All stories by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter on BroadwayStars

Thursday, June 1, 2023

Where feminism meets courthouse drama with a musical score: ‘Kelly v. Kelly’ at the Berkeley Street Theatre by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

This new musical by Britta Johnson and Sara Farb features a winning cast and some inventive direction but its narrative is muddled and uncompelling.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 12:52PM

Future of the iconic Toronto Fringe Festival is in jeopardy amid low attendance, rising costs and lack of sufficient revenue by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

The Fringe’s struggles aren’t unique, industry experts warn, but rather indicative of issues affecting the wider performing arts sector.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 05:00AM
Thursday, May 25, 2023

Music for dreamers and strugglers: Eric McCormack, Cynthia Dale and more take on Sondheim’s ‘A Little Night Music’ by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

Along with Dan Chameroy, the stars reflect on Stephen Sondheim’s legacy ahead of Friday’s Koerner Hall concert production.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 03:20PM
Saturday, May 13, 2023

In Coal Mine Theatre’s deftly directed ‘The Sound Inside,’ a professor and student languish in lonesome tragedy by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

Moya O’Connell and Aidan Correia play a Yale creative writing educator and student whose lives intertwine in Adam Rapp’s riveting two-hander.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 07:40PM
Sunday, April 23, 2023

Meet opera’s super couple: a retired teacher and a broadcast technician who have performed in some of the COC’s largest productions by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

Bruce Jakacki and Nancy Mellow are COC supernumeraries, amateur actors who appear as extras to fill out crowded scenes.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 12:32PM
Thursday, April 13, 2023

‘The Simon & Garfunkel Story’ soars with nostalgic harmonies, despite its aimless narrative frame by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

Playing at Toronto’s CAA Theatre, Jonah Bobo and Brendan Jacob Smith brilliantly channel Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, but are bogged down with a laborious music history lesson

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 12:33PM
Thursday, April 6, 2023

Top 5 Stratford Festival 2023 must-see productions by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

Theatre critic Joshua Chong spotlights five shows he can’t wait to watch, including “Rent,” “Richard II,” “King Lear,” “Grand Magic” and “Women of the Fur Trade.”

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 05:00AM

Five ways to save at the 2023 Stratford Festival by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

From rush tickets to two-for-one evenings, here’s how to make your money go further at this year’s Stratford Festival.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 05:00AM
Tuesday, April 4, 2023

“Hamilton” could halt in Toronto with strike threat by union representing theatre actors and stage managers by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

The possible escalation in job action comes amid an impasse in negotiations between the Actors’ Equity Association and the Broadway League.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 03:21PM
Thursday, March 23, 2023

New theatre museum set to open this fall at historic Toronto site by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

Canada’s Theatre Museum has found its new home at the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre Centre, with actor Colm Feore as its honorary patron

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 11:33AM
Monday, March 13, 2023

Epic ‘Mahabharata’ at the Shaw Festival feels urgent yet strikingly timeless by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

The Why Not Theatre production offers something for all, no matter how familiar they are with the original Sanskrit stories.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 11:22AM
Tuesday, March 7, 2023

Broadway juggernaut ‘Six,’ new Roy Orbison musical will be part of upcoming Mirvish season by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

‘Les Misérables’ and Disney’s ‘Aladdin’ are also part of Mirvish’s seven-show, main subscription season, announced Tuesday.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 06:00AM
Tuesday, February 28, 2023

This century-old Mirvish theatre is slated for demolition and Toronto’s arts community says loss is significant by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

Mirvish’s CAA Theatre, which often featured local artists and productions, may be turned into a 76-storey, mixed-use development

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 11:18AM
Friday, December 9, 2022

Ross Petty and Toronto pantomime favourites take one last bow in the delightful ‘Peter’s Final Flight’ by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

Dan Chameroy, Eddie Glen and Sara-Jeanne Hosie return for a magical final goodbye.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 04:25PM
Thursday, December 8, 2022

Forget the ‘hoity-toity tuxes and gowns’ — at Opera Revue you can cheer and holler. No shushing allowed by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

Events by companies like Opera Revue, Against the Grain and Tapestry Opera are part of an effort to make the art form more accessible.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 09:00AM
Tuesday, December 6, 2022

Cirque du Soleil will return to Toronto next spring with touring show ‘Kooza’ by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

