Toronto Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 9

BWW Review: The Stratford Festival's YOU CAN'T STOP THE BEAT Cabaret Celebrates the Joy of Musical Theatre
by Lauren Gienow - July 20, 2021

After over a year without live theatre pretty much anywhere in the world, Canadian musical theatre lovers made it known just how much they missed this art form by quickly scooping up tickets to YOU CAN’T STOP THE BEAT - a Cabaret at the Stratford Festival curated and directed by Thom Allison. This p...

BWW Review: The Stratford Festival Explores WHY WE TELL THE STORY on its Instantly Classic Opening Night
by Lauren Gienow - July 14, 2021

This exquisite cabaret delves deep into the catalogue of African American Musical Theatre and not only poses the titular question of WHY WE TELL THE STORY but also leaves audiences wondering why theatres haven’t been telling these stories nearly enough. ...

BWW Review: WHISKY KIDS Serve a Double Shot of Sketch Comedy Hilarity
by Luke Elisio - March 22, 2020

Toronto, Theatre, Review, WhiskyKids, SketchComedy, CLAREBLACKWOOD, RYANF.HUGHES...

BWW Review: ROMEO AND JULIET swaps iconic dialogue for emotive movement in gorgeous National Ballet of Canada production
by Isabella Perrone - March 14, 2020

It's a tale that's captivated audiences for hundreds of years, and although it contains some of the most iconic lines in theatre, it transitions to a non-spoken tale of forbidden love and tragedy seamlessly in this remount of the National Ballet of Canada's 2011 production....

BWW Review: LES BALLETS DE TROCKADERO DE MONTE CARLO And Guest Brooke Lynn Hytes Bring Camp, Laughs, And Sheer Talent To Classic Ballet
by Isabella Perrone - March 13, 2020

All-male ballet companies aren't uncommon, but one of the world's leading groups in the genre have taken classical ballet to a whole new level with a laugh-out-loud program of iconic works, performed gorgeously by a talented ensemble....

BWW Review: SUMMER: THE DONNA SUMMER MUSICAL at the Princess Of Wales Theatre
by Louis Train - March 13, 2020

I was born too late to enjoy disco, too early to quite understand what Billie Eilish is. Fortunately, good music knows no generation, and when a?oeEnough is Enougha?? comes on the playlist, I expect everyone from ages 8-80 to jump up and dance with me. And, indeed, we did dance at SUMMER: The Donna ...

BWW Review: SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE at Jam Factory T.O.
by Louis Train - March 06, 2020

SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE, Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's musical inspired by the pointillist painting 'A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte', has always felt to me like a you-had-to-be-there musical....

BWW Review: THE NEGROES ARE CONGREGATING Is A Powerful Examination Of Black Culture And Experience
by Isabella Perrone - March 05, 2020

PIECE OF MINE Arts and Theatre Passe Muraille's THE NEGROES ARE CONGREGATING is a wickedly smart, biting examination of what it's like to be a Black person in Toronto today. Through a series of vignettes, the three-person ensemble transform into dozens of characters to portray scenes focused on subj...

BWW Review: OIL at Geary Lane
by Louis Train - March 04, 2020

OIL, which premiered last night at Geary Lane, is an epic story, an eat-before-you-arrive play that will take up your evening and take over your mind. It consists of five vignettes across five periods of history, beginning in the late 19th century and continuing into a bleak, imagined future. The sc...

BWW Review: MOTHERHOOD THE MUSICAL Is A Heartfelt Celebration Of The Trials And Triumphs Of Moms
by Isabella Perrone - March 03, 2020

Lower Ossington Theatre's MOTHERHOOD THE MUSICAL is exactly what it sounds like, plus a little bit more. When a group of friends throw a surprise baby shower for a soon-to-be new mom, they end up exploring the highs and lows of motherhood, all they do for their families, and their relationship with ...

BWW Review: ANGELS' ATLAS is a Moving, Multi-Sensory Examination of Humanity
by Isabella Perrone - March 02, 2020

The National Ballet of Canada's multi-work program is, at its core, an examination of humanity. CHROMA is a hyper-modernist piece designed to show the capabilities of the human body; MARGUERITE AND ARMAND is a tale of love, pain, and death; and the central piece, the world premiere of Crystal Pite's...

BWW Review: US/THEM is a Necessary Examination of Tragedy Through the Eyes of Children
by Isabella Perrone - March 01, 2020

When tragedy strikes, most people can only try to imagine what the victims have experienced; and when children are among the affected, outside opinions tend to overtake individual in favour of a narrative of collective outrage....

