Category Archives: Reviews

Scary Dead Broke

Posted on July 11, 2022 by barczablog

I saw Will King’s darkly comic Dead Broke today at the Toronto Fringe. I was blown away by King’s first play From the Water in December 2018, amazingly good for a first play. This one is better, unfolding in a … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Reviews | Tagged Calvin Petersen, Claire Shenstone-Harris, Courtney Keir, Dead Broke, Elle Reimer, Gordon Harper, Will King | Leave a comment

TSO + Rajaton = ABBA

Posted on June 30, 2022 by barczablog

This week the Toronto Symphony under their pops conductor Steven Reineke presented three concerts of the music of ABBA featuring Rajaton, the Finnish vocal ensemble. While they describe themselves as an a cappella ensemble –singing their vocals accompanied—it was electrifying … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Music and musicology, Popular music & culture, Reviews | Tagged ABBA, Rajaton, Steven Reineke, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, TSO | Leave a comment

TOT: A Waltz Dream

Posted on June 20, 2022 by barczablog

Insights sometimes sneak up on you. I was blind-sided by one today watching the Toronto Operetta Theatre Canadian premiere production of Oscar Straus’ A Waltz Dream at St Lawrence Centre. TOT play an important role offering local artists a place … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Dance, theatre & musicals, Opera, Reviews | Tagged A Waltz Dream, Alexandra Weintraub, Amy Moodie, Andrea Nunez, Brittany Stewart, Derek Bate, Elizabeth Beeler, Gregory Finney, Guillermo Silva-Marin, Karina Bray, Opera in Concert, Oscar Straus, Scott Rumble, Summer Opera Lyric Theatre, The Shop Around the Corner, Toronto Operetta Theatre | Leave a comment

Joyful Gimeno + Virtuosic TSO

Posted on June 17, 2022 by barczablog

The title of tonight’s performance by Toronto Symphony was “Gimeno + Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy”, a celebratory concert. It’s the TSO’s centennial season and a perfect way to bring Gustavo Gimeno’s first in-person season as music director to a conclusion. … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews | 1 Comment

Amazing Immersive Sweeney Todd from TIFT

Posted on June 11, 2022 by barczablog

I’m never going to see a better Sweeney Todd than the one I saw tonight from Talk is Free Theatre at the Neighbourhood Food Hub, Glen Rhodes Campus. Wow. Each night there are just 44 seats available, a cohort providing … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Dance, theatre & musicals, Opera, Reviews | Tagged Andrew Prashad, Carol Kane, Cyrus Lane, Dan Rutzen, Glynis Ranney, Jeff Lillico, Michael Torontow, Mitchell Cushman, Stephen Sondheim, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Talk is Free Theatre, Tess Benger, TIFT | 2 Comments

From the Met: Jocelyn and Dean create a Hamlet

Posted on June 5, 2022 by barczablog

Adapting a play into an opera can be fascinating work, especially when it’s as well-known a play as Hamlet. I’ve seen several attempts to turn this play into something else including a couple of musicals, an opera long ago, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Dance, theatre & musicals, Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews | Tagged Allan Clayton, Barbara Hannigan, Brenda Rae, Brett Dean, Canadian Stage, Claude Debussy, Giuseppe Verdi, Hamlet, John Relyea, Matthew Jocelyn, Metropolitan Opera, Neil Armfield, New Creations, Nicholas Carter, Otello, Rod Gilfry, Sarah Connolly, Stephane Mallarme, Thomas Ades, Toronto Symphony, William Burden, Zachary Woolfe | Leave a comment

Singulières in Toronto

Posted on June 4, 2022 by barczablog

Singulières is a piece of theatre about single women in Québec, although the most remarkable things about the show are not what I expected. Five women fill the stage of Crow’s Guloien Theatre with vibrant life, sometimes throbbing with joy, … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Architecture & Design, Dance, theatre & musicals, Reviews | Tagged Alexandre Fecteau, Ariane Sauvé, Billy Bergeron, David B Ricard, Singulières, Théâtre Français de Toronto | Leave a comment

A Tafelmusik Tribute to Jeanne Lamon

Posted on June 3, 2022 by barczablog

Tonight I watched a Tafelmusik concert recorded in April, celebrating the life of Jeanne Lamon. I knew the curated experience from Alison Mackay and Christina Mahler would be meaningful, and they exceeded expectation. R.H. Thomson narrated a kind of documentary … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged Alison Mackay, Barbara Willis Sweete, Brett Polegato, Bruno Weil, Christina Mahler, Ivars Taurins, Jeanne Lamon, Julia Wedman, R.H. Thomson, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra | 2 Comments

RUR A Torrent of Ideas

Posted on May 29, 2022 by barczablog

Tapestry Opera and OCAD University have a new site-specific opera on display. I chose the verb carefully given that many think of the medium as something one hears, when its tradition has often been one of spectacle, design, the Deus … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Dance, theatre & musicals, Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews | Tagged Danielle Buonaiuto, Gregory Oh, Keith Klassen, Krisztina Szabo, Michel Mori, Nicolas Billon, Nicole Lizée, OCADU, RUR A Torrent of Light, Scott Belluz, Tapestry Opera | 1 Comment

Mind-boggling Mother of Us All

Posted on May 23, 2022 by barczablog

It was excellent, this Canadian premiere of The Mother of Us All, Virgil Thomson’s setting of Gertrude Stein’s poetic libretto. The opera tells us about Susan B Anthony starring Meghan Lindsay in the title role, presented under the auspices of … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews | Tagged Alfred Hitchcock, Daniel Webster, Dion Mazerolle, Evan Korbut, Gertrude Stein, Guillermo Silva-Marin, Holly Chaplin, Joshua Clemenger, Kate Carver, Madeline Cooper, Meghan Lindsay, Robert Cooper, Stewart Hamilton, Susan B Anthony, Virgil Thomson, Voicebox Opera in Concert | 2 Comments