Kelly Nestruck News

In The Critics Say...: 57 Theater Reviewers in New York and Beyond Discuss Their Craft and Its Future, Matt Windman, theater critic of the newspaper amNewYork, interviews dozens of other theater critics about their backgrounds, how they go about evaluating different kinds of shows, and the enormous challenges that threaten the future of professional theater criticism.

Artistic director Matthew Jocelyn defends the company's history of inclusion.

The Toronto theatre community came together on Tuesday to express outrage on social media over the lack of diversity on the announced creative teams for productions in Canadian Stage's 2016-2017 season.

TORONTO (August 19, 2015) - Tarragon Theatre launches its 45th anniversary season with the international sensation Blind Date, created and performed by the award-winning Calgary-born Rebecca Northan. Returning to Toronto after critically acclaimed runs across Canada, London's West End, New York City and elsewhere in the U.S., Northan's hilarious hit show runs Tuesday, September 8 to Sunday, October 4 in Tarragon's Mainspace. (Media Night Sept. 9)

BLITHE SPIRIT, starring Angela Lansbury, opened last night in Toronto. The show will play Toronto for a strictly limited engagement through March 15 before touring to Washington D.C. Let's see what the critics had to say!

The Heart of Robin Hood, opened in Toronto and will play through March 1, 2015. The show is currently set to play the Marquis Theatre on Broadway beginning March 10. Opening night is scheduled for March 29th. The production will play a strictly limited engagement through Sunday, August 23, 2015.

Montreal actress/producer Sarah Booth's Toronto debut in the searing, smash indie hit 'Blackbird' is an overnight hit three years in the making. Calling her and her partner David Ferry's performances 'remarkable,' the Toronto Star critic raved 'A must see. Catch it while you can.' 'A heart-stopping production,' opined the Globe and Mail's J. Kelly Nestruck. Martin Morrow for the Torontoist called it 'electrifying.' '(A) gripping, explosive production of an unsettling play,' wrote Lynn Slotkin in her review posted on The Slotkin Letter.

Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino's King Lear, starring Colm Feore, is entering the record books as one of the Festival's top-selling Shakespeare productions of all time. To meet the overwhelming demand for tickets, the production is being extended until October 25.

BroadwayWorld's Twitter Watch brings you the latest rumors surrounding the Stratford Shakespeare Festival. Globe and Mail Theatre Critic J. Kelly Nestruck tweeted earlier today that the two musicals to be presented at the festival during the 2015 season are THE SOUND OF MUSIC and CAROUSEL. Both musicals are by the legendary composing team of Rodgers and Hammerstein.

The magic of the Stratford Festival's hit musical Crazy for You has been immortalized in the first full-length cast recording in the Festival's history. The album is filled with beloved Gershwin tunes and a sensational cast bursting with talent: who could ask for anything more?

The Toronto Theatre Critics' Award just announced their 2014 winners. The awards are in their fourth year, and are voted upon by Toronto critics who represent five of the city's newspapers and weeklies: The Globe and Mail (J. Kelly Nestruck); The Grid (Martin Morrow); NOW (Glenn Sumi); The National Post (Robert Cushman); and the Toronto Star (Richard Ouzounian). Shows which opened between June 2013 and May of 2014 were open for consideration.

The Toronto Theatre Critics' Award just announced their 2014 winners. The awards are in their fourth year, and are voted upon by Toronto critics who represent five of the city's newspapers and weeklies: The Globe and Mail (J. Kelly Nestruck); The Grid (Martin Morrow); NOW (Glenn Sumi); The National Post (Robert Cushman); and the Toronto Star (Richard Ouzounian). Shows which opened between June 2013 and May of 2014 were open for consideration.

Let's see what the critics had to say...

TERMINUS wins big at this year's Toronto Theatre Critics' Awards, which were announced today (awards to be given out at a later date). The awards are determined by Toronto critics who represent five of the city's newspapers: The Globe and Mail (J. Kelly Nestruck); The Grid (Martin Morrow); NOW (Glenn Sumi); The National Post (Robert Cushman); and the Toronto Star (Richard Ouzounian).

After a triumphant fundraising performance of The Producers for the Actors' Fund in 2010, Talk Is Free Theatre (TIFT) followed up with a fundraising, concert performance of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. The performance was held on Sunday, February 10 at 8PM at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts, Historic Distillery District in Toronto and raised over 30k! Scroll below for photos from the event!

Toronto Theatre Critic's take to the stage this Sunday in a special benefit performance of You're A Good Man Charlie Brown, with proceeds going to The Actor's Fund. Featuring Kelly Nestruck, Robert Cushman, Glenn Sumi, Sheila McCarthy and Melody A. Johnston, the show also includes BWW's own Kelly Cameron as one of the Snoopy's. In this special feature, she talks about her hidden desire to be force to be reckoned with on-stage, setting the bar a smidge above terrible, and humbly requests that you throw bones in lieu of tomatoes.