All stories by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter on BroadwayStars

Friday, November 25, 2022

An imaginative and energetic ‘Snow White,’ led by a pair of dynamic performances, awakens at Young People’s Theatre by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

Two actors play all 14 characters in this brilliantly directed production that has something in stores for audiences of all ages.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 02:27PM
Thursday, November 24, 2022

With potty-mouthed, clothes-stripping puppets, ‘Little Dickens’ is a risque and riotously hilarious twist on a classic Christmas tale by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

Puppet master Ronnie Burkett’s somewhat parodic adaptation of ‘A Christmas Carol’ is an R-rated campy affair filled with a multitude of marionettes.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 01:57PM
Friday, November 18, 2022

‘The Ballad of Johnny Longstaff’ may be the sleeper hit of the fall theatre season by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

The English folk group the Young’uns have crafted a touching ode to a working-class hero. It’s deceptively simple, powerfully moving and often hilarious.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 05:00PM
Tuesday, November 15, 2022

Patti LuPone, Scott Joplin’s ‘Treemonisha’ and a new Canadian opera highlight TO Live programming by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

Fifteen shows will be presented across Toronto’s three major civic theatres: St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, Meridian Arts Centre and Meridian Hall.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 04:34PM

Soulpepper’s 2023 spring lineup includes adaption of a Chekhov classic, new jazz concert and Tony-nominated play about apartheid by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

The company’s 2023 season features four distinct acts, the first of which, announced Tuesday, begins in February and includes four mainstage shows.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 03:26PM
Wednesday, November 9, 2022

Three artists reflect on the importance of Indigenous storytelling as the Weesageechak Begins to Dance festival returns by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

Running from Thursday to Nov. 20, the 35th edition of the festival will feature works by more than 15 artists.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 02:01PM
Friday, November 4, 2022

‘Come From Away’ will play Gander in 2023, the first fully staged production of the musical in Newfoundland by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

“It means the world to be bringing a homegrown production of our show back to Gander,” says co-writer Irene Sankoff.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 03:21PM
Tuesday, November 1, 2022

Stratford Festival’s 2023 season to feature television star Paul Gross and Broadway actor Andrea Macasaet by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

Festival favourites Seana McKenna, Lucy Peacock and Diana Leblanc will appear in Michel Tremblay’s classic comedy ‘Les Belles-Soeurs.’

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 10:11AM
Monday, October 31, 2022

The Second City to unveil new home in Toronto — with three theatres, a restaurant and a piece of comedy history by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

The improv sketch comedy troupe’s sprawling 28,700-square-foot venue at One York Street officially opens Nov. 30.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 05:00AM
Friday, October 28, 2022

‘Mean Girls’ receives an uneven musical update but with Tina Fey’s signature humour still intact by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

The 2004 film has been refreshed for the social media age, showcasing Fey’s masterful wit, but Jeff Richmond’s and Nell Benjamin’s score drags down the production.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 04:59PM

Are Toronto theatregoers having too much fun? These Broadway productions show theatre can challenge, provoke and even offend by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

“A Strange Loop,” and revivals of “The Piano Lesson,” “Death of a Salesman,” “1776” and “Into the Woods” provide daring, stirring and groundbreaking theatre.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 09:00AM
Wednesday, October 26, 2022

Actors allege they are owed thousands after Toronto talent agency ceases operations by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

Artists, some owed more than $22,000, claim Compass and its president withheld payment for months after gigs.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 12:14PM

In ‘Human Measure,’ multimedia artist Cassils and choreographer Jasmine Albuquerque explore the tension between trans visibility and civil rights by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

The contemporary dance piece transforms the theatre into an analogue dark room — with nothing more than red safety lights illuminating the space.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 10:00AM
Tuesday, October 25, 2022

Trail-blazing actor Gary Farmer on his career, Indigenous representation and receiving the August Schellenberg Award of Excellence by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

For Farmer, advancing honest Indigenous representation onscreen and behind the scenes has been a key pillar of his work.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 06:10PM
Thursday, October 20, 2022

Measha Brueggergosman-Lee on her deliciously devilish turn in ‘Dido and Aeneas,’ as Opera Atelier returns home to the Elgin Theatre by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

Brueggergosman-Lee stars as the Sorceress in Henry Purcell’s baroque opera, a beloved production in Opera Atelier’s repertoire

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 05:00AM
Sunday, October 2, 2022

‘Come From Away,’ Canada’s most successful musical, concludes record-breaking Broadway run by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

