The viral Queer hockey love story that changed TV is about to electrify Toronto theatre lovers

Hockey’s hottest Queer love story is heading from the screen to the stage. Soulpepper Theatre is bringing the viral Canadian show, Heated Rivalry, to life in a limited three-night concert event that’s already in high demand.

Crave’s Heated Rivalry has become a viral sensation for representing Queer love in hockey, a sport typically portrayed as “straight” on TV.

Since the show aired, professional athletes have started coming out to support actor Hudson Williams, who plays Shane Hollander.  

To continue 2SLGBTQIA+ representation on stage, Soulpepper Theatre is presenting the Off-Broadway cult sensation, Heated Rivalry: The Unauthorized Musical Parody, from July 10 to 12.

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Where is this playing?

Director Alan Kliffer has launched this parody in New York, in Montreal for the Just For Laughs Festival, and in the U.K. at the Edinburgh Fringe, sparking an international movement.

Finally, the production has reached Toronto, right in the city’s Soulpepper Theatre, located in the Distillery District at 50 Tank House Lane.

What to expect?

Like the book and the show, Heated Rivalry follows Shane Hollander in his journey from “power centre to power bottom,” according to their website.

Revisit your favourite moments live in the performance.

But Toronto’s version is coming up in a different format than in the rest of the world.

Due to scheduling conflicts, Soulpepper Theatre is presenting it as a stage reading rather than a full production.

“The team is working really hard over the last two weeks to make it possible, because we have a show on stage, and we had to sort of move some things around in order to make sure that the show could happen here,” Artistic Director Paolo Santalucia told Now Toronto.

“Alan, the director and co-creator, was also sort of interested in saying we shouldn’t necessarily have to wait for there to be a full-scale production in order for people to get their hands on experiencing this project.”

So, Santalucia decided that, with this version of the show, there’s a lower lift requirement for production, while still allowing a wonderful performance.

But don’t expect anything less, the performance is still supposed to move the face of theatre: putting Queer stories like those in Heated Rivalry at the forefront.

Why does it matter?

“Sometimes we forget that Queer people operate in every kind of space. We are in the locker rooms, we are in major league sports, we are in banks, we are everywhere,” Santalucia told Now Toronto. “I think, like part of the reason I think Heated Rivalry is so special, because it really reminds us still of the reality of that.”

Santalucia also highlighted that he has yet to see an iconic publicly out FIFA player, despite Toronto being a host country.

“I certainly don’t know of anybody, you know, playing in the World Cup who was a celebrated Queer icon,  and so those two things felt really important to me,” he said.

“We still exist in the framework in which the relationship between Queer identity and major sports is contentious, and so I feel like this show really broke down and has broken down a little bit and really reminded us of the importance of how queer people operate in these spaces,” Santalucia added.

Where can I get tickets?

Demand is already very high, so get your tickets on their website.