BWW Review: OH, WHAT A LOVELY WAR! at Hart House Theatre
by Louis Train - February 29, 2020

When the musical OH, WHAT A LOVELY WAR! premiered in London, in the 1960s, World War One was relatively fresh in the minds of the audience, most having either lived through it or being the child of someone who had. Today, the show, which strings together British songs from the Great War through a se...

BWW Review: Powerful Women Rise and Fall in LADY SUNRISE
by Isabella Perrone - February 25, 2020

Factory Theatre's LADY SUNRISE, directed by Nina Lee Aquino, tells the story of a group of vastly different diasporic Asian-Canadian women living in Vancouver. Despite their different places in life they all come to be connected through a single business deal, brought to life through ex-pageant girl...

BWW Review: AF Examines Human Nature Through Anishinaabe Mythology
by Isabella Perrone - February 22, 2020

Emotive, demanding dance pairs gorgeously with booming percussion in Red Sky Performance's AF, presented by Canadian Stage. Drawing inspiration from Anishinaabe mythologies, director Sandra Laronde and choreographer Thomas Fonua (in collaboration with performers) explore the foundations of George Or...

BWW Review: The Music Industry Gets a Personal Take in HOW TO FAIL AS A POPSTAR
by Isabella Perrone - February 22, 2020

The music industry is a looming part of popular culture, and we so often hear its success stories a?' on the radio, in biographical novels and films, through documentaries, and more. What we don't normally get to hear is the experience of those who have tried, and tried, and tried to break into the ...

BWW Review: COMEDY AS A SECOND LANGUAGE Proves Hilarity is Bilingual
by Luke Elisio - February 19, 2020

In several comedy clubs around the city, audiences would be quick to turn on a comedian once the material starts to bring race and immigration into the mix. However, when you have six talented comedians, all of whom are immigrant themselves telling the jokes, immigration suddenly becomes a major sou...

BWW Review: WORKING CLASS DINNER PARTY is Worthy of An RSVP
by Luke Elisio - February 19, 2020

Scottee is working class. Is he ashamed? No, he absolutely isn't. Does he wish to engage in thought-provoking discussions with as many fellow members of the working class as he can? Yes, he absolutely does. Welcome to the WORKING CLASS DINNER PARTY....

BWW Review: THIS WORLD MADE ITSELF & INFINITELY YOURS Captivates at Progress Festival
by Luke Elisio - February 19, 2020

It's definitely a cliché, but the adage 'sometimes less is more,' holds true. Especially when it comes to performance art pieces like THIS WORLD MADE ITSELF & INFINITELY YOURS. This is a moving and innovative piece that is sure to capture the hearts and minds of whoever sees it....

BWW Review: LESSONS IN FORGETTING Fails to Stick in Audience's Memory
by Luke Elisio - February 19, 2020

As a frequent theatre-goer, there are certain shows you look back on and go, 'wow, I really sat through that?' Unfortunately, LESSONS IN FORGETTING is one of those shows....

BWW Review: THE GHOST PROJECT is Spook-tacular Storytelling
by Luke Elisio - February 19, 2020

Have you ever seen a figure that no one else could see? Have you ever heard a voice that no one else could hear? Have you ever felt a presence that no one else could feel? If so, or if you simply believe that ghosts walk among us, THE GHOST PROJECT is the show for you....

BWW Review: THE TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL Is One Adventure You Don't Want To Miss
by Luke Elisio - February 19, 2020

If a production is successful, it will draw you into the world it has created and for a while, allow you to lose yourself in the story unfolding on stage. With just a few well-placed set pieces, convincing costumes and powerful performances, it can be done. THE TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL, now playing at the ...

BWW Review: JUNGLE BOOK Heeds the Call of the Wild in an Imaginative, Beautiful Production
by Isabella Perrone - February 17, 2020

It's time to escape Toronto's urban jungle for a real one, and this journey is one for the entire family to take together. Rudyard Kipling's classic works are adapted and directed by Craig Francis and Rick Miller in this modern, multimedia take on a beloved story of the connection between humanity ...

BWW Review: We might have had to wait for it, but HAMILTON exceeds expectations in Canadian premiere
by Isabella Perrone - February 15, 2020

HAMILTON has proven its lasting power in the five years since it debuted on Broadway, and after landing in several international locations, the mega-hit musical about America's ten-dollar founding father has crossed the border....

BWW Review: SECRET LIFE OF A MOTHER at Streetcar Crowsnest
by Louis Train - February 11, 2020

SECRET LIFE OF A MOTHER is a simple, sweet, agonising, and intimate work of autobiographical theatre by some of Toronto's best theatre talent. With a script (mostly) by Hannah Moscovitch and (mostly) starring Maev Beaty, SECRET LIFE offers an inward look at the pains and paradoxes of pregnancy, birt...