Archives

Flying High in New Digs There is nothing like having a new home – Mary Poppins flies into the Banks’ household and becomes an important part of the family, even though her stay is relatively brief. The production of Mary Poppins is also located in a new home – the Dunfield Theatre in Cambridge. It’s […]

Conspiracy Theory Story Lacks Strategy Some stories just don’t translate well to the stage. I think that may be the case with Yankee Tavern. The plot itself seems very intriguing. Who doesn’t love a good conspiracy theory? Yet the dialogue seems to bog down, before the mysteries unwind. Yankee Tavern starts the evening with great

Like Father, Like Son I grew up the only Anglo-Saxon-Protestant kid in a community of immigrants from Holland. Both sides of my family tree had arrived in Canada more than 100 years earlier, but my playmates’ parents had just left the “old country” recently. The parents would talk to the kids in Dutch and the kids

All Aboard the Love Train If you only need one good reason to take a weekend jaunt to Mississauga to see a show at Stage West, here it is: Aurianna Angelique. Rather, I should say, here she is. Aurianna is well worth the drive to Mississauga. Her rendition of Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love

Believing in the Christmas Spirit London’s Grand Theatre has a tradition of mounting a heart-warming family-friendly Christmas show and this year’s production of Miracle on 34th Street fills the bill. Based on the 1947 movie (with child star Natalie Wood as little Susan), this musical is fundamentally the same story, with a few changes to

Be Careful What You Wish For The play now on stage at St. Jacobs Schoolhouse Theatre is a classic illustration of “Be careful what you wish for – you just might get it…” The Love List is another of Norm Foster’s relationship comedies. Foster, as Canada’s most prolific and most produced playwright, has over 45

Baring their souls…and bodies I love it when a playwright can make me laugh out loud and shed a tear, both in the same show. And that’s what special about Calendar Girls: There are many opportunities to laugh out loud, and there is a jolt where you need to reach for your Kleenex. There is

Disco meets Gospel in Sister Act Where were you in ’92? No doubt you took in the movie Sister Act, a surprise hit starring Whoopi Goldberg. It was great fun, filling cinemas, becoming a popular rental, and eventually a TV favourite. The sequel was almost as good. Well, the live stage version, a Broadway tour

Fun on the French Riviera I love La Cage aux Folles: It’s a wonderful story about non-judgemental love and the importance of family. I recently had the opportunity to see the original French movie, and I’ve also enjoyed the American movie, The Bird Cage. Unfortunately, the current Broadway tour, now on stage in Toronto, doesn’t

She Could Have Danced and Sang All Night My Fair Lady, a musical based on George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, is a story about transformation. Linguist Professor Henry Higgins decides to take a common flower girl off the streets and transform her so that she can be passed off as royalty. He believes that he alone