Stage Door Reviews 2019
The Best Productions of 2019
Toronto:
This year saw the passing of veteran actors Bob Nasmith and Jennifer Phipps and of renowned designer Martha Mann. Nasmith was known for his work for as an actor for Videocabaret and in many different capacities for Theatre Passe Muraille...
The 50 Most Read Reviews of 2019
In 2019 Stage Door received 201,447 pageviews, the highest number in its 25-year history. This may be due in part to the introduction this year of a responsive design that allows the site to be read more easily on smartphones and tablets. The pageviews...
The Gypsy Baron
✭✭✭✭✩
by Johann Strauss, Jr., directed by Guillermo Silva-Marin
Toronto Operetta Theatre, Jane Mallett Theatre, Toronto
December 28, 29, 31, 2019, January 3 & 5, 2020
Czipra: “Du kannst den Zigeunern getrost vertrau’n;
Auf Alle...
Jack and the BeansTalk
✭✭✭✭✩
written and directed by Rob Torr
Torrent Productions, Royal Canadian Legion Branch #001, 243 Coxwell Avenue, Toronto
December 20-29, 2019
Ed 1 and Ed 2: “Beans, Beans, the Musical Fruit”
In only three years Torrent Productions’...
Bend It Like Beckham: The Musical
✭✭✭✩✩
music by Howard Goodall, lyrics by Charles Hart, book by Gurinder Chadha and Paul Mayeda Berges, directed by Madeline Paul
Starvox Entertainment, Bend It Film & Kintop Pictures, Bluma Appel, 27 Front Street East, Toronto
December...
Holiday Inn
✭✭✭✭✭
music by Irving Berlin, directed by Kate Hennig
Shaw Festival, Festival Theatre, Niagara-on-the-Lake
November 23-December 22, 2019;
November 20-December 19, 2021
Jim: ”Never saw the sun shining so bright
Never saw...
Aunt Agnes for Christmas
✭✭✭✩✩
by Norm Foster, directed by Patricia Vanstone
Norm Foster Theatre Festival & FirstOntario PAC, FirstOntario PAC, St. Catharines
December 13-22, 2019
Melissa: “You’re like Mary Poppins from the dark side”
This year the...
The Adventures of Pinocchio
✭✭✭✭✩
music & lyrics by Neil Bartram, book by Brian Hill, directed by Sheila McCarthy
Young People’s Theatre, 165 Front Street East, Toronto
November 14, 2019-January 5, 2020
Blue Fairy: “With every step you’ll see there’s so much...
Mary Poppins
✭✭✭✭✩
music and lyrics by Robert B. Sherman & Richard M. Sherman, additional music & lyrics by George Stiles & Anthony Drewe, book by Julian Fellowes, directed by Megan Watson
Grand Theatre, Spriet Stage, London
November 29-December 29,...
Lil’ Red Robin Hood
✭✭✭✭✩
by Matt Murray, directed by Tracey Flye
Ross Petty Productions, Winter Garden Theatre, 189 Yonge Street, Toronto
December 6, 2019-January 4, 2020
Last year’s Ross Petty Productions annual panto, The Wizard of Oz, was one of...
Anastasia
✭✭✩✩✩
music by Stephen Flaherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and book by Terrence McNally, directed by Darko Tresnjak
David Mirvish, Ed Mirvish Theatre, 244 Victoria Street, Toronto
December 4, 2019-January 12, 2020;
☛ Touring North America...
Figaro’s Wedding
✭✭✭✭✩
by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, adapted and directed by Joel Ivany
Against the Grain Theatre, Isaac Turner Schoolhouse, 106 Trinity Street, Toronto
December 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 18, 19 & 20, 2019
Rosina: “Was she texting...
A Huron County Christmas Carol
✭✭✭✭✩
written and directed by Gil Garratt
Blyth Festival, Memorial Hall, Blyth
November 29-December 22, 2019
Marley’s Ghost: ”We should build the community, not business”
You would think Southern Ontario would have had its fill...
Between Riverside and Crazy
✭✭✭✭✩
by Stephen Adly Guirgis, directed by Kelli Fox
Coal Mine Theatre, 1454 Danforth Avenue, Toronto
November 27-December 22, 2019
Church Lady: “Alway be free”
Coal Mine Theatre’s presentation of the Toronto premiere of Between...
Buffoon
✭✭✭✩✩
by Anosh Irani, directed by Richard Rose
Tarragon Theatre, Tarragon Theatre Extraspace, Toronto
November 20-December 15, 2019
Smile: “All life is algebra”
Tarragon Theatre is presenting the world premiere of Buffoon, the...
Between Breaths
✭✭✭✩✩
by Robert Chafe, directed by Jillian Keiley
Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland, Factory Theatre Mainspace, Toronto
November 21-December 8, 2019;
☛ Touring Canada until April 21, 2020 – see below
Lien: “Human beings don’t want...
