“Connection in an isolating age.” It isn’t summer without a trip to The Stratford Festival, and this year I was so thrilled to be making the journey to see RENT. Set in Manhattan in the 1990s and inspired by Puccini's opera La Bohème, this rock musical follows a group of young East Village artists, performers and philosophers as they struggle through the hardships of poverty, societal discord and the AIDS epidemic in the search for life, love and art. With a Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award Winning book and music by Jonathan Larson, RENT is as relevant now as it was when it first premiered in 19 ..read more

You live, you learn. I spent the first weekend in June travelling to Ottawa, Ontario to see a performance of the National Tour of Jagged Little Pill at the National Arts Centre. This tour was actually the musical’s Canadian premiere, a homecoming of sorts, as the show is set around the music of Alanis Morisette, who was born and raised in Ottawa. In addition to Morissette’s music, which was arranged and orchestrated by Tom Kitt, the show has a book by Diablo Cody and was directed by Diane Paulus. Jagged Little Pill centres on the Healy family: MJ and Steve and their teenage children Frankie a ..read more

On my most recent trip to New York City, I found one of my new favourite musicals of the season: A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical. As you can imagine, A Beautiful Noise tells the story of Neil Diamond, from his early songwriting days, superstardom, and beyond. But it shows this in a very unique perspective: present day Neil is in therapy, and using his various songs to share his life story with his therapist. Naturally, the musical features the songs of Neil Diamond, which have been revamped for the stage by a team including Sonny Paladino, Brian Usifer, Annmarie Milazzo, and Bob G ..read more

A brand new production of Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is dazzling Toronto, it would truly be a nightmare to miss it! Joseph tells the story of a young dreamer, Joseph, and of course, his coat of many colours. Based on the tale from the Book of Genesis, it follows Joseph’s magical dreams, the jealousy of his brothers, and his journey to Egypt. This new production of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s classic musical has arrived directly from the London Palladium and is currently making its North American premiere at The Princess of Wales Theatre. Joseph is one of my all-time f ..read more

I am so excited and grateful to be back for another Year in Theatre post on the blog! I had so many opportunities to see some truly wonderful theatre this year, and I had the best time on all my theatre adventures! Below is a list of every show I saw this year, with some of my thoughts, and the ones I reviewed have the links below if you want more details! Thank you for spending 2022 with me! AUDIENCE Chicago In the Roaring Twenties, aspiring chorus girl Roxie Hart and fading vaudeville star Velma Kelly each face trial for murder. Both as cynical as they are sexy, the two women compete for t ..read more

This month, I took a trip to New York City, where one of the highlights was visiting The Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre for a performance of the new musical, Almost Famous. And in short, I’m here to tell you that you must do the same because… It’s all happening. Almost Famous is based on the movie of the same name which premiered in 2000. Twenty-two years later, the story has been adapted for the Broadway stage with a script by Cameron Crowe, the writer of the film. Original music was created by Tom Kitt, and the production is directed by Jeremy Herrin. The year is 1973 and it’s all happening. Led ..read more

Toronto just got fetch! On October 25th, the national tour of Mean Girls began performances at Toronto’s Princess of Wales Theatre. Cady Heron may have grown up on an African savanna, but nothing prepared her for the vicious ways of her strange new home: suburban Illinois. Soon, this naïve newbie falls prey to a trio of lionized frenemies led by the charming but ruthless Regina George. But when Cady devises a plan to end Regina’s reign, she learns the hard way that you can’t cross a Queen Bee without getting stung. This musical adaptation of Tina Fey’s 2004 film has a book by Fey herself, wit ..read more

This week, the nominees for Toronto’s annual Dora Mavor Moore Awards were presented by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA). Those of you outside of Toronto may be asking yourselves: What are the Dora Awards? The Dora Mavor Moore Awards are awards which “celebrate excellence on Toronto stages.” Founded in 1979, they are the oldest and largest awards program for theatre, dance, and opera in Canada, with the first awards ceremony in 1981. The 2022 Dora Mavor Moore Awards will take place on September 19th at The Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre Centre, where 46 awards will be prese ..read more

September 16th, 2022 was a beautiful frickin’ day for fans of Heathers the Musical in the U.S and Canada, as a professionally filmed performance of the London production was released to stream for free on Roku. It’s no secret that I have been a fan of Heathers since the show’s Off-Broadway days, which means that I have been waiting for this proshot since 2014. And my goodness, was it worth the wait! It was literally everything I could have possibly wanted in a filmed version of the musical! Westerberg High’s Veronica Sawyer is just another nobody dreaming of a better day. But when she joins t ..read more

The cast is complete for Broadway’s highly anticipated new musical comedy, Some Like It Hot! Joining the company are Tia Altinay, TyNia René Brandon, Ian Campayno, DeMarius Copes, Casey Garvin, Devon Hadsell, Ashley Elizabeth Hale, Jenny Hill, K.J. Hippensteel, Abby Matsusaka, Jarvis B. Manning Jr., Brian Thomas Martin, Amber Owens, Kayla Pecchioni, Richard Riaz Yoder, Angie Schworer, Charles South, Brendon Stimson, Raena White, and Julius Williams. As previously announced, the company will be led by Tony Award winner Christian Borle as Joe, J. Harrison Ghee as Jerry, Adrianna Hicks as Sugar ..read more