Who tells your story? For generations to come, Alexander Hamilton can be thankful that Lin-Manuel Miranda chose to tell his in the new musical Hamilton, inspired by Ron Chernow’s biography on the former Treasury Secretary, which Miranda picked up to read on vacation back in 2008.1 Miranda’s hip-hop charged show integrates modern sound and style […]

 

The Iris Theatre’s Pinocchio is a show for children. That does not necessarily preclude an adult from enjoying it, but the adult in question will have to find the childish part of their brain (as long as it still exists). Pinocchio is a kid’s show because it is not layered: it does not entertain both […]

 

Every year, StageWorks Toronto takes some sort of step forward in the quality of their musical production. In 2013, they tackled one of the most difficult scores ever written; 2014 featured their strongest cast ever with an across-the-board excellent ensemble; 2015 is the year they finally eliminated blackout set changes! While that key feature is […]

 

Christian or not, religious or not, chances are that you have probably heard the hymn Amazing Grace. A song of redemption, of rediscovery, of renewal, Amazing Grace is a poignant and powerful anthem, yet very few people know anything about the man who penned the hymn, John Newton, nor how he came to write such […]

Click Here for the Full List of our 2015 Toronto Fringe Reviews. The Famous Haydell Sisters Comeback Tour (A) Mattie (Donna Kay Yarborough) and Maybelle (Sadie Bowman) captivate us with funny, yet powerful ballads on their comeback tour! It’s more than easy to buy into the tale of these country stars who knock our socks […]

Click Here for the Full List of our 2015 Toronto Fringe Reviews The Doctor Will See You Know (A) This piece is a masterclass on site-specific theatre. Directed by Michael Musi, the space was not transformed in order to make way for theatre, but rather dramatic characters and wacky scenarios inhabit the space. Audience members […]

Click Here for the Full List of our 2015 Toronto Fringe Reviews Served (A-) Staged upstairs at the Epicure Café, this site-specific lamentation of a life in the service industry is filled with regret and entitlement, misplaced optimism and contemporary hopelessness. It’s self-aware of its own whininess (a refreshing change for this year’s Fringe) and […]

Click Here for the Full List of our 2015 Toronto Fringe Reviews How May I Hate You? (B+) The service industry is a torturous waiting room inhabited by increasingly older and more qualified employees, and How May I Hate You? bluntly but trenchantly spoofs the attendant frustrations that come with this reality. The series of […]