The Montreal-based circus company will bring their iconic big top to the site of the former Mr. Christie factory.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 08:00AM
Monday, December 5, 2022

The Second City has a swanky new venue, but its inaugural main stage show, ‘Home Sweet New Home,’ can’t compete by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

The spirited ensemble draws some laughs from the material, but some of it feels stale and overlong.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 02:07PM
Wednesday, November 30, 2022

Actors’ union to assist performers with recovery of unpaid wages after criticism it did not warn members for weeks by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

ACTRA Toronto said in an email it was reaching out to the production companies involved to recover cheques that were cashed by a talent agency which has ceased operations.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 06:24PM

Meet the band behind Mirvish’s ‘Fisherman’s Friends’ musical by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

These sea shanty-singing Cornish men started a ‘buoy band,’ inked a million-dollar-plus record deal and now have a musical celebrating their unlikely story, playing at the Royal Alexandr…

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 09:00AM
Monday, November 28, 2022

After 14 years and performances in eight countries on four continents, this Canadian play takes its final bow by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

The company of ‘The Last 15 Seconds’ reflects on the play’s monumental run ahead of its final performance in Kitchener on Dec. 1.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 09:00AM
Friday, November 25, 2022

An imaginative and energetic ‘Snow White,’ led by a pair of dynamic performances, awakens at Young People’s Theatre by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

Two actors play all 14 characters in this brilliantly directed production that has something in stores for audiences of all ages.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 02:27PM
Thursday, November 24, 2022

With potty-mouthed, clothes-stripping puppets, ‘Little Dickens’ is a risque and riotously hilarious twist on a classic Christmas tale by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

Puppet master Ronnie Burkett’s somewhat parodic adaptation of ‘A Christmas Carol’ is an R-rated campy affair filled with a multitude of marionettes.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 01:57PM
Friday, November 18, 2022

‘The Ballad of Johnny Longstaff’ may be the sleeper hit of the fall theatre season by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

The English folk group the Young’uns have crafted a touching ode to a working-class hero. It’s deceptively simple, powerfully moving and often hilarious.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 05:00PM
Tuesday, November 15, 2022

Patti LuPone, Scott Joplin’s ‘Treemonisha’ and a new Canadian opera highlight TO Live programming by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

Fifteen shows will be presented across Toronto’s three major civic theatres: St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, Meridian Arts Centre and Meridian Hall.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 04:34PM

Soulpepper’s 2023 spring lineup includes adaption of a Chekhov classic, new jazz concert and Tony-nominated play about apartheid by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

The company’s 2023 season features four distinct acts, the first of which, announced Tuesday, begins in February and includes four mainstage shows.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 03:26PM
Wednesday, November 9, 2022

Three artists reflect on the importance of Indigenous storytelling as the Weesageechak Begins to Dance festival returns by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

Running from Thursday to Nov. 20, the 35th edition of the festival will feature works by more than 15 artists.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 02:01PM
Friday, November 4, 2022

‘Come From Away’ will play Gander in 2023, the first fully staged production of the musical in Newfoundland by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

“It means the world to be bringing a homegrown production of our show back to Gander,” says co-writer Irene Sankoff.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 03:21PM
Tuesday, November 1, 2022

Stratford Festival’s 2023 season to feature television star Paul Gross and Broadway actor Andrea Macasaet by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

Festival favourites Seana McKenna, Lucy Peacock and Diana Leblanc will appear in Michel Tremblay’s classic comedy ‘Les Belles-Soeurs.’

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 10:11AM
Monday, October 31, 2022

The Second City to unveil new home in Toronto — with three theatres, a restaurant and a piece of comedy history by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

The improv sketch comedy troupe’s sprawling 28,700-square-foot venue at One York Street officially opens Nov. 30.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 05:00AM
Friday, October 28, 2022

‘Mean Girls’ receives an uneven musical update but with Tina Fey’s signature humour still intact by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

The 2004 film has been refreshed for the social media age, showcasing Fey’s masterful wit, but Jeff Richmond’s and Nell Benjamin’s score drags down the production.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 04:59PM

Are Toronto theatregoers having too much fun? These Broadway productions show theatre can challenge, provoke and even offend by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

“A Strange Loop,” and revivals of “The Piano Lesson,” “Death of a Salesman,” “1776” and “Into the Woods” provide daring, stirring and groundbreaking theatre.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 09:00AM

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