Toronto is located in central Canada’s province of Ontario and has a population of 2.48 million people. (To learn more about this wonderful city, visit their official website: http://www.city.toronto.on.ca/)
Home of Canada’s Second City comedy club http://www.secondcity.com/, Canada’s Wonderland (theme park), major shopping centres, boutiques and markets and some of the world’s best theatre, Toronto has something for everyone.
Audiences will find venues offering musicals, plays, dance performances, sketch comedy and improv., symphony concerts and classical soloists, touring concerts (bands, solo artists, choirs), puppetry and a plethora of street musicians and performers both in the subway and on street corners.
Toronto has hosted many of Broadway’s (and Off-Broadway’s) finest musicals including:
Cats
Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat (starring Donny Osmond)
Miss Saigon
Les Miserables
Beauty and the Beast
Phantom of the Opera
Crazy for You
Mama Mia (currently playing – Royal Alexandra theatre through September 28th)
The Lion King (currently playing – Princess of Wales theatre through September 28th)
Sweeney Todd (currently playing – Bluma Appel Theatre)
The Producers (coming next season)
Aida (coming to the Canon theatre from May 7-31st, 2003)
Sweet Charity (starring Marisa Tomei) will have a Toronto run before it heads to Broadway in August of 2003.
Toronto boasts a variety of wonderful theatres and concert halls including:
Roy Thomson Hall (and Massey Hall) http://www.roythomson.com/
Roy Thomson Hall features many classical music concerts including symphony orchestras, solo artists and The Mormon Tabernacle Choir while Massey Hall is proud to present artists with a more contemporary flair like Engelbert Humperdinck and Aretha Franklin.
The Princess of Wales theatre http://www.mirvish.com/
The Royal Alexandra theatre http://www.mirvish.com/
The Pantages theatre
The Elgin theatre
The Winter Garden theatre centre
Toronto Dance theatre http://www.tdt.org/
Canadian Opera Company http://www.coc.ca/ “Madama Butterfly” opens March 28th
Shaw Festival http://shawfest.sympatico.ca (2003 season includes “Three Sisters” and “Blood Relatives”)
Toronto also hosts a fringe festival, featuring performing artists, musicians, actors, dancers and everything from traditional to innovative to edgy. Toronto’s fringe hits the streets this July from the 2nd to the 13th. For more information on Toronto’s fringe festival, check their website: http://fringetoronto.com/
Another Toronto event taking place in the summer is the Summer Works Theatre Festival. For more information on this event, visit: http://www.summerworks.ca/
Although more known for Shakespeare and traditional theatrical productions, Stratford Ontario, a short drive from Toronto, parallels Stratford on Avon in London, England. Recent musicals include “The King and I”. To find out about current and upcoming performances, visit their website: http://www.stratford-festival.on.ca/
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