Another Brick in the Wall: The Opera
✭✭✭✩✩
music by Julien Bilodeau, libretto by Roger Waters, directed by Dominic Champagne
Productions Opéra Concept MP, Meridian Hall, Toronto
November 13, 14, 16, 17 & 23, 2019;
Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver, BC
April 23,...
Besbouss: Autopsy of a Revolt
✭✭✭✭✩
by Stéphane Brulotte, translated by John Van Burek, directed and adapted by Majdi Bou-Matar
Pleiades Theatre with Crow’s Theatre, Streetcar Crowsnest, 345 Carlaw Avenue, Toronto
November 8-20, 2019
Djebara: “Justice has left...
Don Giovanni
✭✭✭✭✩
by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, directed by Marshall Pynkoski
Opera Atelier, Ed Mirvish Theatre, Toronto
October 31-November 9, 2019
Don Giovanni: ”Lasciar le donne! Sai ch'elle per me son necessarie più del pan che mangio, più...
Trout Stanley
✭✭✭✭✩
by Claudia Dey, directed by Mumbi Tindyebwa Otu
Factory Theatre, Factory Theatre Mainspace, Toronto
October 24-November 10, 2019
Sugar: ”We’re lone trees waiting to be struck by lightning”
Factory Theatre is giving Claudia...
La Cantatrice chauve
✭✭✭✭✩
by Eugène Ionesco, directed by Chandra Gibson
Théâtre français de Toronto, Berkeley Street Theatre Upstairs, Toronto
October 23-November 3, 2019
Mme Martin: “Comme c'est curieux et comme c'est bizarre”
The Théâtre français...
The Good Thief
✭✭✭✭✭
by Conor McPherson, directed by Rod Ceballos
Fly on the Wall Theatre, Dora Keogh Irish Pub, 141 Danforth Avenue, Toronto
October 19-29, 2019
Narrator: "I was trying to get out of the rain."
The Good Thief presented by...
If I Could #Throwback Time
✭✭✭✩✩
by Tricia Black, Clare McConnell, Natalie Metcalfe, Alan Shane Lewis, Sharjil Rasool & Chris Wilson, directed by Rob Baker
The Second City, 51 Mercer Street, Toronto
October 10, 2019-March 14, 2020
Chris and Sharjil: ”Do you...
Rusalka
✭✭✭✭✭
by Antonín Dvořák, directed by Sir David McVicar
Canadian Opera Company, Four Seasons Centre, Toronto
October 12, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24 & 26, 2019
Ježibaba: “Man is an outrage who has abandoned nature”
The Canadian Opera...
The Flick
✭✭✭✭✭
by Annie Baker, directed by Mitchell Cushman
Outside the March & Crow’s Theatre, Streetcar Crowsnest, 345 Carlaw Avenue, Toronto
October 6-November 2, 2019
“The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities...
La Bohème
✭✭✭✭✩
by Giacomo Puccini, translated, adapted and directed by Joel Ivany
• Against the Grain Theatre, Tranzac Club, 292 Brunswick Avenue, Toronto
October 11-25, 2019;
• Old Fire Hall, Whitehorse, YT
November 4-5, 2019;
•...
Pal Joey
✭✭✭✭✩
music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart, book by John O’Hara, directed by Esther Jun
Talk Is Free Theatre, Five Points Theatre, Barrie
October 11-19, 2019
Vera: “Horizontally speaking, he's at his very best”
Lovers...
Turandot
✭✭✭✭✩
by Giacomo Puccini, directed by Robert Wilson
Canadian Opera Company, Four Seasons Centre, Toronto
September 28, October 4, 9, 15, 17, 19, 23, 25 & 27, 2019
Liù: “Tu, che di gel sei cinta,
da tanta fiamma vinta
l’amerai...
Yaga
✭✭✩✩✩
written & directed by Kat Sandler
Tarragon Theatre, Tarragon Theatre Mainspace, Toronto
September 25-October 20, 2019
Yaga: “They would rather think I eat children than have them”
Yaga, currently having its world premiere...
Un poyo rojo
✭✭✭✭✩
by Luciano Rosso, Nicolás Poggi, Alfonso Barón & Hermes Gaido, directed by Hermes Gaido
Canadian Stage, Baillie Theatre, 26 Berkeley Street, Toronto
October 3-11, 2019;
Talk Is Free Theatre, Five Points Theatre, Barrie
A Streetcar Named Desire
✭✭✭✭✩
by Tennessee Williams, directed by Weyni Mengesha
Soulpepper Theatre Company, Young Centre, Toronto
September 27-October 27, 2019
Blanche: “I don’t want realism. I want magic!”
Soulpepper last produced A Streetcar Named...
Alegría: In a New Light
✭✭✭✭✩
created by Franco Dragone, revised by Daniel Ross, directed by Jean-Guy Legault
• Cirque du Soleil, Grand Chapiteau, Ontario Place, Toronto
September 18-November 24, 2019;
☛ Touring North America until September 12, 2021 –...
