Canadian Stage returns with Measure for Measure in Shakespeare in High Park for Toronto audiences
Canadian Stage returns to the beautiful outdoor ampitheatre in High Park for another summer of Shakespeare in High Park. This year, the two selections from the Bard are Measure for Measure and Much Ado About Nothing. A bit of a departure this year as Canadian Stage has opted to do a comedy and a, well, dramedy in Measure for Measure, directed by Severn Thompson. With witty shenanigans in a rather grim situation, mixing both period and modern costumes, this show is a fun experience under the stars.
There’s still a few days left to check out the 2019 Toronto Fringe Festival! If you want to make the most out of your theatre-going this week, here’s a look at a few rave reviews.
These are shows that blew our writers’ minds, got them talking, kept them enthralled, stuck with them, and made their editor write a list of exciting descriptive actions.
While we always encourage audiences to take risks at Fringe, here are some sharp picks that especially paid off for our team:
Leading Toronto immersive theatre company produces its first escape room-style experiences
When the iconic video rental store Queen Video closed its final location on Bloor Street this past March it felt like a sad inevitability. In the age of YouTube and Netflix, the video rental store is a relic from another era.Now, Outside the March, one of Toronto’s leading immersive theatre companies, has taken over the space and re-christened it The Tape Escape, to house three immersive, escape room-style puzzle experiences that harken back to that bygone era. Continue reading Review: The Tape Escape (Outside the March)→
Week two of the 2019 Toronto Fringe Festival is upon us, and we’re counting up our rave reviews from our hard-won list of 149 reviews of the entire (review-eligible) festival! Plenty of those shows have been marked as RAVES by our reviewers, and we’re here today to highlight a few more of them!
What’s a rave, you might ask? Simply put: our reviewer loved it. Sometimes a rave is ‘I’d see that a second, third, fourth time’; sometimes a rave is ‘I’m STILL thinking about this show days later’; sometimes it’s as simple as ‘I had a really fabulous time at this show.’
Really, it’s all subjective, because theatre is subjective. These raves caught our reviewers’ attention, though–perhaps they’ll snag yours as well?
Mirvish brings the hit Broadway musical with songs by Sara Bareilles to Toronto
The North-American tour ofWaitress is currently making a stop in Toronto at the Ed Mirvish Theatre. The hit Broadway musical with book by Jessie Nelson and songs by American singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles is based on the 2007 film starring Keri Russell and centres on the story of a small-town diner waitress and skilled baker named Jenna (Christine Dwyer) who aspires to enter a pie-making competition to win the prize money she needs to escape her unhappy life. Continue reading Review: Waitress (Mirvish)→
If you’re new to Fringing our rave reviews can help you decide which shows to see. They’re the ones with the little green Rave Review in brackets next to them on the Fringe Reviews list.
These are the shows that made our reviewers want to run out of the theatre, grab people, and tell them that they absolutely ‘have to go see this show, it’s amazing’. Well, they make me want to do that.
It’s not the only way to pick a show but it’s one way to get started. Here are a few that our writers have raved about.
Based on the synopsis of Murmurs in the Toronto Fringe Festival online program I was expecting a story – a monologue that focused on Drew Taylor and his relationship with his father. A tribute to his father; the tribute that Taylor didn’t deliver at his funeral.
While you absolutely shouldn’t only stick to shows with rave reviews (there’s so much great stuff playing at the Toronto Fringe Festival!) they do give you a place to start.
Personally, I’m a big fan of picking a show that I’m pretty sure is going to be a good one and then just taking a chance on whatever is playing before or after it at the same venue. I have seen some really great stuff that way that otherwise wouldn’t have been on my radar.
In the meantime, here are some shows our writers have been raving about to get you started.
This past weekend Mooney on Theatre sent its dedicated team of 22 writers and editors to cover all 148 shows* in this year’s Toronto Fringe Festival! With the sheer number of shows available at the festival, picking the ones you want to see can be a daunting task.
If you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed by the number of shows and you’re looking for a place to start, we’ve asked our staff to tell us about their favourite shows they’ve seen at this year’s festival. We hope our staff picks can help you navigate the Fringe.
If you’ve seen something you think is amazing that you think others should go see please let us know by leaving a comment.
Canadian Stage returns with Measure for Measure in Shakespeare in High Park for Toronto audiences
Leading Toronto immersive theatre company produces its first escape room-style experiences
Mirvish brings the hit Broadway musical with songs by Sara Bareilles to Toronto
