Peter’s Final Flight At The Elgin, Toronto – A Review
Peter’s Final Flight at the Elgin Theatre Ross Petty is a Canadian institution, and for devotees of the theatrical form known, somewhat inaccurately, as pantomime, his production of Peter’s Final Flight at Toronto’s magnificent Elgin Theatre is not to be missed. (Canadian readers can take a break here, as the next several paragraphs are for […]
Elf The Musical At The Grand Theatre – A Review
Elf, The Musical at the Grand Theatre I kinda liked Elf, the 2003 film starring Will Ferrell, but I absolutely loved Elf, the Musical, now receiving a perfectly delightful production at the Grand Theatre in London, Ontario, under the masterful direction of artistic director Dennis Garnhum. Elf, for those who don’t know, tells the tale […]
White Christmas At The Shaw Festival – A Review
White Christmas at the Shaw Festival Did someone walk into a staff meeting at the Shaw Festival and say, “Hey, here’s an idea: What say we sink all our money into tap dancing lessons?” If so, the investment has paid off handsomely. Kate Hennig’s tap-alicious production of Irving Berlin’s White Christmas is a knockout and […]
Grand Ghosts at The Grand Theatre – A Review
Grand Ghosts at The Grand Theatre Grand Ghosts, now premiering at the Grand Theatre in London, Ontario, was a grand notion. Too bad it didn’t work out. The idea behind Grand Ghosts, as I understand it, was to celebrate the reopening of the renovated theatre with a fun frolic of a show about the ghosts […]
Driving Miss Daisy At St Jacobs Country Playhouse – A Review
Driving Miss Daisy at St Jacobs Country Playhouse I wonder if Alfred Uhry’s Driving Miss Daisy, a minor classic of late twentieth century American theatre, is weathering the test of time, or like its title character becoming progressively weaker. The play is receiving a respectful, low key revival at Drayton Entertainment’s comfy St Jacobs Country […]
The Shark Is Broken At The Royal Alexandra – A Review
The Shark Is Broken At The Royal Alexandra The Shark Is Broken, Ian Shaw’s heartfelt homage to the memory of a father he hardly knew, is receiving a sterling production at Mirvish’s Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto. Shaw and co-writer Joseph Nixon imagine the frictions and frustrations experienced by actors Robert Shaw (Ian Shaw), Roy […]
Singin’ In The Rain At The Princess of Wales – A Review
Singin’ In The Rain at The Princess of Wales No, the Mirvish production of Singin’ in the Rain, currently packing them in at Toronto’s Princess of Wales Theatre does not come close to matching the razzle dazzle of the 1952 MGM screen classic starring Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor, and Debbie Reynolds. But I don’t think […]
Hamlet-911 At The Stratford Festival – A Review
Hamlet-911 at The Stratford Festival If you’re not feeling sufficiently woke, hie thee to Hamlet-911, Ann-Marie MacDonald’s cheerfully anarchic mishmash of a play now receiving it’s much-delayed world premiere at the Stratford Festival’s Studio Theatre. Hamlet-911 is a satiric comedy about white male privilege in the theatre, specifically the Stratford Festival, and the exclusion of […]
Uncle Vanya At Crow’s Theatre – A Review
Uncle Vanya At Crow’s Theatre The astonishment of Artistic Director Chris Abraham’s electrifying production of Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya at Toronto’s Crow’s Theatre begins with the set and lighting. Co-designers of set and props Julie Fox and Josh Quinlan have transformed the Crow’s capacious Guloien Theatre into one of the most impressive sets I’ve seen […]
1939 At The Stratford Festival – A Review
1939 at The Stratford Festival In a canny bit of programming at the Studio Theatre, the Stratford Festival has paired its production of Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well with 1939, a masterful and moving play about Canada’s residential schools, by Jani Lauzon and Kaitlyn Riordan. The residential school system was created to turn the […]