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Poster for Heist at the Grand Theatre. iPhoto caption: Poster courtesy of the Grand Theatre.

High-octane crime caper makes Ontario premiere at London’s Grand Theatre

This January, the Grand is diving into the world of diamonds, deals, and deceit with Arun Lakra’s Ocean’s Eleven-inspired Heist.

By Liam Donovan / Jan 10, 2025
theatre aquarius iPhoto caption: The team behind The Nine Lives of Ross Fordham poses for a photo. Photo courtesy of Theatre Aquarius.

Theatre Aquarius’ newest musical weaves a family tapestry out of stories and songs

Police officer Ross Fordham’s grandchildren and great-grandchildren are the talents behind the production, which opens on January 10 at Theatre Aquarius in Hamilton.

By Nathaniel Hanula-James / Jan 9, 2025
Poster for Heist at the Grand Theatre. iPhoto caption: Poster courtesy of the Grand Theatre.

High-octane crime caper makes Ontario premiere at London’s Grand Theatre

This January, the Grand is diving into the world of diamonds, deals, and deceit with Arun Lakra’s Ocean’s Eleven-inspired Heist.

By Liam Donovan / Jan 10, 2025
theatre aquarius iPhoto caption: The team behind The Nine Lives of Ross Fordham poses for a photo. Photo courtesy of Theatre Aquarius.

Theatre Aquarius’ newest musical weaves a family tapestry out of stories and songs

Police officer Ross Fordham’s grandchildren and great-grandchildren are the talents behind the production, which opens on January 10 at Theatre Aquarius in Hamilton.

By Nathaniel Hanula-James / Jan 9, 2025

Call for applications: Publishing and editorial assistant

Intermission Magazine is seeking a dynamic and collaborative individual to join our team.

Jan 6, 2025
musical theatre critics lab iPhoto caption: What Writing Can Do: The 2025 Musical Theatre Critics Lab

Announcing What Writing Can Do: The 2025 Musical Theatre Critics Lab

What Writing Can Do is timed to coincide with the Grand and Theatre Aquarius’ co-production of Waitress, which will serve as a jumping-off point for discussions throughout the Lab.

Jan 3, 2025

Reviews

iPhoto caption: Photographed productions from L to R, top to bottom, with the photographer in brackets: seven methods of killing kylie jenner (Dahlia Katz), Big Stuff (Dahlia Katz), De Profundis (Dahlia Katz), Goblin:Macbeth (Jae Yang), Salesman in China (David Hou), Dana H. (John Lauener), Earworm (Dahlia Katz), Age Is a Feeling (Dahlia Katz), Honey I’m Home (Eden Graham).

Our favourite theatre productions of 2024, in Toronto and beyond

End-of-year lists are personal. When it comes to theatre, the question isn’t really what shows you liked most, but which ones left the strongest imprint, continuing to pinball around in your mind and heart even after the set is gone and the cast no longer recalls their lines.

By Liam Donovan, , Karen Fricker
a christmas story iPhoto caption: A Christmas Story production still by Dahlia Katz.

REVIEW: A Christmas Story feels fresh at Theatre Aquarius

If you want to catch A Christmas Story before it closes, good luck — the show is close to sold out, and with the talent on that stage, it’s not hard to see why.

By Aisling Murphy
Production photo of Bad Dog's Holiday! An Improvised Musical at Factory Theatre. iPhoto caption: Photo by Danelle Jane Tran.

REVIEW: Yes, Holiday! An Improvised Musical really is different every night

Putting aside its opening number and a single proper noun, every word of Bad Dog Theatre’s Dora Award-nominated Holiday! An Improvised Musical has the potential to change from performance to performance.

By Liam Donovan
Production photo from Canadian Stage's Wizard of Oz panto. iPhoto caption: Photo by Dahlia Katz.

REVIEW: Canadian Stage revives the Ross Petty panto with pop songs, puns, and a pinch of Ozdust

Making a case for the panto’s return, The Wizard of Oz is full of local references and charm, and perhaps even some surprise guests to fill audiences with hometown pride.

