Glenn Sumi

"You have too many opinions," a high school bully once told me. Guilty! I've been writing abt the arts for more than 25 years. Now that my regular outlet is dying a painful death, I'm doing it here.

Theatre

Review: The Welkin packs a wallop

Weyni Mengesha’s powerful production of Lucy Kirkwood’s period play deserves to be seen and savoured multiple times

Theatre

Reviews: Bachelor Man, Connections

A little-known Canadian play about Chinese-Canadians in 1920s Toronto gets remounted, and a new musical set at an airport shows promise

Theatre

Bringing historic Asian-Canadian play Bachelor Man back to the stage

Veteran theatre artist Brenda Kamino co-directs and performs in Winston Kam’s play more than 30 years after she starred in the premiere

Theatre

Reviews: two indie theatre companies make their marks

The summer season winds down with strong productions of Oleanna and Pigeon!

Members only

Theatre

Shakespeare riffs x3: Tiff’ny of Athens, Heratio and Mechanically Inclined

Three late summer productions use the Bard as a jumping off point; plus: a ticket giveaway to the new Chelsea Woolley play

Theatre

Reviews: Old Times, Rainbow on Mars, SummerWorks

The summer season winds down with some Pinter, some performance art and the announcement of a new monthly sketch series

Film

TIFF 2025 films for theatre and comedy lovers

From docs about John Candy and the famous 1972 Godspell to two takes on Hamlet, there are lots of stage-related movies at this year's festival

Comedy

Why is comic Andrew Barr running 100km on a treadmill for 12 hours?

The stand-up is raising funds for the rehab centre that helped him get clean and sober

Books

Theatre-related reading: Bring the House Down, Theater Kid, Happy Days

I review Charlotte Runcie’s very entertaining novel about a scandal at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival

Paid-members only

Theatre

Setting the stage for great theatre

Set designers Julie Fox, Joshua Quinlan and Tim Hatley discuss transferring shows to bigger houses, West End vs. Broadway costs and the ubiquitous use of video projections

Theatre

Joseph Ziegler, plus heading Back to the Future and visiting the Hamilton Fringe

I remember the gifted actor and director, and review a disappointing movie-to-stage musical as well as three shows at the Hamilton Fringe Festival

Theatre

Great Comet soars at the Royal Alex

Chris Abraham’s hugely successful production of the Dave Malloy musical transfers to the most elegant theatre in the city, with gorgeous results

Out-of-town Theatre

Review: Steel Magnolias blossoms in Port Hope

Even if you know the movie, you’ll enjoy watching six of the city’s finest actors deliver some good ol’ fashioned Southern comfort

Theatre

Outdoor theatre reviews: Romeo and Juliet, The 39 Steps

This summer’s al fresco offerings include a delightful adaptation of a spy classic and an atmospheric version of a Shakespeare tragedy

Out-of-town Theatre

Shakespeare x2: Macbeth and The Winter’s Tale at Stratford

One of these productions is exquisite, while the other is full of sound, fury and mock motorcycles, signifying not a helluva lot

Members only

Fringe Festival

Final Fringe 2025 post: Zeitgeist, Alpha, Mocktails and a free Fringe-themed book giveaway

Including some last-minute reviews, a list of the Fringe's official winning productions, and a Fringe-related book giveaway

Fringe Festival

Mid-festival Fringe report

My favourite shows (so far), how the venues are working for me, and why the festival is so important to the Toronto theatre scene

Out-of-town Theatre

Bonus Canada Day post: My first trip to the Blyth Festival

I review the world premiere of Emma Donoghue's The Wind Coming Over the Sea and a revival of Drew Hayden Taylor's Sir John A: Acts of a Gentrified Ojibway Rebellion

Paid-members only

Theatre

Thoughts on the 2025 Dora Award winners (and losers)

The night's big winners included Mahabharata, People, Places and Things and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

Out-of-town Theatre

Naughty or nice: Stratford Festival musicals pay off big time

The sunny Annie and the darkly funny Dirty Rotten Scoundrels both deliver first-rate entertainment

Members only

Theatre

10 artists to watch at the 2025 Toronto Fringe

Some of them have decades of theatre experience behind them, while others have just a few shows. These gifted artists and their work are worth catching at this year's festival.

Theatre

Stratford’s new Anne of Green Gables is full of wonders

Plus a review of another Canadian classic, David French's Leaving Home, and two Luminato shows

Comedy

Spilling tea with Pride-a-Palooza headliner Andrew Johnston

L.A.-based Canadian comic sounds off on Netflix specials, TikTok and that controversial CBC Arts article featuring mostly Americans

Musicals

Musicals reviews: After the Rain, Beetlejuice, and a new era for Musical Stage Co.

Suzy Wilde proves she's wildly talented, while Beetlejuice scares up some big laughs and Michael Rubinoff takes the reins at Canada's largest not-for-profit musical theatre company

Theatre

Women talking: Review of The 52 Live at Luminato

Plus other stage highlights at the annual multidisciplinary arts and cultural festival, which kicks off this week