Musical-packed December kicks off bustling winter stage season

‘Moulin Rouge!’ at Mirvish, ‘Master Plan’ at Soulpepper

Robert Petkoff as Harold Zidler

Robert Petkoff as Harold Zidler (Photo Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman/MurphyMade)

Moulin Rouge! The Musical

CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre

Now – Sun., Jan. 12; from $79

One of the more decadent Broadway spectacles of the last few years, this Baz Luhrmann adaptation pairs a grab-bag-style jukebox musical score (including radio hits released after the 2001 film, such as Katy Perry’s Firework and Sia’s Chandelier) with dazzling, conflagrant design. A face-melter, we bet.

Craze

Craze

Tarragon Theatre

Now – Sun., Dec. 15; from $72

This Tarragon world premiere has collaborative bones. Beyond being a co-production with Modern Times Stage Company in association with Theatre ARTaud, it’s co-written by Rouvan Silogix and Rafeh Mahmud, who recently worked together on The Caged Bird Sings, a daring Rumi adaptation at the Aga Khan Museum. The surrealist play reportedly begins with a fierce storm and stars Augusto Bitter, Ali Kazmi, Kwaku Okyere, Lisa Ryder and Louisa Zhu. Tarragon artistic director Mike Payette to direct.

Master Plan

The Master Plan

Soulpepper Theatre

Tue., Nov. 26 – Sun., Dec. 29; $85

With the Eglinton LRT still unopened, it’s unsurprising that this five-N Michael Healey satire about Toronto’s inability to get things done — and, specifically, Google’s failure to build a smart city on the waterfront — was such a success at Crow’s Theatre last year. Maximalist visuals, including great projection design by Amelia Scott, helped. As did Chris Abraham’s propulsive direction and the rock-solid seven-person cast, which will incorporate three new faces for this Soulpepper remount: Rose Napoli, Tanja Jacobs and Healey himself.

Oraculum

Oraculum

Buddies in Bad Times Theatre

Sun., Dec. 1 – Sat., Dec. 14; from $13

It’s no secret that theatre audiences can sometimes feel a bit muted. But we doubt that’ll be the case at this collaboration between Denim and Pythia, two of Canada’s premier drag artists. Revolving around an online psychic reading website, the piece will use performance, puppetry and projection to shed light on themes of gender and spirituality.

Wizard of Oz

The Wizard of Oz: The Toto-ly Awesome Family Musical

Winter Garden Theatre

Fri., Dec. 6 – Sun., Jan. 5; from $45

Because Ross Petty’s annual panto had its final flight in 2022, Canadian Stage is filling in the gap, with Petty himself on board as “executive producer emeritus.” This Wizard of Oz riff by Matt Murray is a tested commodity, having already premiered in 2018. Ted Dykstra is set to direct this iteration — and the wonderful cast mixes well-established performers like Dan Chameroy and Vanessa Sears with up-and-comers like Julia Pulo, the production’s Dorothy, who made a memorable turn as Anne Boleyn in Mirvish’s Six last year (and will return to a Mirvish stage in Britta Johnson’s Life After this spring). Could make a nice double feature with the Wicked movie.

Holiday An Improvised Musical

Holiday! An Improvised Musical

Factory Theatre

Wed., Dec. 11 – Sun., Dec. 22; from $35

This Bad Dog Theatre production has already had a couple of brief test runs, even managing to pick up a handful of Dora Award nominations last year. Now, the veteran improvised comedy group is bringing the show — which takes playful inspiration from Stephen Sondheim’s Company — to the Factory Theatre Studio to celebrate the holiday season. Created and directed by Jan Caruana, with a cast of 10.

Alligator Pie

Alligator Pie

Soulpepper Theatre

Wed., Dec. 11 – Sun., Dec. 29; from $30

Each year, the Soulpepper Academy gives five emerging theatre artists a chance to develop their craft through 26 weeks of paid training. The 2024 cohort — Alicia Barban, Belinda Corpuz, Ben Kopp, Ruaridh MacDonald and Haneul Yi — is music-oriented; they’ll in turn make up the cast of this family-friendly musical based on the children’s poems of Dennis Lee, which was itself devised by former Academy members back in 2012.

Into the Woods

Into the Woods

Koerner Hall

Sat., Dec. 28 – Tue., Dec. 31; from $75

The Royal Conservatory of Music has recently taken to presenting star-studded concert versions of Sondheim classics. This year’s iteration looks to be as stacked as ever: music directed by Paul Sportelli, the oft-produced fairy-tale musical will star Tess Benger, Gabi Epstein, Sara Farb and other experts in the tricky art of Sondheim performance.

Last Landscape

Last Landscape

Buddies in Bad Times Theatre

Sun., Jan. 12 – Sun., Jan. 26; from $13

This Bad New Days production promises to blend clownish irreverence with dystopian darkness. Conceived and directed by artistic director Adam Paolozza (and produced in association with Common Boots Theatre), Last Landscape will use the company’s idiosyncratic brand of physical theatre as a launching pad for a meditation on ecological grief and interspecies care.

Wights

Wights

Crow’s Theatre

Tue., Jan. 7 – Sun., Feb. 9; from $76

This new Crow’s Theatre commission by Toronto-born, New York-based playwright Liz Appel is set at Yale, where an English professor is interviewing to lead a new initiative called the “Center for Reparative Thought and Justice.” It promises to be an intriguing companion piece to last season’s Heroes of the Fourth Turning, which also gestured at the considerable darkness lying beneath the sheeny surface of the American higher education system. Chris Abraham to direct.

La Reine-garcon

La Reine-garcon

Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts

Fri., Jan. 31 – Sat., Feb. 15; from $35

The first-ever co-commission between the Canadian Opera Company and Opéra de Montréal, this new opera by Julien Bilodeau and Michel Marc Bouchard centres the historic Queen Christine of Sweden, whom her father raised as a boy during the Scientific Revolution. Directed by Angela Konrad; stars Kirsten MacKinnon and Kirsten LeBlanc.

People, Places and Things

People, Places and Things

Coal Mine Theatre

Sun., Feb. 9 – Sun., Mar. 2; from $63

The GTA has played witness to a surprising amount of work by English playwright Duncan Macmillan recently, from his adaptation of Rosmersholm (at Crow’s Theatre in September) to his solo show Every Brilliant Thing (coming to Brampton’s Rose Theatre from Nov. 27 to 30). This rehab-set 2015 drama about addiction will add to the pile when it makes its Canadian Premiere at the intimate Coal Mine Theatre under the direction of Diana Bentley, one of the space’s co-founders. Beyond featuring a hearty eight-person cast, the production has Alyssa Martin, one of the city’s most exciting contemporary dance artists, on board as movement director.

Fat Ham

Fat Ham

Berkeley Street Theatre

Sat., Feb. 15 – Sun., Mar. 9; from $34

After a strong High Park Hamlet this August, Canadian Stage is giving the story another whirl with this Pulitzer-winning adaptation by James Ijames. Philip Akin’s production of the cookout-set reimagining will star Peter Fernandes, who’s coming off a string of juicy comic roles in productions like The Bidding War and The Master Plan.

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