Piaf/Dietrich
✭✭✭✭✩
by Daniel Große Boymann & Thomas Kahry, adapted by Erin Shields, directed by Gordon Greenberg
Mirvish Productions, CAA Theatre, 651 Yonge Street, Toronto
September 26, 2019-January 5, 2020
The main reason to see the musical...
Knives in Hens
✭✭✭✭✩
by David Harrower, directed by Leora Morris
Coal Mine Theatre, 1454 Danforth Avenue, Toronto
September 25-October 13, 2019
Young Woman: “His world is there, in front of my eyes. All I must do is push names into what is there...
The Book of Life
✭✭✭✭✩
co-created by Odile Gakire Katese & Ross Manson, directed by Ross Manson
Volcano, Baillie Theatre, 26 Berkeley Street, Toronto
September 18-29, 2019
“To write a story is not to surrender to death”
It may seem impossible...
The Band’s Visit
✭✭✭✭✩
music & lyrics by David Yazbek, book by Itamar Moses, directed by David Cromer
• David Mirvish, Ed Mirvish Theatre, Toronto
September 18-October 20, 2019;
☛ Tour suspended from March 17, 2020 – see below
Dina: “There’s...
Man and Superman
✭✭✭✭✩
by George Bernard Shaw, directed by Kimberley Rampersad
Shaw Festival, Festival Theatre, Niagara-on-the-Lake
August 24-October 5, 2019
The Statue: “Whew! How he does talk! They'll never stand it in heaven”
Anyone who puts...
The Vise
✭✭✭✭✩
by Luigi Pirandello, adapted and directed by Douglas Beattie
Pie in the Sky Productions, private home on Delamere Avenue, Stratford
September 6-8, 2019
Andrea: “Che s'aggirasse intorno alla colpa di lei, stringendola in cerchi...
Betrayal
✭✭✩✩✩
by Harold Pinter, directed by Andrea Donaldson
Soulpepper Theatre Company, Young Centre, Toronto
September 4-25, 2019
Emma: “Do you ever think you’d like to change your life?”
Soulpepper staged a powerful production of...
The Front Page
✭✭✩✩✩
by Ben Hecht & Charles MacArthur, adapted by Michael Healey, directed by Graham Abbey
Stratford Festival, Festival Theatre, Stratford
August 15-October 25, 2019
Earl Williams: “I ain't important. It's humanity that's important”
Birds of a Kind
✭✭✭✩✩
by Wajdi Mouawad, translated by Linda Gaboriau, directed by Antoni Cimolino
Stratford Festival, Studio Theatre, Stratford
August 14-October 13, 2019
Eitan: “All probabilities are possibile”
The Stratford Festival has scored...
Getting Married
✭✭✭✭✩
by George Bernard Shaw, directed by Tanja Jacobs
Shaw Festival, Royal George Theatre, Niagara-on-the-Lake
May 25-October 13, 2019
Collins: “Bless you, ma’am, there’s all sorts of bonds between all sorts of people”
After...
The Glass Menagerie
✭✭✭✭✩
by Tennessee Williams, directed by László Bérczes
Shaw Festival, Studio Theatre, Niagara-on-the-Lake
July 7-October 12, 2019
Amanda: “In these trying times we live in, all that we have to cling to is — each other”
The...
Victory
✭✭✩✩✩
by Howard Barker, directed by Tim Carroll
Shaw Festival, Studio Theatre, Niagara-on-the-Lake
August 10-October 12, 2019
Ball: “I wish I could be more offensive. I really do.”
"A good play puts the audience through a certain...
Rope
✭✭✭✭✩
by Patrick Hamilton, directed by Jani Lauzon
Shaw Festival, Royal George Theatre, Niagara-on-the-Lake
May 24-October 12, 2019
Brandon: “And for one who hasn’t a conscience, I can understand murder being an entirely engrossing...
Cyrano de Bergerac
✭✭✭✭✩
by Edmond Rostand, translated & adapted by Kate Hennig, directed by Chris Abraham
Shaw Festival, Royal George Theatre, Niagara-on-the-Lake
August 11-October 20, 2019;
March 26-May 8, 2022
Cyrano: “Regarde-moi, mon cher,...
The Russian Play
✭✭✭✩✩
by Hannah Moscovitch, directed by Diana Donnelly
Shaw Festival, Royal George Theatre, Niagara-on-the-Lake
May 25-October 13, 2019
Sonya: “So why is play still going on?”
The lunchtime play this year at the Shaw Festival...
The Ladykillers
✭✭✭✭✩
by Graham Linehan, directed by Tim Carroll
Shaw Festival, Festival Theatre, Niagara-on-the-Lake
July 6-October 12, 2019
Marcus: “It was a great plan, except for the Human Element. So many plans fail to take into account the...
