Articles written by Mike Mackenzie

Beyond Eden has been in the works for twenty years, according to creator and writer Bruce Ruddell. It tells an important story in Canada's history.

Jan 23, 2010 - Mike Mackenzie

One Good Marriage received its world premiere in Toronto a few years ago, and is one of a handful of Canadian plays that have seen the light of day south of the border.

Oct 25, 2009 - Mike Mackenzie

It's hard not to love Evil Dead: The Musical. What started out as a Fringe Festival Show in Toronto has made the leap to Off-Broadway, and now it's arrived in Vancouver.

Oct 25, 2009 - Mike Mackenzie

It can be pretty baffling to produce your first show, whether it's a new work or one that audiences know. Here are some tips to make things easier.

Oct 19, 2009 - Mike Mackenzie

Norm Foster has been dubbed "Canada's most produced playwright" and it's really hard to understand why.

Oct 19, 2009 - Mike Mackenzie

It has been a rough 24 hours for the Vancouver Playhouse - first reeling from the death of Lloyd Nicholson, and the next day having to open a very difficult play.

Oct 16, 2009 - Mike Mackenzie

The summer weather has arrived in Vancouver, and despite the warm temperatures outside, things are heating up in the theatres as the summer theatre season begins.

Jun 4, 2009 - Mike Mackenzie

The Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre should be commended for its 10th Anniversary production, and for producing Rodgers and Hammerstein's Flower Drum Song.

Jun 1, 2009 - Mike Mackenzie

It's easy to see why the Arts Club Theatre Company is Vancouver's largest and most popular theatre company.

May 23, 2009 - Mike Mackenzie

Late Show Productions, an equity co-operative led by Carrie Rusheinsky and Melanie Walden, should be commended for bringing this play to Canadian audiences.

May 18, 2009 - Mike Mackenzie

Burkett returns to Vancouver after almost 3 years of touring the world with one of his other hit shows, 10 Days On Earth.

Jan 22, 2009 - Mike Mackenzie

After selling out their entire run during the Vancouver Fringe, including their "Pick Of The Fringe" performances, it has returned to grace the stage once more.

Jan 17, 2009 - Mike Mackenzie

The Drowsy Chaperone, created as a wedding gift for Bob Martin and Janet Van Der Graaf, has been a hit in Toronto and on Broadway.

Nov 28, 2008 - Mike Mackenzie

The Laramie Project by Moises Kaufman is one of the most controversial plays written in the last decade.

Nov 25, 2008 - Mike Mackenzie

The Stratford Festival of Canada is well known for its Shakespearean plays, and a new focus on Canadian works. What they continue to do best is produce superior musicals.

Sep 7, 2008 - Mike Mackenzie

John Patrick Shanley's award winning play Doubt makes its Canadian premiere as the opening production in the 2008-2009 season at the Arts Club Theatre Company.

Sep 7, 2008 - Mike Mackenzie

Frost/Nixon, based on the infamous interview between British reporter David Frost and President Richard Nixon, has its Canadian premiere in Vancouver in Sept. 2008.

Sep 7, 2008 - Mike Mackenzie

Die Roten Punkte and Gutenberg! The Musical! share top spot on the third day of the Vancouver Fringe Festival. Both shows offer not only great comedy, but solid music.

Sep 7, 2008 - Mike Mackenzie

You never know what you're going to get when you decide to attend a Fringe Festival show. It might be funny, sad, interesting, boring - who knows?

Sep 5, 2008 - Mike Mackenzie

In Krapp's Last Tape at the 2008 Stratford Shakespeare Festival, it's all about actor Brian Dennehy. It's easy to see why he's become a legend in theatre circles.

Aug 26, 2008 - Mike Mackenzie

Some plays, when paired with another, simply work, as with Beckett's Krapp's Last Tape and O"Neill's Hughie at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival.

Aug 26, 2008 - Mike Mackenzie

After a six-month audition process taking her from Vancouver to London to Salzburg to Toronto, Elicia MacKenzie has won the role of a lifetime as Maria.

Jul 30, 2008 - Mike Mackenzie

News about We Will Rock You, Gone With The Wind closing, Kim Cattrall at the Stratford Festival and the Flower City Theatre Festival preview.

May 31, 2008 - Mike Mackenzie

Avery Saltzman, who has worked as an actor for the last 30 years, has begun a new chapter in his life - as Co-Artistic Director of a new theatre company.

