iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Glenn Sumi @glennsumi.bsky.social · 20h

Two show day. First up: Looking forward to this at Theatre Aquarius. Heard great things out of Blyth.

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Glenn Sumi @glennsumi.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

First time in the hall for a while… I do miss full programs. QR codes just aren’t the same.

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Glenn Sumi @glennsumi.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

If you’re looking to see four rising solo sketch talents, head over to Second City tonight. Each one has a distinct voice and POV. My review of this month’s Spotlight at the Second City is now up. www.partonandpearl.com/blog/spotlig...

partonandpearl.com

Spotlight at The Second City: Solo Review — Parton and Pearl

Ada Nicolle, Kara Austria, Taelor Lewis-Joseph, and Ryan Sheedy were featured in October.

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Glenn Sumi @glennsumi.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

A couple of weeks ago, I bought 10 lb bags of Ontario carrots and Yukon gold potatoes. They were $2.99 or $3.99 each and I couldn’t resist such a good deal. I live alone. A dozen or so recipes later, they’re almost gone. That has been unbelievably satisfying.

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Glenn Sumi @glennsumi.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Finally, YOU HAD TO BE THERE, the doc about how the cast of the 1972 Toronto production of GODSPELL changed comedy forever, is out. Don’t miss it. www.goaheadsumi.com/review-you-h...

goaheadsumi.com

Review: You Had to Be There documents the Toronto play that changed comedy

Some of the biggest comedy and theatre stars discuss being involved in the legendary Toronto production of Godspell

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Glenn Sumi @glennsumi.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Never underestimate a big show’s understudies! I saw @mirvish.bsky.social’s Alicia Keys musical HELL’S KITCHEN with two understudies, and was blown away. I also review the Amélie musical, Carolyn Fe’s impressive playwriting debut AYE CAESAR & more. www.goaheadsumi.com/reviews-hell...

goaheadsumi.com

Reviews: Hell’s Kitchen, Amélie, Aye Caesar, Wine in the Wilderness, To a Flame and more

The latest openings include the Alicia Keys musical and Carolyn Fe’s impressive playwriting debut

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Glenn Sumi @glennsumi.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Me: hey, I’ve got a few minutes before my show, and there’s a little parkette with benches. The parkette’s inhabitants: yeah buddy, just try.

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Glenn Sumi @glennsumi.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Loved Canadian Stage’s season opener: WINE IN THE WILDERNESS, a revival of groundbreaking Black writer Alice Childress’ 1969 play about gender, class and privilege — all set against the Harlem Riots of 1964. Review is up now @thestar.com www.thestar.com/entertainmen...

thestar.com

Canadian Stage’s ‘Wine in the Wilderness’ is a rich, complex look at internalized racism

Read our review of Alice Childress’s ‘Wine in the Wilderness’ at Canadian Stage, an intriguing look at classism and internalized racism.

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Glenn Sumi @glennsumi.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Tonight’s opening at Canadian Stage.

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Glenn Sumi @glennsumi.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

The full 5 ⭐️ s for SPRING AWAKENING (the play, not the musical), the inaugural show in Paolo Santalucia’s first season as Soulpepper’s artistic director and a promising sign of things to come, esp with its gifted young Academy. www.goaheadsumi.com/reviews-spri...

goaheadsumi.com

Reviews: A spectacular Spring Awakening, a subtle Pre-Existing Condition, and more

The fall season is in full swing with premieres by Soulpepper, Coal Mine and Icarus Theatre

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Glenn Sumi @glennsumi.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Tonight’s show at Soulpepper

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Glenn Sumi @glennsumi.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Yes, Julianne Moore — playing a basic suburbanite whose life is forever changed by acting in a community theatre musical — is as good as everyone says in THE DEBUT. www.goaheadsumi.com/tiff-review-...

goaheadsumi.com

Bonus TIFF post: Julianne Moore is a marvel in The Debut

Jesse Eisenberg’s comedy about a mousy woman who finds her voice in a community theatre production is riotously funny

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Glenn Sumi @glennsumi.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

As a fan of Rohinton Mistry’s 600-page novel A FINE BALANCE I was skeptical it would work as a play. I was proven wrong by @crowstheatre.bsky.social’s powerful adaptation, currently selling out until late Oct. www.goaheadsumi.com/review-a-fin...

goaheadsumi.com

Review: A Fine Balance gets a powerful theatrical adaptation at Crow’s

Chris Abraham’s staging of Rohinton Mistry’s bestselling novel will haunt me for months

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Glenn Sumi @glennsumi.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

That was so satisfying. 👏🏼

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Glenn Sumi @glennsumi.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Long live community theatre! I’m assuming this is the play within THE DEBUT #TIFF26

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Glenn Sumi @glennsumi.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Steeling myself for this, courtesy of @penguinrandomhouse.bsky.social. James’ “A Brief History of Seven Killings” was remarkable, so my expectations are high.

