December 2nd is the beginning of the end for one of Toronto’s most cherished holiday traditions. I don’t remember a time before the Ross Petty Pantomime was a part of my Christmas season but with Peter Pan’s Final Flight the iconic villain/impresario is exiting the scene once and for all. I got the chance […]
(This review will contain reviews for the movie and choose your own adventure version) Christmas time in Toronto always has several staples, from the Christmas Market in the Distillery District to the utter chaos of Eaton Centre a week before Christmas. One of the long standing traditions has been the Ross Petty Pantomime Christmas […]
It’s Christmastime, which means that many people are either celebrating beloved family traditions or searching for some moderately pleasant activity the whole family can agree on. The solution Toronto’s commercial theatre producers are offering up is musical theatre. And not just any musical theatre- big, shiny, happy, mostly stupid but very nice Musical Theatre. The […]
“Master Harold” … and the Boys (co-produced by the Shaw Festival and Obsidian Theatre Company) was a heavy, wordy three-hander with a ton of weight falling onto the shoulders of Outstanding Supporting Actor nominee James Daly in only his second year at Shaw. As the naive “Master Harold”, James beautifully captured how an ugly society can make […]
Before we announce the winners of the 2016 MyTheatre Awards, we’re proud to present our annual Nominee Interview Series. Dan Chameroy is a very big deal to me. He’s a big deal to a lot of people in the Canadian musical theatre scene but he’s especially important to me. He’s the first live performer I remember being […]
The imaginary beasts are back this January with their seasonal Winter Panto. This year they present the story of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the well-loved classic by L. Frank Baum, and proceed to shake it up in true panto style. References to Beyoncé, State Farm Insurance, and Hamilton bubble easily to the surface, as […]
Before we announce the winners of the 2014 My Theatre Awards, we’re proud to present our annual Nominee Interview Series. Back with his second My Theatre Award nomination in a row, the chameleonic Jeff Lillico is not only one of our favourite actors, he’s one of the most highly regarded in the country with credits from every […]
Where do I begin in describing how much fun I had at Kerplop! The Tale of the Frog Prince? I suppose at the beginning, with a description of a traditional panto for those not in the know. A pantomime in this context is a UK theatrical tradition based on staging well-known fairy tales in an […]
I woke up on November 27th 2014 at the age of 25. Now, as I sit drinking a Stella at a jazz bar in Kensington Market (Shafton Thomas Group, Thursday Nights at Poetry– you should go!) , I’m back somewhere near where I started. But for a few hours there in the middle- between 1 […]
Before we announce the winners of the 2013 My Theatre Awards, we’re proud to present our annual Nominee Interview Series. Graham Abbey is one of Canada’s foremost leading men, from TV screens to the movie theatre and, especially, on North America’s most prestigious classical stage: The Stratford Festival. He was Romeo, Prince Hal, Macbeth, Petruchio, Berowne, Aufidius […]
Once upon a time, Brian went to see a fringe theatre production on a rainy Saturday; he was tired and grumpy. He was four shows into a long stretch of reviewing, and he just wanted to sleep. However, Imaginary beasts delights, surprises, and thrills with their 2014 Annual Winter Panto, Rumplestiltskin, or All That Glitters. […]
Before we announce the winners of the 2012 My Theatre Awards, we’re proud to present our annual Nominee Interview Series. Jackie English was the inventive and silly saviour of Red Sandcastle Theatre’s troubled winter pantomime, Alice in Blunderland. The indefatigable Best Supporting Actress in a Regional Production nominee found the time to answer some of our questions about her […]
Ross Petty’s annual holiday pantomime is an important tradition to keep alive in Toronto. There’s a depressing dearth of smartly produced kid-friendly theatre in this city and, at its best, Petty’s goofy fractured fairytale can be the clever centerpiece of a kid’s cultural year. They get to dress up, go to one of the city’s […]
Before we announce the winners of the 2011 My Theatre Awards, we’re proud to present the My Theatre Nominee Interview Series. 2011’s The Wizard of Oz was the best production in years from the Toronto tradition that is the Ross Petty Holiday Pantomime. Amongst the fabulous cast was Canadian comedian Jessica Holmes playing a well-intentioned […]
Red Sandcastle Theatre’s holiday pantomime was a silly, boring and painfully unfunny affair full of too-long and uninventive musical numbers, tacky and unfair Rob Ford jokes and truly dreadful writing from the otherwise outrageously talented Rosemary Doyle. Alice in Blunderland– presented as the indie, non-conformist alternative to the more corporate (and vastly superior) Ross Petty […]