Alright, back to work with the lot of ya! The summer’s over and it’s back to the grind we go. This week’s collection of cheap theatre is all about that back to work and back to school routine where all work and no play make Homer go something something. But before the 9 to 5 starts making you go crazy, be sure to cap your week off with some great theatre for less.
Continue reading Cheap Theatre in Toronto for the Week of September 10th, 2013
Here is what’s going on in Toronto theatre this week. There are several great shows to catch for the week of September 9th, 2013. ** Shows marked with the double asterisks and in red are the ones that make Wayne, our Managing Editor, wish he could exist in multiple parallel universes so he could check them all out.
Continue reading Eye-Catching Theatre for the Week of September 9th 2013
These are gorgeous photos, aren’t they? In fact, everything about Loose Tea Theatre’s La Tragedie de Carmen (which played at Buddies in Bad Times) sounds gorgeous – a sultry, 1930s chamber-scale adaptation of Carmen, one of the most enduring and popular pieces of western Opera.
And, luckily, the opera sounds gorgeous as well: Ryan Harper (Don Jose) and especially Cassandra Warner (Carmen) round out an excellent cast of singers. Musical Director Jennifer Tung (who accompanies on piano) has them in fine form, and the effect is helped considerably by how much fun the cast appear to be having on stage.
But though this is a production which sounds gorgeous. I found the experience of watching it to be somewhat less satisfying.
Continue reading Review: La Tragedie de Carmen (Loose Tea Music Theatre)
The Reluctant Dragon is a kid friendly modern adaptation of St. George and the Dragon by the Cabbagetown Theatre Company. In this story, twins stumble upon a terrifying dragon who is not at all what they expected. Performed in a small chapel across from Riverdale Farm, the play makes good use of Cabbagetown’s community charm.
Continue reading Review: The Reluctant Dragon (Cabbagetown Theatre Co.)
Next to Normal is a compelling drama about one family’s struggle with mental illness; a scathing critique of psychopharmacology and the pharmaceutical industry. Overall, it’s also a big, bold rock musical. This gripping, intelligent and emotional show won the 2010 Tony Award for Best Musical as well as the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and is easily one of my favourite musicals of the past ten years.
The Lower Ossington Theatre (LOT) opens its new season with a new production of Next to Normal and, fittingly for a show that explores the effects of mental illness, part of the proceeds from the show are being donated to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) whose main campus is located just a stone’s throw away from the Lower Ossington Theatre. Continue reading Review: Next to Normal (Lower Ossington Theatre)