Shows That Caught Our Eye in Toronto the Week of March 20th, 2017
There is such a wide selection of amazing new and running shows to choose from this week! To help you in your decision-making is our publisher Megan, highlighting her most anticipated shows in red text. Check them out below the cut:
Already Reviewed by Mooney on Theatre:
The Millennial Malcontent. Tarragon Theatre presents the world premiere of a new play by Erin Shields An unhappily married couple struggle in this exploration of the social posing, sexual frankness and emotional minefield of the Millennial generation. Previews from Feb 28, opens Mar 8 and runs to Apr 9. Tue-Sat 8 pm, mat Sat-Sun 2:30 pm. $22-$65. At Tarragon Theatre. Show Info.
Mary Poppins by Richard Sherman, Robert Sherman and Julian Fellowes (LOT). This musical is based on the PL Travers book and the 1964 film. Opens Feb 10 and runs to Apr 2, Fri-Sat 7:30 pm, mat Sat 3:30 pm, Sun noon & 4 pm. $55-$65. At The Lower Ossington Theatre. Show Info.
A City. Necessary Angel presents a new play by Greg MacArthur, directed by Jennifer Tarver. This living diorama/tableaux vivant looks at four artists/friends who tell the story of a friend who died under mysterious circumstances, and how his death, and his life, transformed them. Previews Mar 14-15, opens Mar 16 and runs to Apr 1, Tue-Sat 8 pm, mat Sat-Sun 2 pm. $35-$40, stu/srs $20-$25. At Artscape Sandbox. Show Info.
Hard Core Logo. BFL Theatre presents a play/punk rock concert adapted by Michael Scholar Jr., based on the book by Michael Turner and the 1996 film by Noel S. Baker and Bruce McDonald. New songs written by Joe “Shithead” Kiethley and Michael Turner. Buried conflicts resurface when a defunct Vancouver punk band reunite for one last tour across Canada. Opens Mar 9 and runs to Mar 26, Tue-Sat 7:30 pm (and Sun Mar 19 & 26). $35. At The Dance Cave. Show Info.
Tartuffe by Molière (Scarborough Theatre Guild). A conman feigns piety to get close to a man’s wife in this comedy. Opens Mar 10 and runs to Mar 25, Thu-Sat 8 pm, Sun 2 pm (Mar 25 at 2 pm, no eve show). $22. At Scarborough Village Theatre. Show Info.
Trigonometry by Rob Kempson (timeshare productions). Three disparate people find themselves bound together by desire, destiny and a few scandalous photos in the final play of Kempson’s Graduation Plays trilogy. Opens Mar 16 and runs to Mar 25, Tue-Sat 8 pm, mat Sat-Sun 2 pm. $20, stu $15. At Factory Theatre. Show Info.
And the rest:
No More S#%&!: Operation Soap Revisited. Myseum of Toronto presents a storytelling performance about the 1981 Bathhouse Raids, based on interviews with some of the people who were arrested. Mar 26 at 4:30 pm. $20. At The Gladstone Hotel. Show Info.
Our Town by Thornton Wilder (Theatre Rusticle). A stage manager paints a portrait of life in a small American town around 1900. Previews Mar 26 (2:30 pm), opens Mar 28 and runs to Apr 2, Tue-Sat 8 pm, mat Sat-Sun 2:30 pm. Pwyc-$28. At Buddies in Bad Times Theatre. Show Info.
Butcher by Nicolas Billon (Why Not Theatre). Stage thriller where an old man is dropped off at a police station wearing a foreign military uniform and Santa hat, with a meat hook around his neck. As a lawyer, a police officer, and a translator struggle to unravel the truth, they uncover a past that won’t stay buried, and a decades old quest for justice that must be served. Haunted by events a world away, no one is who they seem to be. Tue-Sat 8 pm, mat Sat-Sun and Mar 29, 2 pm. $39-$92. At The Panasonic Theatre. Show Info.