Mar 27, 2008 - Mike Mackenzie

Bruce Dow played leading roles in Oliver!, South Pacific, Into The Woods, and Guys & Dolls. Now, he embarks on the role of a lifetime - the MC in Kander and Ebb's Cabaret

Mar 24, 2008 - Mike Mackenzie

Tony Award winners Christopher Plummer and Anika Noni Rose will star in the 2008 Stratford Festival's Caesar and Cleopatra, a rarely performed piece by G.B. Shaw.

Aug 22, 2007 - Mike Mackenzie

Parade set to open in London, The Stratford Festival Gets A New Name, and the hit musical Hairspray lands on the silver screen - again.

Jul 22, 2007 - Mike Mackenzie

With any Fringe show you see, there are those you walk away from delighted to have seen, and others that you wish that you could get those precious minutes back.

Jul 10, 2007 - Mike Mackenzie

If you head out to the Toronto Fringe Festival, beginning this coming Wednesday, July 4th, you'll need some help deciding what shows to see and what shows to avoid.

Jul 1, 2007 - Mike Mackenzie

The 28th annual Dora Mavor Moore Awards were held on Monday at the Winter Garden Theatre, feting the very best of the Toronto theatre, dance and opera season.

Jun 27, 2007 - Mike Mackenzie

There may be flaws in the show itself, but the Stratford Festival production of Oklahoma! does a good job with what they have to work with.

Jun 25, 2007 - Mike Mackenzie

Tara Rosling is establishing herself as one of the finest stage actresses in this country.

Jun 2, 2007 - Mike Mackenzie

Despite its flaws and the fact it flopped when it opened on Broadway, the shortened version of Seussical is a great show for young and old alike.

Jun 2, 2007 - Mike Mackenzie

Theatre Passe Muraille is turning back the clock for their upcoming season.

May 19, 2007 - Mike Mackenzie

The Tarragon Theatre in Toronto is known as the "playwrights" theatre, and they are honouring the new and the tried and true this upcoming season.

May 19, 2007 - Mike Mackenzie

Aubrey Dan, who helped CanStage keep Urinetown alive back in 2004, is on his own now, and set to give the Mirvish empire a run for their money.

May 16, 2007 - Mike Mackenzie

In the past few years, the Tony Awards, which honour the best of the Broadway season, have become fairly predictable.

May 15, 2007 - Mike Mackenzie

Thirty five years after it's world premiere at the Tarragon Theatre, Leaving Home gets a very well deserved (and long overdue) revival, care of Soulpepper.

May 11, 2007 - Mike Mackenzie

We've all done the Time Warp at one time or another - whether you want to admit it or not.

Apr 8, 2007 - Mike Mackenzie

From the minds of film-making brothers Brett and Jason Butler comes a new film festival, dedicated to independant films that centre around people.

Apr 6, 2007 - Mike Mackenzie

Andy McKim, who currently serves as the Associate Artistic Director at Tarragon, has been named to replace Layne Coleman at Toronto's Theatre Passe Muraille in May.

Mar 17, 2007 - Mike Mackenzie

The mega-hit musical Mamma Mia! is set to hit the big screen, joining RENT, The Producers, Dreamgirls as the latest movie musical.

Mar 7, 2007 - Mike Mackenzie

Neil LaBute, the acclaimed playwright and director known for his plays The Shape Of Things, The Mercy Seat and This Is How It Goes, gets a rare look north of the border.

Mar 1, 2007 - Mike Mackenzie

William Finn's Elegies: A Song Cycle opened on Friday night to an enthusiastic and tearful audience who shared in the memories of those we love, and those we have lost.

Feb 16, 2007 - Mike Mackenzie

The terrorist attacks on September 11th set off a slew of creative ventures, including numerous made-for-tv movies, novels, memoires, and one musical.

Feb 13, 2007 - Mike Mackenzie

Margaret Atwood's novel The Penelopiad comes to the stage through an unusual international theatrical collaboration.

Dec 18, 2006 - Mike Mackenzie

In an age where corporate and individual giving is down, the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. has received a record donation to help fund a new theatre campus.

Dec 9, 2006 - Mike Mackenzie

Based on the hit Stratford Festival production, Orpheus Descending returns to Toronto as part of the 2006-2007 Mirvish Season at the Royal Alexandra Theatre.

Dec 7, 2006 - Mike Mackenzie

Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey danced into our hearts in the hit movie, and now you'll be able to have the "time of your life" when Dirty Dancing arrives in Toronto.

Dec 5, 2006 - Mike Mackenzie

Blurring the line between film styles and theatrical conventions, Millan's new play, entitled Directors Cut opened recently at the Factory Studio Theatre in Toronto.

Dec 4, 2006 - Mike Mackenzie