Trey Anthony presents her new play, How Black Mothers Say I Love You, in Toronto

If you’re hoping to see Trey Anthony’s new play, How Black Mothers Say I Love You, playing at Factory Theatre, you may be out of luck. The run is sold out. As of Tuesday evening here were only a few single tickets left for a couple of performances. Continue reading Review: How Black Mothers Say I Love You (Trey Anthony Productions and Girls in Bow Ties) →

Toronto’s Acting Up Stage Company presents a superb production of the musical Grey Gardens

I headed in to the Berkeley Street Theatre for Acting Up Stage Company’s production of Grey Gardens on Monday wondering what a musical based on a documentary would be like. It was fabulous.

The documentary is the Maysles brothers’ 1975 film Grey Gardens about mother and daughter, “Big” Edie and “Little” Edie Beales. The Beales are reclusive upper class women, aunt and cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy, who live in a deteriorating mansion, Grey Gardens, with many cats, raccoons, and fleas, in East Hampton. They have definitely known better times.

Continue reading Review: Grey Gardens (Acting Up Stage Company) →

“Absolutely fabulous” Cold Blood tackles death, on stage in Toronto

I had high hopes for Cold Blood, which opened Wednesday at the Bluma Appel Theatre. I saw Kiss and Cry in 2014 and absolutely loved it. I wasn’t disappointed; Cold Blood is a wonderful marriage of dance and film.

Created by Belgian choreographer Michèle Anne De Mey, Belgian filmmaker Jaco Van Dormael, and the Collectif Kiss and Cry, with a script by Thomas Gunzig, De Mey, and Van Dormael, Cold Blood feels almost like a dream. It’s surreal, sometimes bizarre, funny, and sensual. Continue reading Review: Cold Blood (Canadian Stage) →

The songbook of Leonard Cohen comes to the Toronto stage

It’s not unusual that I don’t know what to expect when I go to see a show, so it’s no surprise that I didn’t know much about Chelsea Hotel: The Songs of Leonard Cohen, which opened on Thursday at Theatre Passe Muraille.

It is unusual that after seeing the show, I still can’t really say exactly what it was. It’s passionate, moving, melancholy, ethereal, rowdy, haunting, sexy, and funny. It’s circus-like (Cirque de Soleil, not Ringling Brothers). There’s a narrative thread but it isn’t a musical. It’s not a cabaret.

It’s theatre. I really enjoyed it. Continue reading Review: Chelsea Hotel: The Songs of Leonard Cohen (Theatre 20, Theatre Passe Muraille, The Firehall Arts Centre) →

Mirvish’s Gaslight, now on the Toronto stage, will set hearts racing

Gaslight, playing at the Ed Mirvish Theatre, premiered in London in 1938 and has stood the test of time. It feels old-fashioned in a good way: a traditional, popular, entertaining play. My friend Janet and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I’m not used to seeing thrillers on stage and wasn’t sure that a play would create the kind of suspense that I associate with a thriller. Gaslight certainly did. Continue reading Review: Gaslight (Mirvish) →