StageWorks Toronto is an incredibly ambitious company, especially when you consider that they’re really a community theatre organization (mixing new theatre grads with part-time performers, I’m pretty sure all un-paid). Year after year they choose an interesting, contemporary and thematically challenging musical and mount a full-scale production, never shying away from a hard vocal score. […]
No Chance in Hell (A) Did I see all the Fringe musicals this year? I at the very least came very close to seeing all the Fringe musicals this year and, at least of the ones I saw (which I think was all of them), No Chance in Hell is far and away the best. […]
I Think Therefore I’m Graham (A) Like most shows in the Tarragon Solo Room, Graham Clark’s Fringe show is essentially stand-up comedy and, like most shows in the Tarragon Solo Room, it lives or dies by the charm and wit of the lone performer. Luckily for I Think Therefore I’m Graham, Graham Clark is among […]
The Legend of White Woman Creek (B+) This show should cut its framing device. At the heart of Katie Hartman & Nick Ryan’s no-frills musical drama is a stirring story about love and hate in the burgeoning American west. Alone on stage with just her guitar and her atmospheric and strong (though sometimes a little […]
Redheaded Stepchild (A+) It’s the queer I, Claudia; an earnest story of a 12-year-old boy’s navigation of his parents divorce, his six grade bully, his ‘different’ sexual and scholastic leanings, and, of course, his red hair. Redheaded Stepchild is a one-man show written and performed by Johnnie Walker. In it, Walker plays a young boy, […]
Valkyrie (B) I want to split this review in half. On one hand, I want to talk about Monique Renaud whose star turn in this contemporary version of the Norse myth of the valkyries is nothing short of mesmerizing. Funny, furious and infuriating, her performance as Bradley is the reason to see Valkyrie (for the […]
Amusement (B+) How cute are Johnnie Walker and Morgan Norwich. And what an enjoyable performance they’ve put together to celebrate Nobody’s Business Theatre’s 10th (along with Redheaded Stepchild, review forthcoming). Amusement is funny, brilliantly written and wonderfully executed. This comedy, and sometimes musical, is the perfect fix for any 28, going on 19-year-old out there. […]
[Editor’s Note: Jess Couture (one of My Sports’ founding Contributing Authors) wasn’t scheduled to help us review the Toronto Fringe. In fact, she’s only in town for a couple of days. But she happened to accompany me when I went to review One Legged Dancer. Jess has years of experience working with the disabled community so […]