Beside Myself
✭✭✭✭✩
music by Steve Thomas, book & lyrics by Norm Foster, directed by Patricia Vanstone
Norm Foster Theatre Festival, FirstOntario PAC, St. Catharines
August 2-17, 2019;
Theatre Collingwood, Georgian Bay Hotel, Collingwood
August...
Sex
✭✭✩✩✩
by Mae West, directed by Peter Hinton-Davis
Shaw Festival, Studio Theatre, Niagara-on-the-Lake
July 5-October 13, 2019
Margy: “To me all men are just assets”
I have long been waiting for the Shaw Festival to stage the...
The Neverending Story
✭✭✭✭✩
by David S. Craig, directed by Jillian Keiley
• Stratford Festival, Avon Theatre, Stratford
June 15-November 3, 2019;
• National Arts Centre, Ottawa
January 31-February 15, 2020
The Childlike Empress: “He simply can’t...
Twelve Angry Men
✭✭✭✭✭
by Reginald Rose, directed by Marti Maraden
Drayton Entertainment, Playhouse II, Grand Bend
July 18-August 3, 2019;
Hamilton Family Theatre, Cambridge
August 9-24, 2019
Juror 8: “It's always difficult to keep personal...
Fool for Love
✭✭✭✩✩
by Sam Shepard, directed by Frank Cox-O’Connell
Soulpepper Theatre Company, Young Centre, Toronto
July 18-August 11, 2019
Eddie: “I’m not goin’ anywhere. See? I’m right here. I’m not gone”
In 2005 Soulpepper presented...
Brigadoon
✭✭✭✭✩
music by Frederick Loewe, book & lyrics by Alan J. Lerner, directed by Glynis Leyshon
Shaw Festival, Festival Theatre, Niagara-on-the-Lake
May 25-October 13, 2019
Tommy: “All the music of life seems to be
Like a bell that...
Hilda’s Yard
✭✭✭✭✩
by Norm Foster, directed by Jim Mezon
Norm Foster Theatre Festival, FirstOntario PAC, St. Catharines
July 12-26, 2019
Mrs. Lindstrom: “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength”
Norm...
Waitress
✭✭✭✩✩
music & lyrics by Sara Bareilles, book by Jessie Nelson, directed by Diane Paulus
David Mirvish, Ed Mirvish Theatre, Toronto
July 10-August 18, 2019
Jenna and Jim: “It's a bad idea, me and you,
Let's just keep kissing...
The Road to Damascus
✭✭✭✭✩
by Dominique Ziegler, translated and directed by David Eden
To Hell and Back Company, Toronto Fringe Festival, Tarragon Extraspace, Toronto
July 5-13, 2019
Swiss playwright Dominque Ziegler’s The Road to Damascus (La Route...
The Ashes of Forgotten Rain
✭✭✭✩✩
written and directed by Norman Hussey
Missed Metaphor Productions, Toronto Fringe Festival, Robert Gill Theatre, Toronto
July 5-14, 2019
Norman Hussey’s backstage comedy The Ashes of Forgotten Rain would be much more engaging...
Old-ish
✭✭✭✭✩
by Susan Freedman, directed by Alan Silverman
GoodSide Productions, Toronto Fringe Festival, Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace, Toronto
July 5-13, 2019
Susan Freedman’s solo play Old-ish is a joy. The 77-year-old's play may...
Above & Beyond
✭✭✩✩✩
by Jaclyn Toledano, directed by Rebecca Ballarin
JackieTol Productions, Toronto Fringe Festival, Robert Gill Theatre, Toronto
July 4-13, 2019
Jaclyn Toledano’s Above & Beyond is a comedy about office politics without dramatic...
My Dad’s Deaths (A Comedy)
✭✭✭✭✩
written and directed by Jon Bennett
A Mulled Whine, Toronto Fringe Festival, Guloien Theatre, Streetcar Crowsnest, Toronto
July 4-14, 2019
Australian comic Jon Bennett is probably best known in Toronto for his unforgettably...
Off the Island
✭✭✩✩✩
music by Mike Poisson & Connor Young, book, lyrics and direction by Brian Gibson
Gazebo Productions, Toronto Fringe Festival, Guloien Theatre, Streetcar Crowsnest, Toronto
July 4-14, 2019
Off the Island is a well-meaning show...
The Peers
✭✩✩✩✩
written and directed by Kate Hammer
INFEMOUS, Toronto Fringe Festival, Annex Theatre, Toronto
July 3-13, 2019
INFEMOUS, the Montreal company led by Kate Hammer, states in its publicity material, “Representing every single one...
Molly Bloom
✭✭✭✭✩
by James Joyce, adapted and directed by Jocelyn Adema
Fourth Gorgon Theatre, Toronto Fringe Festival, Helen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse, Toronto
July 5-13, 2019
Jocelyn Adema has taken on the seemingly impossible task of adapting...
