All posts by Adelina Fabiano

Adelina has enjoyed theatre from an early age when one of her elementary teachers cast her in school play. That was the beginning of Adelina's passion for theatre. She then pursued a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Dramatic Arts followed by a Bachelor of Education degree. She continues to be actively involved in community theatre, dance and loves to put on productions with her students! As a writer for Mooney on Theatre, Adelina feels she is very fortunate to go out and see fellow performers on stage as their work continues to inspire her.

Review: Madama Butterfly (Toronto Opera Repertoire Company)

By Adelina Fabiano

“Butterfly” soars high on  Toronto stage

As this is my second time seeing Madama Butterfly, I have to admit I had great expectations. The last production I saw had been a remarkable one, back in Calgary at the Jubilee Auditorium produced by the Calgary Opera Company.  However, similar to a community theatre company, charitable and non-profit, the Toronto Opera Repertoire’s spirited production of Madama Butterfly soared higher than expected.

Directed by the accomplished Giuseppe Macina, accompanied by the talented musical director Adolfo De Santis conducting Puccini’s heartbreaking and dramatic score, intensely powerful performances, against the backdrop of Japan’s exquisite and delicate landscape, Madama Butterfly takes flight. Continue reading Review: Madama Butterfly (Toronto Opera Repertoire Company) →

Review: The Threepenny Opera (UC Follies)

By Adelina Fabiano

Tackling a script by the famous German playwright Bertolt Brecht and captivating score by Kurt Weill is not an easy feat. However, the UC Follies‘s current presentation of The Threepenny Opera at the University of Toronto’s Hart House Theatre, proves to be daring and ambitious.

Adapted from an 18th century English ballad opera, John Gray’s The Beggar’s Opera, Brecht’s Threepenny Opera, is a commentary on the 20th century capitalist world in Victorian London. This bawdy and dark musical comedy takes a look at London’s sleazy underworld and the plight of the oppressed poor.

Poetically written both in language and musical composition, showcasing entertaining musical numbers, this political satire will leave you humming many of the tunes long after the show. Continue reading Review: The Threepenny Opera (UC Follies) →

Review:The Dining Room (Down n'out Productions)

By: Adelina Fabiano

“The Dining Room” Toronto is a feast for theatre lovers

Growing up in an Italian home, dinner was often the most important time of the day. It was here where we conversed about the day’s highlights, laughed, cried, fought, hugged and talked about all things that seemed so trivial at the time, but so meaningful now that I look back. My mom’s kitchen was truly the heart of the home.

In The Dining Room, American playwright A. R. Gurney writes a series of vignettes about various families and their day-to-day sit down interactions in and around the dining room. The play begins forty years ago to present day. Taking a look at the once formal act of a sit-down dinner and its function as a means to communicate, meet, and commiserate, Down n’Out Production of The Dining Room not only offers its audience a glimpse of this much-needed ritual, but offers us outstanding performances, and a smooth and seamless staging of one story to the another.

Continue reading Review:The Dining Room (Down n'out Productions) →

Review: Swan Song of Maria (A Tragic Fairy Tale) Threshold Theatre and El Destino Productions-Next Stage Theatre Festival

Soulful Story Strikes a Chord with Toronto Audiences          

By Adelina Fabiano

A tragic story indeed, Swan Song of Maria ( A Tragic Fairy Tale), co-produced by El Destino Productions and Threshold Theatre as part of the Next Stage Theatre Festival at the Factory Theatre Studio, is a moving account about love and loss, and the unbearable weight of suffering.  Beautifully written by Carol Cece Anderson and intricately staged by Mark Cassidy, this play speaks of the human experience in a profound way.

The play tells the story of an interracial couple living in Toronto, whose idealistic views on love and life have been challenged as the aging couple begin to cope with the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. Paralleling their own 40 year relationship, is the tale of Maria, a white Hispanic ballerina living in Cuba, with dreams of her own to pursue.

With a fine cast of passionate performers, tunes from Swan Lake in the background, a rich and original script, and a captivating ballerina pirouetting and interweaving throughout the story and stage, Swan Song of Maria certainly won’t be playwright Carol Cece Anderson’s last piece of work. Continue reading Review: Swan Song of Maria (A Tragic Fairy Tale) Threshold Theatre and El Destino Productions-Next Stage Theatre Festival →

Review: Beauty and the Beast-The Savagely Silly Family Musical (Ross Petty Productions)

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By Adelina Fabiano

Toronto Tradition of Stage Spoof Worth Seeing this Season

As a non – Torontonian until just a few years ago, I have never had the pleasure of seeing the revered productions of Ross Petty. This holiday season’s savagely silly family musical of Beauty and the Beast at the Elgin Theatre has just about anything you could ask for.

Familiar pop songs are woven into a humorously written script for any child or adult with the inner child still inside. Bold lighting effects and sounds, goofy characters, and dazzling dance numbers merge together for a truly enjoyable evening for parent and child alike. Continue reading Review: Beauty and the Beast-The Savagely Silly Family Musical (Ross Petty Productions) →