Reviews of theatre, dance, opera, comedy and festivals. Performances can be in-person or streamed remotely on the web for social-distancing.
Working Class Dinner Party is “a joy to have dinner with”There are times when it doesn’t matter what the description of a show says; I have no idea what to expect. I think of it as ‘theatre roulette.’ Sometimes they’re the best experiences. Working Class Dinner Party, part of the Progress Festival, is one of those shows.
Continue reading Review: Working Class Dinner Party (Progress Festival / Scottee and Friends)
Powerful Cuckoo is “an emotional sensory experience”South-Korean artist Jaha Koo brings his intensely personal experience of the IMF bailout in Korea, and the cultural fallout of that traumatic event, to the stage for Progress Theatre Festival in his astoundingly memorable play, Cuckoo.
Continue reading Review: Cuckoo (Progress Festival / Jaha Koo)
This World Made Itself & Infinitely Yours is playing as part of Progress Festival, co-presented by SummerWorks Performance Festival and The Theatre Centre.
This is a double bill, with This World Made Itself (2013) performed first, followed by Infinitely Yours (2020), with no intermission.
I’ve always thought that Caroline or Change was a brilliant show, unfairly overlooked.
When I saw the original Broadway production in 2003, I was deeply moved by Tony Kushner’s eloquent lyrics and Jeanine Tesori’s multifaceted mélange of a score. Stuck between the pop powerhouse Wicked and the ironic underdog Avenue Q that year, it won a single Tony for supporting actress, and isn’t as well-known as those brighter, brassier shows.
Thankfully, the Musical Stage Company and Obsidian Theatre’s stunning, riveting remount of their hit 2012 production, directed by Robert McQueen, brings it back into the limelight at the Winter Garden Theatre for a well-deserved ovation. If you haven’t seen it, that should change.
Continue reading Review: Caroline, Or Change (The Musical Stage Company/Obsidian Theatre)
Absolutely absurd yet strangely serene, Radical Vitality is a reimagined collection of Canadian choreographic legend Marie Chouinard‘s work. Presented in part by Canadian Stage and TO Live at the Bluma Appel Theatre, the performance showcases over forty years of short solos and duets from the daring choreographer.
Continue reading Review: Radical Vitality, Solos and Duets (Compagnie Marie Chouinard / Canadian Stage / TO Live)