Unravelled
✭✭✭✩✩
music, book, lyrics and direction by Andrew Seok
Chaos & Light, Toronto Fringe Festival, Grace Toronto Church, 383 Jarvis St., Toronto
July 5-13, 2019
Composer, lyricist and director Andrew Seok’s semi-staged musical Unravelled...
Boy Falls From The Sky: Jake Epstein Live at Supermarket
✭✭✭✭✭
by Jake Epstein, directed by Robert McQueen
• Past Future Productions, Toronto Fringe Festival, Supermarket, 268 Augusta Ave., Toronto
July 4-13, 2019;
• TO Live presents Best of Fringe, Toronto Centre for the Arts
July...
Dungee the Dragon & The Just-Okay Juggler
✭✭✭✭✩
written and directed by Dan Boyer
• Stories by Dan, Toronto Fringe Festival, George Ignatieff Theatre, Toronto
July 4-14, 2019;
• North(519)KIDS, Jungle Oasis, Orangeville
July 21;
• Hamilton Fringe Festival, Theatre...
Spend Your Kids’ Inheritance
✭✭✭✩✩
music by Frank Horvat, book & lyrics by Catherine Frid, directed by Andrew Lamb
Watercourse Theatre, Toronto Fringe Festival, Helen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse, Toronto
July 4-14, 2019
While it’s good to have a musical that focuses...
Cyrano de Bergerac
✭✭✭✭✩
by Sean Jacklin & Jack Rennie, directed by Jack Rennie
The Leslieville Players, Toronto Fringe Festival, 74 Jones Ave., Toronto
July 4-14, 2019
If you’re looking for 50 minutes of very silly fun, then check out the Leslieville...
The Taming of the Shrew
✭✭✭✩✩
by William Shakespeare, directed by Nicole Arends
Aquarius Players, Toronto Fringe Festival, St. George the Martyr Courtyard, 197 John St., Toronto
July 3-14, 2019
St. George the Martyr’s courtyard, with its arches, columns...
Billy Elliot the Musical
✭✭✭✭✭
music by Elton John, book & lyrics by Lee Hall, directed by Donna Feore
Stratford Festival, Festival Theatre, Stratford
May 28-November 24, 2019
Billy: “Electricity
Sparks inside of me
And I’m free, I’m free”
It’s...
The Horse and His Boy
✭✭✭✩✩
by Anna Chatterton, directed by Christine Brubaker
Shaw Festival, Festival Theatre, Niagara-on-the-Lake
May 26-July 21, 2019
Fisherman: “Natural affection is stronger than soup”
For those who can’t enough of C.S Lewis’s...
The Writer
✭✭✭✭✭
by Norm Foster, directed by Patricia Vanstone
Norm Foster Theatre Festival, FirstOntario PAC, St. Catharines
June 21-July 5, 2019
“A Kind Heart”
The Norm Foster Theatre Festival has opened its fourth season with the world...
Mother’s Daughter
✭✭✭✭✩
by Kate Hennig, directed by Alan Dilworth
• Stratford Festival, Studio Theatre, Stratford
May 27-October 27, 2019;
• Soulpepper Theatre Company, Yonge Centre, Toronto
January 16-February 9, 2020
Bess: “Women beware...
Nathan the Wise
✭✭✭✩✩
by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, translated by Edward Kemp, directed by Birgit Schreyer Duarte
Stratford Festival, Studio Theatre, Stratford
June 15-October 19, 2019
Nathan: “Unwarped of prejudice, let each endeavour
To vie...
Jumbo
✭✭✭✩✩
by Sean Dixon, directed by Gil Garratt
Blyth Festival, Memorial Auditorium, Blyth
June 14-August 10, 2019
P.T. Barnum: “The wonders of the ages assembled for your edification, education and enjoyment – for a price"
With...
Othello
✭✭✩✩✩
by William Shakespeare, directed by Nigel Shawn Williams
Stratford Festival, Festival Theatre, Stratford
May 27-October 27, 2019
Iago: “Men should be what they seem”
Michael Blake has become such a fine actor during his...
Henry VIII
✭✭✭✩✩
by William Shakespeare & John Fletcher, directed by Martha Henry
Stratford Festival, Studio Theatre, Stratford
May 29-November 2, 2019
Henry VIII: “This oracle of comfort has so pleased me,
That when I am in heaven I shall...
Masquerade
✭✭✭✩✩
by Mikhail Lermontov, directed by Rimas Tuminas
Vakhtangov State Academic Theatre of Russia
• Luminato & Show One, John Basset Theatre, Toronto
June 9-10, 2019;
• Cherry Orchard Festival, New York Center, New York, NY
Little Shop of Horrors
✭✭✭✭✩
music by Alan Menken, book & lyrics by Howard Ashman, directed by Donna Feore
Stratford Festival, Avon Theatre, Stratford
May 31-November 9, 2019
Chorus: “Shing-a-ling, what a creepy thing
to be happening!
