2019

Carole King and James Taylor Favourites     Victoria Playhouse Petrolia has kicked off the 2019 season with another of their very popular musical revues.  This time around they have compiled a show of the great works of Carole King and James Taylor, and as usual, they have offered a little history on this celebrated pair […]

The Toll Mental Illness Takes    A musical about mental illness?  With a rock music score? Would that work? Yes, it does, very well.  Next to Normal, the 2009 Tony winning musical, tells about the effect of mental illness on a family.  Now on stage at the CAA Theatre in Toronto, Next to Normal has

Powerful Performances Make Miracle Worker a Must-See Powerful performances in a gripping true story make The Miracle Worker a play you must see.  Now on stage at St. Jacobs Country Playhouse, it’s an old play but as compelling as ever.  The Miracle Worker opened on Broadway in 1959 and took several Tony awards in 1960 including

Thank You for the Music, For Giving It to Me    Mamma Mia! is the hit show that makes everyone feel good, with all the warmth of sunshine on a Greek island.  Now on stage at the Grand Theatre in London, Mamma Mia! is the quintessential jukebox musical, featuring ABBA’s hits, spanning the years from

Come Hear the Music Play Go downstairs to the McManus stage at London’s Grand Theatre and it looks very much like a seedy bar in 1931 Berlin.  But listen to some of the words and they sound like Twitter today.  In this excellent production of Cabaret, director Dennis Garnhum has immersed his audience in the

A Second Look at Nora’s Story     Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House was written and first performed in 1879.  At the time, theatregoers were shocked at Nora.  How could a wife with a husband and three children, living in a perfect little doll house, possibly be unhappy?  Her husband, Torvald, would be called a “mansplainer”

The Sins of the Fathers     The sins of the fathers shall be visited upon the sons.  In Fences, the character Rose alludes to this Bible verse, and indeed, it is the message of this heart-wrenching play.  Now on stage at London’s Grand Theatre, Fences is the story of a dysfunctional black family, struggling with

A Drag Race Across the Outback  Take a cult movie, spin it into a jukebox musical, add fabulous costumes and a bus for a set, and you get Priscilla Queen of the Desert.  Based on an Australian-made film, it’s the story of two drag queens and a transgender woman who travel across the Australian desert

A Tale of Two Families     Sometimes, you get caught up in other people’s assumptions, and you let a little white lie slip by.  And then that little white lie grows and spreads, and pretty soon you are trapped within a big messy lie.  That’s what happens in Dear Evan Hansen.  High schoolers get wrapped