By Ilana Lucas
Production photo of Titanique at Segal Centre. iPhoto caption: Photo by Marie-Andree Lemire.

REVIEW: Titaníque loves Céline Dion with all its heart

Content quibbles aside, Titaníque’s inarguable accomplishment is musical: What an amazing showcase for a Canadian cast’s vocal chops and capacity to deliver character through song.

By Karen Fricker
iPhoto caption: Photo by Ben Laird.

REVIEW: Twelve Days brings Christmas joy to lunchtime in Calgary 

Watching Twelve Days is reminiscent of opening up the door to a chocolate advent calendar: yes, you know what you’re gonna get, but heck if you don’t enjoy every second of it.

By Eve Beauchamp

Spotlight

aurora browne iPhoto caption: Aurora Browne for Intermission Magazine. Photo by Dahlia Katz.

Spotlight: Aurora Browne

“It’s a joy just to be in the room with a bunch of people,” says Browne, who returns to the stage this fall in The Bidding War at Crow’s Theatre. “I love working. I love theatre. I love the whole process. I love being at the read. I love the coffee and the rehearsal. I love the smell of the theatre. I love the feeling of opening night.”

Written by Anne T. Donahue, Photography by Dahlia Katz
iPhoto caption: Norm Foster in an undated headshot.

Spotlight: Norm Foster

“I'm really proud that people want to see my work and want to see my new stuff,” says Foster, whose new play "Lakefront" plays at Lighthouse Festival Theatre through the end of the summer. “That makes me want to keep writing. Whenever I think, ‘Oh, maybe I’ve written my last play,’ I go, ‘No, I think I've got a few more in me. Let's keep going.’”

By Michael Ross Albert
actor vanessa sears stands on a waterfall in a sparkly blue evening dress. iPhoto caption: Vanessa Sears for Intermission Magazine. Photo by Dahlia Katz.

Spotlight: Vanessa Sears

“If I want to be the most expansive, detailed, versatile artist I can be, the only way to do that is to keep learning, questioning, exploring, and working,” says Sears, currently starring as Juliet in the Stratford Festival’s production of Romeo and Juliet. “If that’s not where the open doors are, then I will go elsewhere.”

Written by Fiona Raye Clarke, Photography by Dahlia Katz
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Artist Perspectives

national ballet of canada iPhoto caption: Production still from The Nutcracker courtesy of the National Ballet of Canada.

Why should you go to the ballet?

My childhood memories of learning to dance were front and centre for me when I attended opening night of The Nutcracker, performed by the National Ballet of Canada at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.

By Martin Austin
iPhoto caption: Photo by Grace Mysak.

Want to see a magic show about race? Wait, what?

You’d be forgiven for the double-take. It’s a fairly common reaction when I tell folks about my work as a magician.

By Shawn DeSouza-Coelho

Why I’m tired of cripface in Toronto theatre

Cripface is when an able-bodied, or able-passing, person performs a disabled experience that isn’t their own. Local theatre companies large and small, indie and established, have engaged in this practice. 

By Sivert Das
sophie rivers iPhoto caption: Writer and theatre artist Sophie Rivers in Yellowknife, N.W.T.

What can Toronto theatre learn from Yellowknife?

Growing up in Toronto, the Northwest Territories were always a distant idea, a place I knew only from colouring in elementary school maps. But over the summer, I came to see Yellowknife in a different light.

By Sophie Rivers

Cake, commuting, and conversation: Here’s what Canadian audiences value when they go to the theatre

This past spring, we invited a group of scholars, artists, and students to gather at the University of Toronto Mississauga to figure out what Canadian audiences want and need from their hosts.

By Signy Lynch, , Kelsey Jacobson

George Bernard Shaw, Dungeons & Dragons, and me

I love George Bernard Shaw. This is my 11th season as an actor at his namesake festival. I think so much of what Shaw wrote could have been written yesterday. But some people aren’t interested in hearing what Shaw has to say to them 74 years after his death.

By Travis Seetoo