Reviews 2013
Reviews 2013
From January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2013, Stage Door had visitors from 132 countries. The most read review, The Wizard of Oz, was far ahead in the lead with more than three times as many visitors as the next entry, Tommy. The company with the largest number of entries is the Stratford Festival with eight, followed by Soulpepper with seven and the Canadian Opera Company with four.
In some cases visitors read reviews both of a current production and a previous production as in the case Soulpepper’s La Ronde presented both this year and in 2001. Works from the 2012 list reappearing on this list include Zone by Théâtre français de Toronto and Théâtre La Catapulte and Kà and Amaluna by Cirque du Soleil.
One review from the past received a surprising number of hits. This was Fate of a Cockroach, an Egyptian absurdist comedy from 1966 by Tawfiq al-Hakim. Is the interest in this play related to current events in Egypt? If anyone knows why the play might have received so much attention, please let me know at editor@stage-door.com. I’m quite interested to find out.
-The Editor-
The 50 Most Read Reviews of 2013:
1. The Wizard of Oz by Harold Arlen & E.Y. Harburg, Mirvish Productions, Toronto
2. Tommy by Pete Townsend, Stratford Festival
3.Fate of a Cockroach by Tawfiq al-Hakim, AfriCan Theatre Ensemble, Toronto, 2005
4.Fiddler on the Roof by Jerry Bock & Sheldon Harnick, Stratford Festival
5. The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui by Bertolt Brecht, the red light district, Toronto
6. Blithe Spirit by Noel Coward, Stratford Festival
7. Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, Stratford Festival
8. The Three Musketeers by Peter Raby, Stratford Festival
9. Mary Poppins by R.B. Sherman & R.M. Sherman, Drayton Entertainment, Cambridge & Grand Bend
10. Zone by Marcel Dubé, Théâtre français de Toronto et al., 2012
11. Avenue Q by Robert Lopez & Jeff Marx, Lower Ossington Theatre, Toronto
12. The Glass Cage by J.B. Priestley, Snowdrop Productions, Toronto
13. La Ronde by Arthur Schnitzler, Soulpepper, Toronto, 2013
14. Guys and Dolls by Frank Loesser, Shaw Festival
15. La Clemenza di Tito, by W.A. Mozart, COC, Toronto
16. La Ronde by Arthur Schnitzler, Soulpepper, Toronto, 2001
17. Les Misérables by Claude-Michel Schönberg & Alain Boublil, Mirvish Productions, Toronto
18. The Odyssey by Rick Chafe, Driftwood Theatre Company, Ontario
19. Othello by William Shakespeare, Stratford Festival
20. Angels in America, Parts 1 & 2 by Tony Kushner, Soulpepper, Toronto
21. Albertine en cinq temps by Michel Tremblay, Théâtre français de Toronto et al.
22. Body 13 by J.M. Kivanda & Gary Kirkham, MT Space, Toronto
23. Tristan und Isolde by Richard Wagner, COC, Toronto
24. Cats by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Nu Musical Theatricals, Toronto
25. The Barber of Seville by Michael O’Brien & John Millard, Soulpepper, Toronto
26. La Vie parisienne by Jacques Offenbach, Toronto Operetta Theatre
27. Salome by Richard Strauss, COC, Toronto
28. As I Lay Dying by Dean Gilmour & Michele Smith, Theatre Smith-Gilmour, Toronto
29. This by Melissa James Gibson, Canadian Stage, Toronto
30. After Miss Julie by Patrick Marber, Red One Theatre Collective, Toronto
31. Blue Planet by Andri Snær Magnason, Young People’s Theatre, Toronto
32. The Double by A. Paolozza, A. Mirabdolbaghi & V. Lukawski, TheatreRUN, Toronto
33. Lucia di Lammermoor by Gaetano Donizetti, COC, Toronto
34. Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare, Stratford Festival
35. Venus & Adonis/The Lesson of Da Ji by John Blow/A.P.Y. Ho, Toronto Masque Theatre
36. Kà by Robert Lepage, Cirque du Soleil, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, 2012
37. Venus in Fur by David Ives, Canadian Stage, Toronto
38. Do You Want What I Have Got? A Craigslist Cantata by Veda Hille & Bill Richardson, Factory Theatre, Toronto
39. The Charge of the Expormidable Moose by Claude Gauvreau, One Little Goat, Toronto
40. Farther West by John Murrell, Soulpepper, Toronto
41. Shoreditch Madonna by Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Three Seeds Productions, Toronto
42. Every Letter Counts by Nina Lee Aquino, Factory Theatre, Toronto
43. Mary Stuart by Friedrich Schiller, Stratford Festival
44. The Magic Flute by W.A. Mozart, Opera Atelier, Toronto
45. The Best Brothers by Daniel MacIvor, Tarragon Theatre, Toronto
46. The Killdeer by James Reaney, Alumnae Theatre, Toronto
47. Once by Glen Hansgard & Markéta Irglová, Mirvish Productions, Toronto
48. Spent by D. Gilmour, M. Smith, R. Jain and A. Paolozza, Why Not Theatre, Toronto
49. Amaluna by Diane Paulus, Cirque du Soleil, Toronto, 2012
50. Great Expectations by Michael Shamata, Soulpepper, Toronto
©Christopher Hoile
Photo: Danielle Wade, Mike Jackson and Jamie McKnight in The Wizard of Oz. ©2013 Cylla von Tiedemann.
2014-01-01
The 50 Most Read Reviews of 2013