Inspired by the true story of an opera singer and a French diplomat, Mr. Shi and His Lover is a semi-operatic play currently on Tarragon’s mainstage. The narrative traces a story in which the two fall in love, and proceed to have a twenty year relationship, during which time Mr. Shi believed his lover to […]
The 2003 Tim Burton film of Big Fish is one that I have watched many times and grow fonder of with every viewing. I know it well, and so my response may be different from someone coming in blind. For those who are unfamiliar, the story centres on a father and his adult son – […]
On October 28th for one night only, Co-Producers Nicole Strawbridge and Colin Frotten put on Sweeney Todd the Demon of Fleet Street at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Toronto. For those of you who are not familiar with the story; an evil Judge named Turpin pines for the wife of a London barber named Benjamin […]
In Small but Mighty Productions’ eighties-inspired musical cabaret, six criminal misfits with superhuman abilities are sent to Villains Boot Camp, a secret project that aims to reform criminals and make them productive members of society. Isolated on an unknown island, they’re fed on a strict diet of healthy smoothies and forced to adhere to a […]
Theatre Lab’s new musical comedy, currently onstage at the Factory Studio Theatre, can be summarized in one word: clever. The title- The Adventures of Tom Shadow- suggests a Peter Pan-type protagonist and a familiar tale of his far-flung adventures. The opening scene features the expected happy nuclear family at bedtime and, when the parents leave, Tom Shadow takes […]
Tooting Arts Club’s production of Sweeney Todd at the Barrow Street Theatre is the perfect thing to see this fall: part dark theatrical masterpiece, part haunted house. It’s the most creatively staged production of Sweeney Todd that I have ever seen: the show is set in a pie shop (with fresh pies baked by the former White House pastry […]
Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Hart House Theatre) The saga of Hart House musicals is full of high highs and low lows as their success fluctuates wildly depending mostly, it seems, on the popularity of their chosen show. They don’t pay their performers so, in order to lure the right talent, they have to offer […]
Doing improv well, especially in the improv-saturated comedy scene of New York City, is a difficult task. Doing improv well with the musical sensibility to fit with improvised music is even more difficult. Rapping improv, for an hour and a half about a historical figure that no one knows that much about, often at a […]