A lot is changing in Ontario theatre lately, nowhere more than in the musical theatre landscape. With commercial companies expanding both in and out of Toronto, exciting initiatives supporting the creation of new works, and a fresh generation of artists emerging, it seems that musical theatre is the next frontier for an area that has […]
The term “jukebox musical” is used to describe two completely different types of productions. It’s a general label thrown onto anything that uses pre-existing songs instead of original music and is thus very often misapplied to biographical musical plays like Jersey Boys or Beautiful where all the music is diegetic. In this context, I completely […]
Is the Harry Potter theatrical sequel worth seeing? Our review of the latest from Mirvish Productions.
Ted Dykstra and Richard Greenblatt’s 2 Pianos 4 Hands is considered one of the great success stories of Canadian theatre. Spinning a tale about parallel adolescences tied together by classical piano training, this elegantly simple two-man production balances a double life as crowd-pleasing goofball act punctuated by well-played concertos and a darkly funny memory play […]
The first thing that happens in the 50th Anniversary Tour of Jesus Christ Superstar, aside from those iconic guitar riffs and the exuberant cast storming down the theatre aisles, is Judas stealing the microphone as Jesus prepares to tell his own story. Over the course of a mere 90 minutes, the mic stand that will […]
Before we announce the winners of the 2019 MyEntWorld Critics’ Pick Awards, we’re proud to present our annual Nominee Interview Series. Robert Markus singing ‘Waving Through a Window’ was on my Best of the Decade list of outstanding moments in Toronto theatre. His performance as Evan Hansen was not only vocally masterful but nuanced and thoughtful […]
For those who enjoy booking a play without knowing anything about it, Us/Them may provide a shock. It did for an elementary school teacher in attendance. The subject matter was very close to home: Us/Them tells the story of the 2004 school siege in Beslan, Russia, when hundreds of children, mothers and grandmothers were killed. […]
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton is the smashiest smash hit to ever smash on Broadway and it has subsequently inspired a cult-like devotion that strains the limits of the word “cult-like” (the intensity is there but the breadth of the fandom defies limitation). It’s a consensus masterpiece- a dense, inventive, skillful revolution of form cheekily set against the […]