Little Shop of Horrors. by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken (LOT). A flower shop clerk raises a plant that feeds on human blood in this musical. Opens Mar 24 and runs to May 14, Fri-Sat 7:30 pm, mat Sat 3:30 pm, Sun 4 pm. $55-$65. At The Lower Ossington Theatre. Show Info.
S h e e t s. Veritas Theatre presents S h e e t s. by Salvatore Antonio. Through a series of dovetailing scenes set in a single hotel room, S h e e t s. explores the theme of intimacy in its many forms through the experiences of various inhabitants. Previews Mar 24-26, opens Mar 28, and runs to Apr 9, Tue-Sat 8 pm, mat Sun 2 pm (and Saturday Apr 1 & 8). $30-$35. At The Theatre Centre. Show Info.
Pitch Blonde by Laura Harris (Convection Productions). Harris performs her solo show about Judy Holliday, a 170 IQ actor who specialized in playing dumb blondes and was dragged into the McCarthy hearings. Mar 23-24, Thu 8:30, Fri 7 pm. $15. In the Studio Theatre. At Toronto Centre for the Arts. Show Info.
Adam Bailey is on Fire. Still Your Friend Productions presents an LGBTQ solo comedy about growing up the gay son of an evangelical minister. Mar 23-24, Thu 7 pm, Fri 8:30 pm. $15. At Toronto Centre for the Arts. Show Info.
Crawlspace. Soulpepper Theatre presents a solo show by Karen Hines. A perfect little coach house turns into a real life nightmare in Karen Hines’ comic, Kafkaesque tale about the darker side of home ownership. Inspired by true events, Crawlspace moves past “cautionary” as it snakes through the brutal battleground of Toronto real estate, decorative twig orbs and the transcendence of the human soul. Previews from Mar 23, opens Mar 28 and runs to Apr 15, see website for schedule. $25-$50. At The Young Centre for the Performing Arts. Show Info.
Boys With Cars. Written, choreographed and performed by Anita Majumdar (YPT). Solo theatre and classical Indian dance are used to explore issues around unchecked male privilege, female empowerment and what constitutes consent. Opens Mar 23 and runs to Apr 1, see website for times. $10-$24. At Young People’s Theatre. Show Info.
Vigils by Noah Haidle (Soul Heroine Productions). A woman captures her husband’s soul after his death and keeps it in a box, but then must deal with the consequences of not letting go. Opens Mar 22 and runs to Mar 26, Wed-Sat 8 pm, Sun 2 pm. $20, Sun pwyc. At Red Sandcastle Theatre. Show Info.
We Are The Land. Jaime Black and the graduate students in Indigenous Decolonial Aesthetics WGSI 1025 showcase a new piece of performance art. Mar 22, noon-2 pm. Free. At Philosopher’s Walk. Show Info.
Infiniti by Hannah Moscovitch (Volcano Theatre/Tarragon). Three brilliant minds – a musician, a mathematician, and a theoretical physicist – smash together like colliding particles in an accelerator in this play about love, sex and math. Back by popular demand: Mar 22-Apr 2, Wed-Sat 8 pm, mat Sat-Sun 2:30 pm. $29-$60. Tue-Sat 8 pm, mat Sat-Sun 2:30 pm. $29-$60. At Tarragon Theatre. Show Info.
Stage Door by Edna Ferber and George S. Kaufman (Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts). A young socialite moves into a boarding house full of wannabe Broadway starlets in 1930s NYC. Opens Mar 21 and runs to Mar 25, Tue-Sat 8 pm, mat Sat 2 pm. $22. At Randolph Theatre. Show Info.
The Devised Theatre Festival. York’s Devised Theatre Program presents eclectic new work from 4th year students. Mar 20-26, see website for schedule. $5-$7. In the Accolade East Bldg, studio 209. Show Info.
Evita by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice (JDP Productions). Eva Duarte rises from poverty to become the First Lady of Argentina in this musical. Opens Mar 17 and runs to Mar 26, Fri-Sat 7:30 pm, mat Sat-Sun 1:30 pm. $35, stu/srs $29.50. At The Toronto Centre for the Arts. Show Info.
