All stories by Martha Schabas on BroadwayStars

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

National Ballet’s 2017-18 season keen on shaking things up by Martha Schabas

NBOC announces next year’s lineup plus appointment of newly created associate artistic director position

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 04:27PM
Thursday, January 19, 2017

Alien Creature mercilessly paints multiple shades of sadness by Martha Schabas

Written by late playwright Linda Griffiths, Alien Creature quietly condemns the way free markets push artists to the socio-economic fringe

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 03:06PM
Friday, January 13, 2017

Sequence lacks the depth required of this redolent math-themed show by Martha Schabas

Arun Lakra’s play, which focuses on themes that have been done to death, is ultimately too short on character

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 02:47PM
Friday, January 6, 2017

Choreographer Ohad Naharin on developing the dance language Gaga by Martha Schabas

Israeli choreographer Ohad Naharin is the artistic director of the Batsheva Dance Company, which is about to embark on a four-city Canadian tour

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 02:53PM
Monday, December 19, 2016

The top 10 dance shows that moved Toronto in 2016 by Martha Schabas

Works new and old, both classical and contemporary, graced Toronto this year and made an impression in more ways than one

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 02:52PM
Monday, December 12, 2016

Music and context cohere in National Ballet's The Nutcracker by Martha Schabas

National Ballet of Canada’s 21st staging of the Christmas classic sets the story in czarist Russia, and digs up its folkloric undertones

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 12:06PM
Monday, November 14, 2016

National Ballet’s Cinderella lacks nuance and innovation by Martha Schabas

Cinderella’s integrated choreography-comedy gets tiresome quickly

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 03:58PM
Friday, November 11, 2016

To stay relevant, the National Ballet of Canada must challenge audiences by Martha Schabas

Ballet has long been a vital art form that moves the cultural conversation forward. As the National Ballet of Canada launches its 65th season, Martha Schabas asks how the company can maintai…

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 04:39PM
Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Toronto Dance Theatre journeys through Christopher House’s career by Martha Schabas

Toronto Dance Theatre’s Animated has four pieces from different periods of Christopher House’s career

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 04:22PM
Friday, October 28, 2016

Emily Molnar, the triple threat Canadian ballet desperately needs by Martha Schabas

The visionary choreographer and dancer at the helm of Ballet BC has recently been appointed to the rank of Member of the Order of Canada

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 10:41AM
Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Bolivian theatre group to stage Latin take on Hamlet at Toronto festival by Martha Schabas

Latin adaptations of Western classics, including the Bard’s, reflect a sense of community – and the need to speak out

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 02:43PM
Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Toronto's Fall for Dance North brings in the best to attract new audiences by Martha Schabas

An ambitious Toronto festival, featuring the best and brightest in the world, looks to cultivate a new audience

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 10:58AM
Monday, September 5, 2016

Hannah Moscovitch’s Bunny questions double standards of consent by Martha Schabas

Moral blind spots are a primary focus of the new play, provoking uncomfortable questions about the realm of sex

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 03:15PM
Friday, August 26, 2016

National Ballet’s apprentice program takes the best from around the world by Martha Schabas

Ten apprentices will join the National Ballet of Canada this fall at the start of what they hope will be long and rewarding careers

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 03:07PM

Robert Binet's immersive ballets reinvent a form long in need of change by Martha Schabas

At just 25, choreographer Robert Binet dares to dream with his new blend of modern dance and classical technique

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 01:36PM
Friday, July 29, 2016

On Toronto’s Church Street, discover a hidden history of Canadian dance by Martha Schabas

Despite its low profile, Dance Collection Danse has an amazing story to tell

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 03:09PM

How the National Ballet's youngest principal dancer soared up its ranks by Martha Schabas

Harrison James is young, but his verve has been rewarded with a rapid rise within the National Ballet

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 01:29PM
Friday, June 17, 2016

Giselle: A riveting classic from the National Ballet – just ignore the outmoded gender commentary by Martha Schabas

Giselle often feels like two different productions back to back, and it’s the ravishing ghost of the titular character that makes Act 2 so pure and piercing

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 10:23AM
Friday, June 3, 2016

National Ballet's huge Le Petit Prince show has been years in the making by Martha Schabas

The adaptation of the classic French novella is the National Ballet’s first full-length commission in more than a decade

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 02:29PM
Friday, May 27, 2016

Marienbad starts strong but loses emotional tension by the end by Martha Schabas

Marienbad was intriguing from the outset on account of the collaboration between a renowned veteran choreographer and a young, ubiquitous Toronto playwright

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 03:12PM
Monday, May 9, 2016

Choreographers dance around the issue of gender imbalance in ballet by Martha Schabas

Is Ballet BC’s all-female program of choreographers the exception to the rule? Few of them seem to be interested in discussing the gender politics

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 03:10PM
Friday, April 22, 2016

Dancer Santee Smith offers a new way to consider indigenous women’s issues by Martha Schabas

By assembling a team of internationally renowned indigenous women artists, she’s put together an interdisciplinary show called Re-Quickening, which opens at Toronto’s Fleck Dance Theatre…

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 03:06PM
Sunday, April 17, 2016

Toronto’s Evan McKie completes ‘holy trinity’ of global ballet stardom by Martha Schabas

National Ballet of Canada principal dancer triumphed in Russia performing as Albrecht in Giselle

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 09:06PM
Friday, April 15, 2016

Singular Bodies beautifully exploits the overlap between dance and visual effect by Martha Schabas

One of the most exciting aspects of Singular Bodies, the Toronto Dance Theatre’s current show – a collaboration between 10 dancers and 11 local visual artists – is its steadfast minima…

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 01:25PM
Monday, April 11, 2016

What Nietzsche’s love of Carmen can say about his hatred of women by Martha Schabas

In the Canadian Opera Company’s upcoming production in Toronto, the title role will be played by two rising international stars with quite diverging takes on the role

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 03:23PM
Friday, March 25, 2016

Lucy Kirkwood’s acclaimed Chimerica explores the power of a photograph by Martha Schabas

The play, by the young, critically lauded British playwright, is about the famous Tank Man photo from the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 03:17PM
Thursday, March 10, 2016

National Ballet of Canada: A pairing of Balanchine and Ekman by Martha Schabas

The National Ballet’s Mixed Spring Program features two Balanchine ballets, Rubies and The Four Temperaments, alongside Ekman’s Cacti

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 03:02PM
Thursday, March 3, 2016

Canadian Rachael McLaren on dancing with New York’s Alvin Ailey company by Martha Schabas

Canadian dancer Rachael McLaren she faced repeated rejections from the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School. She moved to New York and was invited to join the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 2…

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 03:10PM

National Ballet of Canada’s La Sylphide is a magical, almost disorienting, experience by Martha Schabas

It has a hauntingly timeless quality – the story tragic, ineluctable, and then so excruciatingly familiar

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 02:47PM
Thursday, February 18, 2016

Badke is an ebullient display of verve and stamina by Martha Schabas

Using formations that shift between solos, duets and unified ensemble work, the piece has a delightfully charming messiness

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 01:09PM
Tuesday, February 16, 2016

National Ballet of Canada goes traditional for 2016-17 by Martha Schabas

The season full of opulent story ballets and repertoire classics, then contemporary work by Wayne McGregor, John Neumeier and Jerome Robbins

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 12:00PM

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