Toronto’s 2024–2025 theatre season is well worth planning a trip around. Here’s what to catch and where.
From jukebox musicals to global blockbusters, kid-friendly Christmas classics to tragicomedies, social commentary and satire in between, Toronto’s theatre scene has vibrant productions for every taste this season. Here are 22 shows you won’t want to miss.
Life of PI
September 3–October 6, 2024 at CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre
Multiple Tony and Olivier Award-winning Life Of Pi (based on Canadian writer Yann Martel’s bestseller) sets sail in Toronto this fall. Soaring visuals mixed with vivid puppetry bring the story of 16-year-old Pi and his companions to life.
Come From Away
Opens September 22, 2024 at Royal Alexandra Theatre
Global smash Come From Away features an all-Canadian cast and, at the time of this writing, an unlimited run. This heartwarming Tony Award-winning musical tells the true story of 7,000 passengers stranded in Gander, Newfoundland after 9/11.
The Thanksgiving Play
September 27–October 20, 2024 at CAA Theatre
Sicangu Lakota playwright Larissa Fasthorse mines the comedy of good intentions and absurd assumptions in The Thanksgiving Play, where four white theatre people create a culturally sensitive elementary school show about the origins of Thanksgiving. One of the most-produced plays in North America, this is its Canadian premiere.
Mamma Mia!
October 8–November 10, 2024 at CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre
One bride, her mom, three possible dads, ABBA’s best bangers and a Greek Island setting make Mamma Mia! the ultimate feel-good musical. Cleverly, the touring production’s tagline is “You already know you’re gonna love it."
Interior Design
October 15–November 10, 2024 at Tarragon Theatre
Female friendships gone awry are even messier than home renovations in Interior Design, a drama by award-winning Tarragon Theatre playwright-in-residence Rosa Laborde, making its world premiere.
Flin Flon Cowboy
October 19–December 2, 2024 at Theatre Passe Muraille
Set to original country music, Flin Flon Cowboy is artist and singer Ken Harrower’s musical autobiography, journeying through his experiences as a child with a disability in Winnipeg’s foster care system, refusal to submit to life in an institution, and triumphant escape to Toronto’s vibrant gay community.
The Lion King
Opens November 2, 2024 at Princess of Wales Theatre
The Lion King’s indelible tale of Simba the cub starts an open-ended run with an all-Canadian cast. The goosebump-inducing soundtrack by Elton John and Tim Rice, and expressive stylized masks and costumes co-designed by Tony Award-winning director Julie Taymor, will give you all the unforgettable feels.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
November 12–December 30, 2024 at Young People’s Theatre
YPT, Toronto’s esteemed kid-focused theatre, hosts the musical Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Be delighted by chocolate rivers, gumdrop trees and cocoa-loving Oompa Loompas, set to songs from the classic 1971 film.
Big Stuff
November 12–December 8, 2024 at Studio Theatre (Crow’s Theatre)
Celebrated comedy team Matt Baram (The Umbrella Academy) and Naomi Snieckus (Pretty Hard Cases) unpack life’s Big Stuff, including themes of love and loss. In this touching but hilarious two-hander, they also uncover the humour in gun store lineups and their experience pitching TV show ideas to border guards.
Deck the Halls
November 13, 2024–January 4, 2025 at Famous People Players
A Christmas gift appears onstage, but what is this mysterious offering? Watch it come to electrifying glow-in-the-dark life in Deck the Halls at Famous People Players, the world-famous black-light dinner theatre. This national treasure that just turned 50 showcases the talents of young artists with disabilities.
Moulin Rouge! The Musical
November 19, 2024–January 12, 2025, at CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre
Winner of 10 Tony awards, Moulin Rouge! The Musical sweeps you away to Satine’s boho world of Belle Epoque Paris. Auteur Baz Luhrmann’s glittering, romantic 2001 film comes to life, directed by Alex Timbers, choreographed by Sonya Tayeh, both Tony winners.
Oraculum
December 1–15, 2024, at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre
Renowned Canadian drag artists Denim and Pythia lead us through the computer-screen crystal ball of an online psychic reading website. Combining performance, puppetry and projection, Oraculum blends themes of gender and mystical spirituality.
Titanique
December 5, 2024–January 12, 2025 at CAA Theatre
Any Titanic movie-slash-Celine Dion fan wouldn’t dare miss Titanique, a campy, nostalgic musical starring Quebec treasure Veronique Claveau as Dion, Canada’s adored diva songbird. The off-broadway New York production was an award-winning smash hit.
’Twas the Night Before By Cirque Du Soleil
December 12, 2024–January 3, 2025 at Meridian Hall
Exalt in the heart-stopping acrobatics, charmingly quirky characters and classic holiday soundtrack of ’Twas the Night Before by Cirque Du Soleil. This is Cirque’s first holiday show, created specifically for families.
Last Landscape
January 12–26, 2025 at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre
In a barren world, clownish workers recreate nature, leading us to question if we’re in the past or a modified future. Recipient of the Ray Ferris Innovation and Sustainability Grant, Last Landscape explores extinction and ecological grief with amazing prehistoric megafauna puppets.
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf
January 18–February 2, 2025 at Bluma Appel Theatre (Canadian Stage Company)
Two real-life acting couples, legends Paul Gross (known for his role as the RCMP officer in the 90s hit TV show Due South) and Martha Burns, and Mac Fyfe and Hailey Gillis, take the stage in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf. This searing marital drama, made famous by big-screen legends and notoriously stormy real-life couple Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in the 1966 film, still packs a blistering punch.
Kim’s Convenience
January 30–March 2, 2025 at Soulpepper Theatre
The play that inspired the beloved TV show of the same name (and launched Marvel star Simu Liu), Kim’s Convenience reunites acclaimed playwright Ins Choi with its original director, Weyni Mengesha. Choi himself stars as the titular character in this homage to his Korean-Canadian parents and their lives as convenience store owners.
The Wolf in the Voice
February 4–23, 2024 at Tarragon Extraspace
The Wolf in the Voice is an uplifting exploration of the first musical instrument: our voices. The trio of Neema Bickersteth, Jane Miller and Taurian Teelucksingh swap stories and beautiful songs about their struggles and triumphs as singers.
Table For Two
February 7–March 2, 2025 at Soulpepper Theatre (Obsidian Theatre)
This world premiere of Table for Two follows Abby, a woman of Ghanaian descent, navigating Tinder hell, societal pressures and parental expectations with humour and honesty. Directed by African Canadian–theatre pioneer Djanet Sears.
Fat Ham
February 19–March 9, 2025 at Berkeley Street Theatre (Canadian Stage Company)
Fat Ham makes its Canadian premiere, where in an inspired tragicomic twist on Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Juicy throws a cookout to celebrate his mother’s remarriage to his dead father’s brother. Select matinees offer free childcare.
There is Violence and There is Righteous Violence and There is Death or, The Born-Again Crow
March 9–29, 2025 at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre (Native Earth Performing Arts)
There is Violence… is playwright Caleigh Crow’s “cul-de-sac gothic” story of Beth, whose public breakdown gets her fired. She moves back to the ’burbs, where a talking crow helps her harness her powerful political rage in this punk-inflected production.
Cet été qui chantait
March 26–29, 2025 at Aki Studio (Théâtre français de Toronto)
Toronto’s French-language theatre company (Théâtre français de Toronto) brings celebrated novelist Gabrielle Roy’s gentle 1972 book, Cet été qui chantait, to the stage. Marie-Ève Fontaine recreates the poetic world of the Franco-Manitoban author in a puppet theatre setting.
