Archives

Dark Humour with a Different Lear Reviewed by Mary Alderson How wonderful to have Stratford Festival return to the grandeur of the opening week, something we haven’t seen since 2019. It felt like all the pomp and circumstance was back in place after Covid wreaked havoc with the last three seasons. In hopes of filling […]

Everything’s Coming Up Roses Reviewed by Mary Alderson Gypsy has just opened in Niagara-on-the-Lake on the Shaw Festival Stage. Kate Hennig owns that stage and rightly so – she is Rose, the ultimate stage mother. She makes the role her own. Rose is a narcissist, wanting all the attention for herself, and expecting her daughters

A Heartfelt Tribute to a Canadian Legend Reviewed by Sookie Mei Leisa Way and her Wayward Wind Band were rehearsing Early Morning Rain: The Legend of Gordon Lightfoot in Orillia, Lightfoot’s hometown, when they heard that the Canadian singer-songwriter had died.  A sad day for all Canadians, it must have hit the band especially hard,

Mid-life Crisis? Go to Greece! Reviewed by Mary Alderson Shirley is trapped in a midlife crisis. Her husband Joe is predictable and stubborn. “Marriage is like the Middle East,” she says, “There’s no solution. You keep your head down and hope the cease-fire holds.”  The Liverpool housewife is so lonely she talks to the wall,

Dysfunctional Family Ties Reviewed by Mary Alderson Divorce, distance, drinking – all the ingredients of an estranged father-son relationship. Not the usual fodder for a Norm Foster comedy. But while Mending Fences provides Foster’s signature quips and quick one-liners, there is also much to think about, when it comes to family dynamics. This dramedy (drama/comedy)

Bring Your Clapping Hands Reviewed by Sookie Mei It was good timing that I went to see The Grand Theatre’s East Coast Kitchen Party on the same day that the lineup was announced for this year’s Home County Music & Arts Festival. Watching and listening to the musicians on stage felt like I was at

Back to the Eighties Reviewed by Mary Alderson If you’re looking for a time machine to transport you back to the 1980s, then look no further than the Elgin Theatre in Toronto. Rock of Ages, now on stage there, is guaranteed to make you believe you have reversed time 35 years. So “Don’t Stop Believing”.

Panto Means Plenty of Cute Kids Reviewed by Mary Alderson Get your tickets now and take the kids or grandkids to the Globus Theatre for Cinderella. It’s a traditional British panto, thanks to writer and director Sarah Quick who is, indeed, British. According to the U.K. definition, a panto is a traditional fairy tale complete

The Curse of the Cell Phones Reviewed by Mary Alderson Sleeping Beauty – A Panto Awakening, now on stage at Port Hope’s Capitol Theatre, has all the ingredients of a silly Christmas panto. But at the same time, the writers have included an indictment of the high prices cell phone companies charge in Canada. Strange

High Energy Dance, Heartfelt Singing, and Sweet Romance Reviewed by Mary Alderson If you’re a fan of sappy Christmas movies on TV – you know the kind – couple meets, falls in love, has a silly fight, breaks up, then makes up – you better book your tickets for White Christmas right now. The live