Most people wait for reviews before they gamble on that ticket. But buzz is so big for some shows that they could sell out quickly. If you’d rather take the risk and wait, our reviews of these shows go up shortly after opening at nowtoronto.com/daily.
BILLY TWINKLE: REQUIEM FOR A GOLDEN BOY
Tongues were wagging in 2008-09 when word got out that Ronnie Burkett’s latest creation, about a middle-aged cruise ship puppeteer who puts on a marionette nightclub show, was playing everywhere but Toronto. Thankfully, it’s found a home at the Factory Theatre, where it begins previews this week and opens September 28. factorytheatre.ca.
AIDA
Forget that silly Elton John/Tim Rice musical see the original. Verdi’s masterpiece is the quintessential grand Italian opera, full of spectacle, a huge orchestra and lots of pomp. But what makes it gripping is the love triangle involving an Ethiopian princess who’s loved by an Egyptian military commander, who’s in turn loved by the pharaoh’s daughter. Tim Albery, who recently handled first-time opera composer Rufus Wainwright’s ego, directs, with music director Johannes Debus conducting the COC orchestra and a fine cast that includes Sondra Radvanovsky in the title role (Canada’s Michele Capalbo also sings it). October 2 to November 5 at the Four Seasons. 416-363-8231. coc.ca.
PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT THE MUSICAL
When NOW’s senior theatre writer, Jon Kaplan, came back from London a while back, he raved about this adaptation of the campy movie about three friends travelling on the titular bus through the Australian outback. Now the production – starring Olivier Award nominee Tony Sheldon, Tony nominee Will Swenson and Toronto’s own C. David Johnson and Thom Allison – settles its glitzy, bewigged self down at the Princess of Wales (300 King West) for a very limited run. Note: it can’t be indefinitely extended, since it’s opening on Broadway in spring 2011. Begins October 12. 416-872-1212.