Shang-a-lang,...
The Merry Wives of Windsor
✭✭✭✭✩
by William Shakespeare, directed by Antoni Cimolino
Stratford Festival, Festival Theatre, Stratford
June 1-October 26, 2019
Falstaff: “I am glad, though you have ta'en a special stand to strike at me, that your arrow hath glanced”
Private Lives
✭✭✩✩✩
by Noël Coward, directed by Carey Perloff
Stratford Festival, Avon Theatre, Stratford
May 30-October 26, 2019
Elyot: “Let’s be superficial”
The Stratford Festival’s most recent production of Noël Coward’s Private Lives...
Marienbad
✭✭✭✭✩
by Christopher House & Jordan Tannahill
Toronto Dance Theatre, Winchester Street Theatre, Toronto
May 23-June 1, 2019
“Le long des allées rectilignes,... en train de vous perdre, pour toujours, dans la nuit tranquille. Seule...
August: Osage County
✭✭✭✭✭
by Tracy Letts, directed by Jackie Maxwell
Soulpepper Theatre Company, Young Centre, Toronto
May 24-June 30, 2019
Barbara: “Thank God we can't tell the future, we'd never get out of bed”
Soulpepper has pulled out all the...
The Brothers Size
✭✭✭✭✩
by Tarell Alvin McCraney, directed by Mumbi Tindyebwa Otu
Soulpepper Theatre Company, Young Centre, Toronto
May 10-June 1, 2019
“Try a little tenderness” (Otis Redding, 1966)
The Brothers Size, now receiving its Canadian...
Lilies
✭✭✭✩✩
by Michel Marc Bouchard, translated by Linda Gaboriau, directed by Cole Alvis
lemonTree creations, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre & Why Not Theatre, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Toronto
May 9-26, 2019
Mlle de Rozier: “Love is...
She The People: The Resistance Continues
✭✭✭✭✩
by The Second City, directed by Carly Heffernan
The Second City, 51 Mercer Street, Toronto
May 4-September 15, 2019
“Fight For Your Right”
She The People was The Second City’s first sketch show entirely created, designed...
Otello
✭✭✭✭✩
by Giuseppe Verdi, directed by David Alden
Canadian Opera Company, Four Seasons Centre, Toronto
April 27, 30, May 3, 9, 12, 15, 18 & 21, 2019
Iago: “L’alvo frenetico del mar sia la sua tomba!”
The Canadian Opera Company’s...
Next to Normal
✭✭✭✭✩
music by Tom Kitt, book & lyrics by Brian Yorkey, directed by Philip Akin
The Musical Stage Company, CAA Theatre, Toronto
May 1-19, 2019
Diana: “Maybe I’ve lost it at last.
Maybe my last lucid moment has past.
I’m...
Lo (or Dear Mr. Wells)
✭✭✭✩✩
by Rose Napoli, directed by Eric Coates
Great Canadian Theatre Company, Ottawa
May 2-17, 2019
“I hope she’ll be a fool—that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool” (from The Great Gatsby)
Rose...
Drunk Girl
✭✭✭✭✩
by Thea Fitz-James, directed by Shanda Bezic
TMI Productions, Fringe Encore, Arts Club Theatre, Ottawa
April 26-27, 2019
“You don’t bro ice a friend”
The poster for Thea Fitz-James’s play Drunk Girl shows Fitz-James as...
Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story
✭✭✭✩✩
created by Hannah Moscovitch, Ben Caplan & Christian Barry, directed by Christian Barry
Tarragon Theatre, Toronto
April 24-May 26, 2019
Caplan: “Those that keep their eyes upon the heavens
Are ones that wind up face down...
Hand to God
✭✭✭✩✩
by Robert Askins, directed by Mitchell Cushman
Coal Mine Theatre, 1454 Danforth Avenue, Toronto
April 24-May 12, 2019
“Dr. Jekyll and Miss Piggy”
The adventurous Coal Mine Theatre closes its fifth season with Hand to God...
Cabaret
✭✭✭✭✩
music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb & book by Joe Masteroff, directed by Dennis Garnhum
Grand Theatre, McManus Stage, London
April 11-May 18, 2019
Emcee: “In here life is beautiful”
The Grand Theatre has a major hit...
La Bohème
✭✭✭✭✩
by Giacomo Puccini, directed by John Caird
Canadian Opera Company, Four Seasons Centre, Toronto
April 17, 26, 28, May 2, 4, 5, 7, 11 & 22, 2019
Rodolfo: “In cener la carta si sfaldi e l'estro rivoli ai suoi cieli”
Opera...
Copenhagen
✭✭✭✭✩
by Michael Frayn, directed by Katrina Darychuk
Soulpepper Theatre Company, Young Centre, Toronto
April 12-May 4, 2019
Heisenberg: “Before we can glimpse who or what we are, we’re gone and laid to dust”
This is the third...
