perrone - January 27, 2019

ROSE follows the highs and lows of a nine-year-old on a journey to find herself, with a lively soundtrack and well-rounded cast pushing the plot through a busy storyline....

BWW Review: Ravi Jain's PRINCE HAMLET (2017 Review)
by Taylor Long - January 17, 2019

A gender-bending, English and American Sign Language (ASL) bilingual production of Shakespeare's Hamlet may sound ambitious - but it plays as compellingly human. Maybe you're not familiar with the story. Maybe you've seen it a hundred times. Regardless, Why Not Theatre's PRINCE HAMLET will defy your...

AFTER THE FIRE is a Complicated Look into the Human Psyche Following Trauma
by Isabella Perrone - January 13, 2019

The 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire displaced an entire city. In AFTER THE FIRE, writer Matthew MacKenzie examines the aftermath of the disaster through two couples. However, the complexity of the plot leads to a somewhat convoluted story due to the amount of exposition and information throughout....

BWW Review: Aliens Bring Out the Humanity in WE ARE NOT ALONE
by Isabella Perrone - January 13, 2019

In Damien Atkins's WE ARE NOT ALONE, the playwright and actor leverages his own fears and judgements against an Arizona-based convention full of extra-terrestrial experiencers, believers, and alien-human hybrids to explore the concept of belief in a manner that brings our own existence into question...

BWW Review: THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG at Mirvish is Outrageously Fun
by Taylor Long - January 12, 2019

THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG has to be the loudest I've ever heard a Toronto audience laugh. The hilarious farce has captured the essence of what most theatre professionals spend their lives fearing. It takes the unpredictable nature of live theatre and exaggerates the hell out of it....

BWW Review: 1979 is a Crash Course in Canadian Politics
by Isabella Perrone - January 10, 2019

What happened in the Prime Minister's office on the ill-fated day of Joe Clark's budget vote? Michael Healey's play on the downfall of the 16th PM of Canada, produced by The 1979 Group and directed by Miles Potter, explores the ideology of the morally-motivated Albertan and his interactions with som...

BWW Review: Ross Petty's THE WIZARD OF OZ is Pure Magic
by Taylor Long - December 11, 2018

Ross Petty's panto is back and better than ever! THE WIZARD OF OZ at the Elgin Theatre is a loose adaption of the classic story with a modern/environmentally-conscious twist. Ross Petty's panto has become a staple of the Toronto theatre community, entertaining generations of audiences for over 20 ye...

BWW Review: Kids Bring the Rock in SCHOOL OF ROCK at Mirvish
by Taylor Long - December 08, 2018

Before the show even begins, the voice of Andrew Lloyd Webber informs us all that the kids in SCHOOL OF ROCK play their instruments live. This becomes overwhelmingly impressive as the show progresses. SCHOOL OF ROCK: THE MUSICAL, with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Glenn Slater, and book by...

BWW Review: THE RUNNER is a Haunting Look Into Human Goodness
by Isabella Perrone - December 04, 2018

Written by Christopher Morris following years of research in Israel, directed by Daniel Brooks, and produced by Human Cargo with the support of Theatre Passe Muraille, THE RUNNER is an intimate look into the life of Jakob (Gord Rand), a member of the Jewish crisis-response team ZAKA....

BWW Review: Sondra Radvanovsky Gives Four Encores in Astonishing Recital
by Taylor Long - November 27, 2018

It was a, 'I was there when…' kind of evening for opera. Soprano Sondra Radvanovsky appeared at Toronto's beautiful Koerner Hall for her highly anticipated recital, From Bel Canto to Verismo, accompanied by pianist Anthony Manoli. One has to applaud the presenter, Show One Productions, on its commit...