In many ways Metamorphosis, based on the novel by Franz Kafka and adapted for stage by David Farr and Gísli Örn Gardarsson, is a play about denial. “We live ordinary lives” claims Lucy Samsa (Edda Arnljótsdóttir) when the employer of her son drops by demanding to know why Gregor Samsa (Björn Thors) is late for work. […]

I am constantly in awe of the physical and mental stamina required of dancers, and have always said that if I could go back in time I would make sure to pursue dance.  Well this show made me want to die immediately and be reborn a dancer.  Heartbeat of Home is a spectacle with all […]

Toronto is having a bit of a musical theatre moment right now. This town usually isn’t that flush with song and dance- one or two shows playing in the commercial theatres plus whatever the LOT’s doing and that’s it on any given day. But right now Mirvish is in the final weeks of their best […]

 

Cats may just be the most-mocked musical in the history of the world. But it’s also one of my favourites. First of all, Andrew Lloyd-Webber, once upon a time, was a uniquely magical composer capable of creations that were both lastingly beautiful and bizarrely unique. His best work will always be, and has always been, […]

Before we announce the winners of the 2012 My Theatre Awards, we’re proud to present our annual Nominee Interview Series.   One of Canada’s best male triple threats, Kyle Blair already has a My Theatre Award (2011’s Best Supporting Actor in a Musical for his role as the Scarecrow in Ross Petty’s Wizard of Oz pantomime). So we weren’t […]

 

I have no idea what is going on at the Panasonic right now. It’s a bafflingly weird 90s-era one-woman comedy show, I guess. But, like, Super Canadian without any of the kind-clean-generous-welcoming-diverse-unassuming-forward thinking traits that make us awesome. Mary Walsh is one of those people- and there are startling number of them- whom I’m told […]

Two of the best productions currently running on Toronto stages share the unique bond of being ballsy enough to tell a beloved play’s story from a different angle. A practice that’s inescapably commonplace on television and often even in film and literature, the spinoff is far from a regular occurrence in theatre. The most famous one is […]

 

Mirvish’s Wizard of Oz is exactly what all of us mildly jaded theatre-saturated critics thought it was going to be- commercial nonsense. I’m a pretty populist theatre patron- I don’t need everything to be high art (in fact I don’t want it to be); I appreciate comforting, entertaining and linear shows that don’t hurt your […]