Sugar, Butter, Flour and a Sweet Story Deliciously sweet, Waitress, now on stage at Toronto’s Ed Mirvish Theatre, has all the ingredients of a romantic comedy.  Yet, by the time dessert comes around, the main character is single and strong, and that’s what makes this piece of pie special. Jenna is a waitress in a […]

Just “Desserts” in a Delicious Comedy Playwright Collen Curran first wrote Cakewalk for the Blyth Festival in 1984.  Then it made the rounds of area theatres, and I was fortunate enough to see it in 1985 at the old Victoria Playhouse in Petrolia.  So it was interesting to see its return 35 years later. I […]

There’s Still Magic in the Updated Brigadoon The Legend of Brigadoon lives on in the Shaw Festival’s current production.  Brigadoon retains its magic as the village in Scotland that disappears into the misty moors, and only reappears once every hundred years. The disappearing village is actually a German myth and originally the creators, Lerner and […]

The Show Must Go On, Even When the Big Attraction Dies Taking their cue from the city of St. Thomas, the Blyth Festival is celebrating its 45th season with an unusual opener.  They are examining the death of Jumbo, the biggest circus elephant to ever live.  But he happened to die in St. Thomas, a […]

Are the Merry Wives the Real Housewives?    The Merry Wives of Windsor, currently on stage at Stratford’s Festival Theatre, takes us back to the good old days of the 1950s when kids played outdoors all day, Mom was always at home being a good wife, and Dad was the sensible bread winner.  You know, […]

Little Shop of Horrors Provides More Laughs than Horror!   Following on the fantastic popularity of The Rocky Horror Show on the Avon stage last year, Stratford Festival plans to attract the same crowd with another horror musical.  They should be successful because this production of Little Shop of Horrors is presented with the same […]

Not-So-Private Love-Hate Relationship    Quick thrusts of witty dialogue and knock-down drag-out fights are the hallmarks of Private Lives.  Noel Coward’s 1930 epic battle-of-the-sexes has opened at the Avon Theatre as part of the Stratford Festival’s 2019 line-up. Elyot and Amanda were once married to each other, but when the show opens they have been […]