The Devil Inside arrives from across the pond to the Toronto stage

The Devil Inside–a Tapestry Opera , Scottish Opera, and Music Theatre Wales co-production–is a new opera that explores weighty themes. James and Richard seek shelter in a mansion while lost in the mountains. The mysterious old man who lives there persuades them to buy a bottle containing a magical imp that can grant any wish. There’s only one catch: the bottle was forged in hell, and it is cursed.  Anyone who dies while still the owner of the bottle is damned to eternal hell.

The tale is librettist Louise Welsh and composer Stuart MacRae adaptation of a short story by Robert Louis Stevenson  called “The Bottle Imp.” Continue reading Review: The Devil Inside (Tapestry Opera) →

The Space Between is impressive effort from Simeon Taole, now playing on the Toronto stage

The Space Between by talented emerging playwright and filmmaker Simeon Taole is a coming-of-age love story. Produced by Cinematoscape, this autobiographical tale is told against the backdrop of the collapse of apartheid South Africa. Mr. Taole is clear about the fact that this is a love story, not a piece about politics. Continue reading Review: The Space Between (Cinematoscape & North York Arts) →

LOT brings Anything Goes to the stage, delivering a night of pizzazz to Toronto audiences

What do you do when the girl of your dreams decides to marry someone else? Why, stow away aboard her cruise ship and enlist the help of a lovable gangster and an evangelist turned lounge singer to split them up of course. And so begins Anything Goes, the 1934 musical by Cole Porter. The Lower Ossington Theatre‘s (LOT) 2016 production used period singing, costumes, and dancing to take us right into the glamorous style of the dirty 30’s. Continue reading Review: Anything Goes (Lower Ossington Theatre) →

Tapestry Opera previews new Canadian opera works in Toronto in Songbook VI

Tapestry Songbook VI was very much like a series of opera trailers; teasers that left you wishing that Canadian new opera were performed in this city as often as Hollywood blockbusters. Continue reading Review: Songbook VI (Tapestry Opera) →

The Canadian Opera Company remounts its production of Wagner’s Siegfried in Toronto

The opening strains of Siegfried by Richard Wagner are deceptively quiet. The Canadian Opera Company orchestra’s interpretation of the sinuous and furtive marriage between rumbling timpani and hollow reeds allowed the foreboding drama of the penultimate installment of Der Ring Des Niebelungen (The Ring Cycle) to creep into our senses. The orchestra in this work is no less a character than any of the larger than life voices on stage, palpably breathing in tandem with the sweeping vocal lines for which this work is known.

Opera lovers love The Ring Cycle and expect a lot. François Girard’s production, last performed by the COC in 2006, met every inch of those expectations. Continue reading Review: Siegfried (Canadian Opera Company) →