The musical took its final bow Sunday, concluding a record-breaking, five-year run at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 03:30PM
Wednesday, September 28, 2022

Donation of $15 million to 22 Canadian theatre companies by Slaight Family Foundation is a ‘transformational gift,’ theatre leaders say by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

Theatre leaders say the funding boost will help them produce larger and more daring productions, ultimately altering programming for the seasons to come.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 02:15PM
Monday, September 26, 2022

Ho Ka Kei’s ‘Cockroach,’ a dense and poetic exploration of survival, identity and migration, is one of the strongest new plays this season by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

Shimmering with rich language, colourful characters and Hanna Kiel’s beguiling choreography, ‘Cockroach’ delves deep into a deceptively simple story.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 01:34PM
Friday, September 23, 2022

After $13.5M expansion, Young People’s Theatre now has the room to ‘bring back joy for creation and imagination’ by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

Renovation includes upgrades to YPT’s original theatre space plus a three-storey facility across the street with studios, classrooms and a mainstage-size rehearsal hall.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 04:18PM
Thursday, September 22, 2022

Soulpepper’s ‘Bad Parent,’ by ‘Kim’s Convenience’ creator Ins Choi, feels as chaotic as its central marriage by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

The new comedy, a co-production among three Canadian theatre companies, mostly cracks instead of crackles, despite strong performances.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 12:00AM
Wednesday, September 21, 2022

Ian Shaw hunts for the father who hunted for a great white shark in ‘Jaws’ in the stage comedy ‘The Shark Is Broken’ by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

Ian Shaw plays his father, Robert Shaw, who died three years after starring as maniacal shark hunter Quint in the blockbuster thriller.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 07:00AM

‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’ to play Toronto’s Princess of Wales Theatre this winter by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

Jac Yarrow will star in the title role, with West End and Broadway actor Linzi Hateley as the narrator.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 06:00AM
Monday, September 19, 2022

‘Sweeney Todd,’ ‘Italian Mime Suicide’ and ‘Wildfire’ win big at 2022 Dora Awards by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

The awards show marked the first in-person Dora ceremony since 2019. Check out the full list of winners here.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 10:29PM
Thursday, September 1, 2022

Like father, like son: For Pakistani-Canadian actor Ali Kazmi, ‘Uncle Vanya’ runs in the family by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

Kazmi stars in the Crow’s Theatre production of the Chekhovian classic as Astrov, a role his father played 15 years ago.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 10:00AM
Tuesday, August 23, 2022

‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’ coming to Toronto as a test run for possible Broadway revival by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

The new production, which played London’s West End, is slated to start a two-month run in December at the Princess of Wales Theatre

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 06:00AM
Monday, August 22, 2022

Shakespeare wrote ‘King Lear’ during the plague. This Canadian playwright created its prequel during the COVID-19 lockdown by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

Erin Shield’s ‘Queen Goneril,’ set seven years before ‘King Lear,’ is playing in repertory with the Bard’s bleak tragedy at Soulpepper

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 03:36PM
Sunday, August 14, 2022

Stratford Festival’s 2023 season will feature Pulitzer Prize-winning rock musical ‘Rent’ and Tony-winning comedy ‘Spamalot’ by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

‘Rent’ will be directed by Broadway veteran Thom Allison, a source close to the production told the Star.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 07:00AM
Tuesday, August 2, 2022

Chase Padgett’s ‘6 Guitars’ Toronto show features music and comedy by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

The two-hour show weaves together music, comedy and improv into a story that follows six characters and their relationship with guitar music

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 09:21AM
Friday, July 15, 2022

Fringe festival thriller ‘Dead Broke’ starts off as your average kitchen-sink drama then takes a grisly turn by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

Will King’s macabre play, about a broke student squatting in an abandoned house, has a winning script packed with dark humour.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 06:43PM
Thursday, July 14, 2022

Alia Ceniza Rasul unpacks a complicated identity in her heartfelt, hilarious Fringe show by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

She grew up as a Filipina Muslim with a Moro father and a Christian mother. Now in her mid-30s, Rasul reflects on her childhood and family

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 01:53PM
Tuesday, July 12, 2022

Jennifer Merchant’s solo Fringe festival show ‘A Whey You A Go? A Jamaican Sojourn’ is an epic story, intimately told by Joshua Chong - Staff Reporter

As Flo, Flo, Merchant traverses decades to tell a story about immigration, assimilation and family ties.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 02:46PM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards