As I write this column, we are about to bid farewell to two extraordinary musicals that started their runs in September and were extended until November 2 – the Crow’s Theatre/Musical Stage Company/Soulpepper production of Dave Malloy’s Octet at Crow’s, and Garner Theatre Productions’ Bright Star presented by Mirvish Productions at the CAA Theatre. Wildly different shows, they have one thing in common: they are showcases for some of the top musical theatre talent in the country.
Octet (I interviewed music director Ryan deSouza in the Sept/Oct WholeNote) is sung completely a cappella and demands an extremely high skill level from the eight performers. Bright Star, on the other hand, an award-winning 2016 bluegrass musical created by Steve Martin (yes, that Steve Martin) and Edie Brickell, has been reimagined by Garner Theatre Productions as a vehicle for actor/musician storytelling. The 14-member company play at least one, and up to five different instruments each, as well as acting, singing and dancing.
As these two shows finish their runs, the richness only increases with early seasonal offerings joining old favourites and new works from early November through the end of December.
& Juliet: For older kids and those who enjoy a clever jukebox musical, & Juliet began its North American life here in Toronto, right after COVID when we were all longing for a life affirming experience. Following that sold-out run in Toronto and great success on Broadway, it is coming back to the Princess of Wales Theatre in a new all-Canadian production featuring some well known Canadian performers. Vanessa Sears (Juliet) who has been juggling leads in Shakespeare at the Stratford Festival with leads in musicals across the country – most recently Sonya in Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 for Crow’s and Mirvish this summer. George Krissa (Shakespeare) is also fresh off an appearance in Great Comet as the suave scoundrel Anatole, and is currently wooing audiences in Bright Star as young southerner Jimmy Ray Dobbs.
The hook to & Juliet is the question of what would happen if Juliet didn’t die? The fun for Shakespeare fans in the audience includes Shakespeare onstage, with his wife Anne Hathaway asking that very question, and demanding this change to the story. The songs – all from the catalogue of prolific songwriter/producer Max Martin and folded into the story by Canadian David West Read – keep things light and lively as the story twists and turns. (Dec 3 - March 22, 2026).
www.mirvish.com/shows/and-juliet
Narnia: For children (now adults) who grew up on the magical tales of C.S. Lewis, Bad Hats Theatre (with Crow’s and Soulpepper) presents the Toronto premiere of their actor/musician version of Narnia that debuted in Winnipeg two years ago. The third in a trilogy of magical musicals, Narnia follows Bad Hats’ Dora Award-winning previous creations, Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland, in promising a new but recognizable embodiment of a beloved story: in this case of four children who travel through a wardrobe into a magical land trapped in the world of winter, with music as the vehicle of magic, for the characters and for the story as a whole. Nov 18 - Dec 28. www.soulpepper.ca/performances/narnia
Short November runs
Musical Stage Company’s Uncovered series at Koerner Hall focuses on popular songs reinvented from a theatrical and storytelling perspective. The 2025 edition explores Madonna and Cher, with Kevin Wong as music director, arranger and conductor, Kaylee Harwood directing, and with Divine Brown, Sara Farb, Jackie Richardson, Steven Page, Suzy Wilde among the talented interpreters onstage.
Also using a biographical lens, Jonathan Larsen’s early musical tick…tick…BOOM! will be presented November 7-15 by young company Bowtie Productions at the Alumnae Theatre featuring a number of recent Dora Award winning performers.
And if you prefer music of the Hollywood golden age, acclaimed vocalist Adi Braun brings to life songs of her three favourite blondes – Doris Day, Rosemary Clooney and Peggy Lee — at the Old Mill’s jazz lounge on November 14.
December’s seasonal offerings
Canadian Stage, now in its second year of presenting what used to be known as the “Ross Petty Panto” in association with the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres, will this year be providing fun twists on the well-known legend of Robin Hood, including current tunes, lots of pointed comedy, and a generous helping of silliness. With a script by Matt Murray and directed this year by Mary Francis Moore (Artistic Director of Theatre Aquarius), and a cast including winsome Julia Pulo as Robin and wickedly funny Damien Atkins as Prince John, this Robin Hood promises fun for families and fans of all ages. Nov 28 - Jan 4.
Traditional and not so traditional pantos can be found around the province as well, with Drayton Entertainment serving up Cinderella: The Panto at King’s Wharf Theatre and St Jacob’s Country Playhouse, and the award-winning Tweed & Company, in Tweed & Bancroft, presenting a new take on Peter Pan with Hook! featuring that well known pirate captain and the crocodile who longs to eat him.
Two other big family musicals appear at various locations around the province. Shrek: The Musical, inspired by the monster film hit from DreamWorks, takes the stage at both Toronto’s Young People’s Theatre and Drayton’s Hamilton Family Theatre in Cambridge; and Disney’s Frozen takes the stage at both London’s Grand Theatre and Hamilton’s Theatre Aquarius.
Five more to note
Nov 16 at 1:30 and 4pm the Toronto Symphony Orchestra takes on The Composer Is Dead – a hilarious whodunnit for the whole family with music by Nathaniel Stookey and text by Lemony Snicket. Who did the composer in? the shifty string section, or maybe the treacherous trombones? There’s only one way to find out. Roy Thomson Hall, 60 Simcoe St. www.tso.ca
Nov 30 at 7pm: Stratford-based INNERchamber presents a new theatrical concert, From the Salons of Paris. Derek Kwan, singer & actor; Anna Ronai, piano; and the INNERchamber String Quartet do the musical honours. Factory 163, 163 King St., Stratford.
www.innerchamber.ca
Nov 23 7:30: Music Toronto presents Tom Allen & Friends in J.S. Bach’s Long Walk in the Snow, which has been doing some travelling itself. It weaves music from Buxtehude to Tom Waits together with spoken word, to animate a fascinating chapter in the young Bach’s life. St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, Jane Mallett Theatre, 27 Front St. E. www.music-toronto.com/concerts/muse1-bach .
Nov 21 7:30: North Wind Concerts and the Toronto Silent Film Festival combine forces at Heliconian Hall for In the Key of Cocteau. Alison Melville and Ben Grossman, well-known from their Toronto Consort Days, are joined by Colin Savage and Debashis Sinha, in providing an improvised live score for Jean Cocteau’s 1932 surrealist film The Blood of a Poet. www.torontosilentfilmfestival.com/special-screenings.html
And finally, Nov 21 - 30 is the 38th iteration of Native Earth’s annual new works festival, Weesageechak Begins to Dance. Three shows caught my theatrical eye. How Bono saved my life (ThreeTimes) by Sonya Ballantyne (Nov. 26, 27) with Bono (of U2 fame) a character in the story. Second, mi history due no es única by Jessica Esmeralda, a folk/horror tale, features innovative saxophone loops as a storytelling tool (Nov 26, 28). And ʔa·kinq̓uku by Samantha Sutherland, a dance solo created in the Pakitinam Choreographers Circle with Raven Spirit Dance, explores the life cycle of a destructive wild fire (Nov 28, 30).
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Jennifer Parr is a Toronto-based director, dramaturge, fight director and acting coach, brought up from a young age on a rich mix of musicals, Shakespeare and new Canadian plays.
