Reviews 2016
Reviews 2016
In 2016 Stage Door received 164,098 pageviews from 76,303 unique visitors from 156 countries. Compared to last year, these numbers are down by 5745 pageviews and down by 4284 unique visitors compared to last year. The lower numbers this year can be accounted for almost entirely due to a decline in hits for the review of Cirque du Soleil’s Kurios, now in its third year on Stage Door. The number of hits for Kurios had been so massive for the past two years that an eventual decline was expected. Yet even so the show retains its spot for the third year in a row as the top hit of the year.
The company with the largest number of entries in the top 50 is the Stratford Festival with ten, followed by the Canadian Opera Company Cirque du Soleil both with four. The Coal Mine Theatre, the brand new Norm Foster Theatre Festival and Mirvish Productions tie with three each.
Shakespeare is usually the playwright most represented in the top 50. This year Norm Foster and Henrik Ibsen tie for first with three plays each.
Four reviews from past years still maintain their strange hold on places in the top ten – Cirque du Soleil’s Kurios from 2014, The Fate of a Cockroach by Tawfiq al-Hakim from 2005, Zone by Marcel Dubé from 2012 and In Gabriel’s Kitchen by Salvatore Antonio from 2006.
-The Editor-
The 50 Most Read Reviews of 2016:
1. Kurios – Cabinet of Curiosities by Michel Laprise, Cirque du Soleil, Toronto
2. Mamma Mia! by Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus, Drayton Entertainment,
Cambridge
3. The Fate of a Cockroach (2005) by Tawfiq al-Hakim, AfriCan Theatre Ensemble, Toronto
4. As You Like It by William Shakespeare, Stratford Festival
5. Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Stratford Festival
6. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by Adrian Mitchell, Stratford Festival
7. Zone (2012) by Marcel Dubé, Théâtre français de Toronto et al., Toronto
8. A Chorus Line by Marvin Hamlisch, Stratford Festival
9. On a First Name Basis by Norm Foster, Foster Festival, St. Catharines
10. In Gabriel’s Kitchen (2006) by Salvatore Antonio, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Toronto
11. A Woman of No Importance (2000) by Oscar Wilde, Shaw Festival, Niagara-on-the-Lake
12. Carmen by Georges Bizet, Canadian Opera Company, Toronto
13. Matilda the Musical by Tim Minchin, David Mirvish, Toronto
14. Kinky Boots (2015) by Cyndi Lauper & Harvey Fierstein, David Mirvish, Toronto
15. Norma by Vincenzo Bellini, Canadian Opera Company, Toronto
16. Shakespeare in Love by Lee Hall, Stratford Festival
17. Here on the Flight Path by Norm Foster, Foster Festival, St. Catharines
18. All My Sons by Arthur Miller, Stratford Festival
19. The Hypochondriac by Molière, Stratford Festival
20. Essay / The Russian Play (2008) by Hannah Moscovitch, Factory Theatre
21. Halfway to the North Pole by Norm Foster, Foster Festival, St. Catharines
22. A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, Soulpepper Theatre Company, Toronto
23. Harlem Duet (2006) by Djanet Sears, Stratford Festival
24. The Birds and the Bees by Mark Crawford, Blyth Festival
25. Toruk - The First Flight by Michel Lemieux & Victor Pilon, Cirque Soleil, Toronto
26. ‘O’ (2012) by Franco Dragone, Cirque du Soleil, Las Vegas, NV, USA
27. Breathing Corpses by Laura Wade, Coal Mine Theatre, Toronto
28. Robin Hood by Caroline Smith, Torrent Productions, Toronto
29. Concord Floral (2014) by Jordan Tannahill, Suburban Beast, Toronto
30. Red Light Winter by Adam Rapp, Unit 102 Actors Company, Toronto
31. Killer Joe by Tracy Letts, Coal Mine Theatre, Toronto
32. The Pitchfork Disney by Philip Ridley, Precisely Peter Productions, Toronto
33. John Gabriel Borkman by Henrik Ibsen, Stratford Festival
34. The Dirty/Beautiful (2005) by Stephen Massicotte, Crow’s Theatre, Toronto
35. Incident at Vichy by Arthur Miller, Soulpepper Theatre Company, Toronto
36. Pyaasa (2008) by Anusree Roy, Theatre Passe Muraille, Toronto
37. The Nether by Jennifer Haley, Theatre Aquarius, Hamilton
38. Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-upon-Avon, GBR
39. Within the Glass by Anna Chatterton, Tarragon Theatre, Toronto
40. Siegfried (2005) by Richard Wagner, Canadian Opera Company, Toronto
41. Taking Care of Baby by Dennis Kelly, The Caretakers, Storefront Arts Initiative, Toronto
42. The Fairy Queen by Henry Purcell, Toronto Masque Theatre
43. Instructions to Any Future Socialist Government Wishing to Abolish Christmas by Michael Mackenzie, Coal Mine Theatre, Toronto
44. Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen, Canadian Stage, Toronto
45. The Circle by Geoffrey Simon Brown, Tarragon Theatre, Toronto
46. A Little Night Music by Stephen Sondheim, Stratford Festival
47. The Judas Kiss by David Hare, David Mirvish, Toronto
48. Ariodante by George Frideric Handel, Canadian Opera Company, Toronto
49. Luzia by Daniele Finzi Pasca, Cirque du Soleil, Toronto
50. Los Gavilanes by Jacinto Guerrero, Toronto Operetta Theatre
©Christopher Hoile
Photo: “Upside Down World” from Kurios. ©2014 Dario Ayala.
2017-01-01
The 50 Most Read Reviews of 2016