Bigre
✭✭✩✩✩
by Pierre Guillois, Agathe L'Huillier & Olivier Martin Salvan, directed by Pierre Guillois
Compagnie le Fils du Grand Réseau, Berkeley Street Theatre, Toronto
April 11-28, 2019
“The Play That Really Goes Wrong”
Bigre,...
Four Chords and a Gun
✭✭✭✩✩
by John Ross Bowie, directed by Richard Ouzounian
• Starvox Entertainment, Fleck Theatre, Harbourfront, Toronto
April 10-28, 2019;
• Broadway Playhouse, Chicago, IL
May 18-June 2, 2019
“We’re a happy family”
Four...
Idomeneo
✭✭✭✭✩
by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, directed by Marshall Pynkoski
Opera Atelier, Ed Mirvish Theatre, Toronto
April 4-13, 2019
“Con danze e con suoni
Convien festeggiar” (Coro, Act 1)
Opera Atelier had a great success with...
Kopernikus
✭✭✭✭✭
by Claude Vivier, directed by Joel Ivany
Against the Grain Theatre, Theatre Passe Muraille, Toronto
April 4, 5, 6 ,11, 12 & 13, 2019
“L’avenir veut te parler”
Against the Grain Theatre’s production of Kopernikus is a triumph....
Shove It Down My Throat
✭✭✩✩✩
by Johnnie Walker, directed by Tom Arthur Davis
Buddies in Bad Times Theatre & Pandemic Theatre, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Toronto
April 3-14, 2019
“It’s the journey”
Johnnie Walker’s latest play Shove It Down My Throat...
Fences
✭✭✭✭✭
by August Wilson, directed by Djanet Sears
Grand Theatre, Spriet Stage, London
March 22-April 6, 2019
Bono: “Some people build fences to keep people out and other people build fences to keep people in”
There are two important...
The Gamblers
✭✭✭✭✩
by Nikolai Gogol, translated & adapted by Selma Dimitrijevic, directed by Esther Jun
Talk Is Free Theatre, Five Points Theatre, Barrie
March 29-April 6, 2019
Ikharev: “Everyone uses a little deceit”
Barrie should feel...
Dear Evan Hansen
✭✭✭✭✩
music & lyrics by Benj Pasek & Justin Paul, book by Steven Levenson, directed by Michael Greif
Stacey Mindich with David Mirvish, Royal Alexandra Theatre, Toronto
March 28-July 21, 2019
“Waving through a window”
Stacey...
A Doll’s House, Part 2
✭✭✩✩✩
by Lucas Hnath, directed by Krista Jackson
David Mirvish & Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, CAA Theatre, Toronto
March 27-April 14, 2019
Nora: “Marriage says, ‘I own you’”
The title of Lucas Hnath’s play A Doll’s House,...
Isitwendam (An Understanding)
✭✭✭✭✩
by Meegwun Fairbrother and Jack Grinhaus, directed by Jack Grinhaus
Bound to Create Theatre, Daniels Spectrum, Toronto
March 20-30, 2019
“Healing comes from listening”
Meegwun Fairbrother’s play Isitwendam (An Understanding),...
Walking on Bombshells
✭✭✭✭✩
by Phatt Al, Nadine Djoury, Stacey McGunnigle, Sharjil Rasool, Allana Reoch & Chris Wilson, directed by Chris Earle
The Second City, 51 Mercer Street, Toronto
March 19-September 8, 2019
McGunnigle to audience: “Remember, we...
School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play
✭✭✭✭✩
by Jocelyn Bioh, directed by Nina Lee Aquino
Obsidian Theatre with Nightwood Theatre, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Toronto
March 8-24, 2019
Ericka to Paulina: “You don’t even like yourself”
School Girls; Or, the African...
New Magic Valley Fun Town
✭✭✭✭✩
by Daniel MacIvor, directed by Richard Rose
• Tarragon Theatre & Prairie Theatre Exchange, Tarragon Theatre Mainspace, Toronto
February 27-March 31, 2019;
• Neptune Theatre, Halifax
April 5-21, 2019
Cheryl: “There...
Bears
✭✭✭✭✩
written & directed by Matthew MacKenzie
Alberta Aboriginal Performing Arts and Punctuate! Theatre, Factory Theatre, Toronto
February 28-March 17, 2019
Mama: “No one can frighten us. We frighten ourselves.”
After a highly...
Revisor
✭✭✭✭✩
written by Jonathon Young, directed and choreographed by Crystal Pite
Kidd Pivot, Bluma Appel Theatre, Toronto
March 7-17, 2019
Narrator: “I am within this even as I contain this”
The successor to Crystal Pite and Jonathon...
Little Menace: Pinter Plays
✭✭✭✭✩
by Harold Pinter, directed by Thomas Moschopoulos
Soulpepper Theatre Company, Young Centre, Toronto
February 21-March 17, 2019
“I mean, apart from all, that how are you, really?
