Glenn Sumi

"You have too many opinions," a high school bully told me. Guilty! I've been writing abt the arts for more than 25 years. Now that my regular outlet is dying a painful death, I'm doing it here.

Theatre

The Lion King receives a regal return

The legendary Julie Taymor-directed musical returns in an open-ended run with a largely Canadian cast; plus a Spamalot Diaries book giveaway

Theatre

Reviews: Salesman in China, Nabucco, and more

Sizing up Stratford's late season hit and the Canadian Opera Company's first ever production of an early Verdi work; plus a ticket giveaway

Paid-members only

Theatre

Victor Garber on why he doesn’t want to sing publicly anymore

Titanic, Sweeney Todd and Alias star discusses the recent experience that "derailed him emotionally"

Theatre

Fall openings, Part 2: Roberto Zucco, 1939, Izad Etemadi, Come From Away and more

Reviews of season openers from Buddies in Bad Times and Canadian Stage, plus the long-awaited return of Come From Away

Theatre

Fall openings, Part 1: Puppet-tastic Pi, new Annie Baker and George F. Walker

The Toronto theatre season opens with a bang with new offerings from Mirvish, Coal Mine and promising indie company The King Black Box

Contest

Ticket giveaway: Mukashi, Mukashi

Win a pair of tickets to CORPUS and The Kio Company's all-ages show

TIFF 2024

TIFF reviews about artists: Elton John, Andrea Bocelli, Pamela Anderson

Two music docs and a documentary-like look at an aging Vegas performer put showbiz in the festival spotlight

TIFF 2024

TIFF review: fest opener Nutcrackers offers few surprises

Ben Stiller plays a bachelor real estate developer who has to find homes for his orphaned nephews. Can you guess how it ends?

TIFF 2024

TIFF 2024 films for theatre lovers

From splashy adaptations of well-known plays to films featuring local playwrights and actors, here are some must-see movies for Toronto theatregoers

Theatre

Review: An intimate and moving Hamlet in High Park

Jessica Carmichael’s swift-moving production of Shakespeare’s tragedy includes poetry, prose and lyrics from other sources to comment on collective grief

Theatre

Why there’s nothing like the Fringe to see new talent

As always, Toronto’s largest performance festival provides a great opportunity to discover new artists

Musicals

Musicals! Musicals! Musicals!

Reviews of My Fair Lady, Wicked, The Last Timbit, Tommy Rhodes, a Renée Elise Goldsberry doc, the new Second City show and two views on the Tina Turner show

Theatre

Buddies in Bad Times’ ted witzel discusses bold new season

The queer theatre company's new artistic director says this fall you'll see something you won't be able to see anywhere else in the city

Theatre

Season winds down, festivals start up, Toronto critics regroup

A few words on end-of-season shows, Stratford and Shaw Festivals and the return of the (expanded) Toronto Theatre Critics Awards

Theatre

Crow's Theatre announces its most ambitious lineup yet

The east-end theatre presents a dozen premieres and extensions, plus brief reviews of half a dozen spring shows

Theatre

Spring season offers two must-see shows

Lucas Hnath's Dana H. and Matthew López's The Inheritance are as powerful as people say

Film

Former Hobbits do Stoppard and a mother-daughter film parodies 70s variety shows

Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd discuss taking on a Tom Stoppard classic, and Melissa D'Agostino debuts film about a deeply dysfunctional mother-daughter combo

Theatre

Classics revisited: Vanya on Yonge St, Macbeth with puppets, a twisty Don Giovanni and lots more

Long overdue reviews of winter shows, including Uncle Vanya, MacBeth: A Tale Told by an Idiot, Dion, As I Must Live It and more

Theatre

Reviews: Casey and Diana and Rockabye

Nick Green's Stratford Festival hit transfers successfully to Soulpepper, while Australian Joanna Murray-Smith's music satire sounds some wrong notes

Theatre

Two bold, fresh takes on late Shakespeare plays

Inventive indie companies Theatre Rusticle and Shakespeare BASH'd bring lots of surprises to the Bard

Paid-members only

Theatre

Toronto's Andrea Scott on loving theatre, leaving it for TV and then moving to L.A.

Now based in L.A. and working on a new ABC/Disney series, the in-demand writer discusses the pitching process, the differences between TV and theatre and believing in herself when others didn't

Theatre

Review: Heartless wraps up an ambitious, epic trilogy

Early Canadian settler history and its connection to Indigenous populations comes alive in the conclusion of Genevieve Adam's lively New France trilogy

TV and streaming

D.J. Demers sitcom One More Time needs more time to settle

New CBC workplace comedy featuring hard-of-hearing stand-up Demers and a talented supporting cast is promising but is no slam dunk

Theatre

Taking Talk is Free Theatre halfway around the world

Artistic producer Arkady Spivak discusses moving three shows from Barrie, Ont. to Auckland, and several holiday openings have been extended through January

Theatre

The Top 10 Toronto theatre artists of 2023

Paolo Santalucia, Hailey Gillis, Philip Akin, Peter Fernandes and others delivered five-star work this year