With the holiday season approaching, what better time to give the gift of entertainment to a loved one? Toronto audiences are spoiled for choices this week, with several new shows premiering on our stages. Our assistant editor Jess is here to choose her most anticipated shows (in red). Check them out below the cut:
Continue reading Playlistings in Toronto for the week of December 4th
This weekend I had the opportunity to take my five-year-old son to his first opera. Canadian Opera Company’s production of The Magic Victrola was at least as much of a delight for me as it was for the kids. My son is already a seasoned theatre goer, being a regular patron of the Young People’s Theatre (YPT) and other children’s programming about town. Opera however is not usually seen as a kid’s genre, despite the world of fantasy and wonder that we are often transported to on the operatic stage.
Continue reading Review: The Magic Victrola (Canadian Opera Company)
Winter Shorts is an exciting tasting menu of what’s new and up-coming in Toronto operaTapestry Brief’s: Winter Shorts is like a flight of operatic amuse bouche, accompanied by wine pairings. Tapestry Opera’s program of shorts is a showcase of new works by composers and librettists that emerged from their 2016 Opera Lib Lab. The Composer-Librettist Laboratory pairs rising talent in an intensive workshop where works are developed “in a crucible” as Artistic Director Michael Mori puts it. Continue reading Review: Tapestry Briefs: Winter Shorts (Tapestry Opera)
A zany battle of words and wits between two alpha opponents takes the stage in TorontoDaniel MacIvor‘s play Never Swim Alone opened on Friday at The Commons Theatre. It’s produced by the two year old Don’t Look Down Theatre Company and it’s the first play they’ve produced that they didn’t write. It was a big night for them. They did a fine job.
The play is a 75-minute stylized 13 round match between two alpha males, Bill (Ryan James) and Frank (Cedric Martin) who were childhood best friends, to see who is “the first man”. The Referee (Tyshia Drake) oversees the contest and determines the winner of each round. Continue reading Review: Never Swim Alone (Don’t Look Down Theatre Company)
This tale of a chance meeting is charming and “gently funny”, on stage in TorontoThe Canadian Stage production of Simon Stephens‘ Heisenberg had its Canadian premiere at the Berkeley Street Theatre on Thursday. It’s the final play that Matthew Jocelyn is directing as Artistic and General Director and it’s a terrific note to end on.
The play is an unconventional love story that unfolds on an almost bare stage. There is nothing to distract from the acting which makes or breaks the piece, and the acting was fabulous. Continue reading Review: Heisenberg (Canadian Stage)