Little Menace is a highly enjoyable survey...
The Last Ship
✭✭✭✭✩
music & lyrics by Sting, book by Lorne Campbell, directed by Lorne Campbell
• David Mirvish, Princess of Wales Theatre, Toronto
February 19-March 24, 2019
☛ Touring North America January 14 to April 26, 2020 – see below
(La) voix humaine
✭✭✭✭✩
by Francis Poulenc, directed by Aria Umezawa
Against the Grain Theatre, Gallery 345, 345 Soraunen Avenue, Toronto
February 16, 2019
Lui: “J’ai ta voix autour de mon cou”
Against the Grain Theatre, Toronto’s acclaimed independent...
Oslo
✭✭✭✭✩
by J.T. Rogers, directed by Joel Greenberg
Studio 180, CAA Theatre, Toronto
February 14-March 3, 2019
“Waffles and cigarettes”
Many people will remember the historic handshake between Israeli Prime Minister Yizhak Rabin...
The Father
✭✭✭✭✭
by Florian Zeller, translated by Christopher Hampton, directed by Ted Dykstra
Coal Mine Theatre, 1454 Danforth Avenue, Toronto
February 13-March 3, 2019
André: “I’m losing all my leaves”
Coal Mine Theatre has given the...
We Are All Treaty People
✭✭✭✩✩
by the Original Artists of Making Treaty 7, directed by Troy Emery Twigg & Nikki Loach
Quest Theatre & Making Treaty 7 Cultural Society, Young People’s Theatre, Toronto
February 11-22, 2019
“To be or not to be your friend”
Così fan tutte
✭✭✭✩✩
by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, directed by Atom Egoyan
Canadian Opera Company, Four Seasons Centre, Toronto
February 5-23, 2019
Despina: “L’aure incostanti
Han più degli uomini
Stabilità”
The Canadian Opera Company...
The Tashme Project: The Living Archives
✭✭✭✭✩
by Julie Tamiko Manning & Matt Miwa, directed by Mike Payette
Tashme Productions, Factory Theatre Mainspace, Toronto
January 29-February 10, 2019
“They assimilate so well they disappear”
The Tashme Project: The Living...
Fierrabras
✭✭✭✭✩
by Franz Schubert, directed by Guillermo Silva-Marin
VOICEBOX: Opera in Concert, Jane Mallett Theatre, Toronto
February 3, 2019
Chorus: “Nach langer Leiden Qualen
Erwacht die reine Lust”
On Sunday, February 3, VOICEBOX:...
Hook Up
✭✭✭✩✩
music by Chris Thornborrow, book & lyrics by Julie Tepperman, directed by Richard Greenblatt
Tapestry Opera & Theatre Passe Muraille, Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace, Toronto
January 30-February 9, 2019
Mindy: “I worry that...
Elektra
✭✭✭✭✩
by Richard Strauss, directed by James Robinson
Canadian Opera Company, Four Seasons Centre, Toronto
January 26-February 22, 2019
Elektra: “Wir sind bei den Göttern, wir Vollbringenden”
The Canadian Opera Company’s revival...
Rose: A New Musical
✭✭✭✭✩
music and book by Mike Ross, lyrics and book by Sarah Wilson, directed by Gregory Prest
Soulpepper Theatre Company, Young Centre, Toronto
January 23-February 24, 2019
“Once upon a time the world was round”
Rose, Soulpepper’s...
The Scavenger’s Daughter
✭✭✩✩✩
by Susanna Fournier, directed by ted witzel
PARADIGM Productions, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Toronto
January 17-27, 2019
Webb to Sarah: “You speak and speak and say nothing”
Susanna Fournier’s latest play, The Scavenger’s...
The Raven / Futari Shizuka
✭✭✭✭✩
by Toshio Hosokawa, directed by Paramita Nath
Toronto New Music Projects and Wallace Halladay, Walter Hall, University of Toronto, Toronto
January 17, 2019
“Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!”...
After the Fire
✭✭✩✩✩
by Matthew MacKenzie, directed by Brendan McMurtry-Howlett
Punctuate! Theatre and Alberta Aboriginal Performing Arts
in Association with Native Earth Performing Arts and The Theatre Centre, The Theatre Centre, 1115 Queen St West,...
1979
✭✭✭✭✩
by Michael Healey, directed by Miles Potter
The 1979 Group, Berkeley Street Theatre Downstairs, Toronto
January 10-27, 2019
Joe Clark: “We’ve earned a moral right to govern”
1979, Michael Healey’s play from 2017 about...
Raising Stanley / Life with Tulia
✭✭✭✭✩
by Kim Kilpatrick, Karen Bailey & Bronwyn Steinberg, directed by Bronwyn Steinberg,
• Raising Stanley / Life with Tulia Collective, Next Stage Festival, Factory Theatre, Toronto
January 11-20, 2019;
• undercurrents, Arts Court...