Stupidhead! by Katherine Cullen and Britta Johnson (TPM). Part stand-up, part musical comedy show about how being a human being is embarrassing. Previews from Mar 16, opens Mar 21 and runs to Apr 2, Tue-Sat 7:30 pm, mat Sat-Sun 2 pm (no matinee on Mar 18). $17-$38, mat pwyc at the door. At Theatre Passe Muraille. Show Info.
The Orange Dot by Sean Dixon (Theatrefront). Two city workers deal with boredom and existential dread while waiting to remove a blighted tree in this blend of absurdity and realism that delves into the dynamics of power, the nature of partnerships and the modern human condition. Previews Mar 16, opens Mar 17 and runs to Apr 1, Mon-Sat 8 pm, mat Sat 2 pm. $20-$35. At The Streetcar Crownsnest. Show Info.
Mrs. Henderson Presents by Terry Johnson and Don Black (Mirvish). An eccentric UK socialite invests in and transforms London’s Windmill Theatre in 1937 in this biographical musical based on the 2005 screenplay by Martin Sherman. Opens Mar 15 and runs to Apr 23, Tue-Sat 8 pm, mats Wed, Sat-Sun 2 pm. $38-$139. At Royal Alexandra Theatre. Show Info.
Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov (Wolf Manor Theatre). Three women struggle with boredom in a provincial Russian garrison town in this family drama reimagined in a gender-fluid landscape. Opens Mar 15 and runs to Mar 26, Wed-Sat 8 pm, mat Sat-Sun 2 pm. $12-$25. At Kensington Hall. Show Info.
Cage. Soulpepper presents a theatrical work by Diego Matamoros, Lorenzo Savoini and Richard Feren. Ideas of Zen Buddhism and composer John Cage inspire this meditation on time, space, memory and the human animal. Previews form Mar 11, opens Mar 21 and runs to Mar 25, see website for schedule. $32-$96. At The Young Centre for the Performing Arts. Show Info.
New Ideas Festival 2017. Alumnae Theatre presents a juried festival of new writing, works-in-progress and experimental theatre. Opens Mar 8 and runs to Mar 26, Wed-Sat 8 pm, mat Sat-Sun 2 pm. $15, free staged readings Sat at noon. At Alumnae Theatre. Show Info.
The Book of Mormon by Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and Matt Stone (Mirvish). Two naive missionaries go to a volatile region in Uganda in this religious satire musical. Opens Feb 28 and runs to Apr 16, Tue-Sat 8 pm, Sun 7:30 pm, mat Sat 2 pm, Sun 1:30 pm. $49-$139. At The Princess of Wales Theatre. Show Info.
A Streetcar Named Desire. Previews from Feb 25, opens Mar 23 and runs to. Apr 9, Tue-Sat 8 pm, mat Wed, Sat-Sun 2 pm. $60-$175. At The Box Toronto. Show Info.
Sousatzka by Craig Lucas, Richard Maltby, Jr. and David Shire, based on the novel Madame Sousatzka by Bernice Rubens (Teatro Proscenium/Garth Drabinsky). A young musical prodigy is torn between his mother – a political refugee from South Africa – and his eccentric piano teacher in this musical drama that crosses racial and cultural divides. Previews from Feb 25, opens Mar 23 and runs to. Apr 9, Tue-Sat 8 pm, mat Wed, Sat-Sun 2 pm. $60-$175. At Elgin Theatre. Show Info.
The Bodyguard by Alexander Dinelaris, music by Whitney Houston (Mirvish). A former secret service agent fall for the pop star he’s hired to protect in this musical based on the 1992 film that starred Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner. Opens Feb 11 and runs to Apr 9, Tue-Sat 8 pm, mat Wed, Sat-Sun 2 pm. $38-$139. At Ed Mirvish Theatre. Show Info.
Listings based primarily on NOW! Stage Listings.