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Glenn Sumi @glennsumi.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Want to see some theatre this fall? I’m giving away tix to two buzzy Toronto shows: @nightwoodtheat.bsky.social’s TO A FLAME and Buddies in Bad Times’ BOOTYCANDY. Deadline to enter is coming up. www.goaheadsumi.com/10-theatre-a...

goaheadsumi.com

10 theatre artists to watch this fall

Ins Choi, Jordan Laffrenier, Karen Robinson and an acclaimed Irish theatre company are among the talents lighting up this season

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Glenn Sumi @glennsumi.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

The Toronto theatre season begins this week. Here are 10 artists — well, 9 plus one acclaimed Irish theatre company — to keep your eye on. Plus, there’s a ticket giveaway to two other fall shows. www.goaheadsumi.com/10-theatre-a...

goaheadsumi.com

10 theatre artists to watch this fall

Ins Choi, Jordan Lafrennier, Karen Robinson and an acclaimed Irish theatre company are among the talents lighting up this season

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Glenn Sumi @glennsumi.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

You may have seen actor Siddharth Sharma in “Late Bloomer“ or “Sterling Point.“ Now he’s starring in @crowstheatre.bsky.social A FINE BALANCE, adapted from Rohinton Mistry’s classic novel. I chatted with the rising star for @thestar.com. And look at that layout! www.thestar.com/entertainmen...

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Glenn Sumi @glennsumi.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Can. Not. Wait. To. Read. This. “A Brief History of Seven Killings” still haunts me. Plus: it begins with Jamaican men rehearsing the play “Fortune and Men’s Eyes”! www.nytimes.com/2026/08/30/b...

nytimes.com

Book Review: ‘The Disappearers,’ by Marlon James

Marlon James’s story of gay experience and murderous homophobia in Jamaica is a maximalist’s banquet — and the Booker Prize winner’s finest book yet.

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Glenn Sumi @glennsumi.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

In my latest SO SUMI newsletter I reviewed some out of town shows and weighed in on the recent Dora Awards changes. Please subscribe! www.goaheadsumi.com/grease-and-t...

goaheadsumi.com

End of summer roundup, Part 2: out-of-town

The Last Five Years and Grease in Gananoque, And No Birds Sang in Port Hope and Dora Awards debacle

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Reposted by Glenn Sumi

Mark Harris @markharris.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Dolly Parton lived with a gay man for years. She was a vocal advocate for LGBTQ+ folks and a philanthropic champion of childhood literacy and education, vaccines, and the black people in her community. "We don't know what her politics were"? Please. She lived them. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/27/a...

nytimes.com

Dolly Parton’s Cautious Politics Resulted in Widespread Affection

Bipartisan tributes demonstrated the success of the singer’s long-running effort to stay out of party politics in a sharply divided country.

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Glenn Sumi @glennsumi.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

It’s almost Labour Day, and here’s part one of my End of Summer Review Roundup of in-town shows (part two will be for out of town productions). www.goaheadsumi.com/end-of-summe...

goaheadsumi.com

End of summer roundup, Part 1: in town

Weighing in on two very different shows at SummerWorks, as well as a whimsical As You Like It sequel

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Glenn Sumi @glennsumi.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

The buzziest play of the Toronto fall theatre season is A FINE BALANCE at @crowstheatre.bsky.social. In my first piece for @torontolifemag.bsky.social I got to chat with Dora winner Anosh Irani, who adapted Rohinton Mistry’s beloved 600-page novel for the stage. torontolife.com/culture/anos...

torontolife.com

“I like being playful, even when the stakes are high”: Playwright Anosh Irani’s adaptation of A Fine Balance is the hottest theatre ticket in town - Toronto Life

Rohinton Mistry’s epic gets the stage treatment from Crow’s Theatre

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Glenn Sumi @glennsumi.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Sad to see Humber’s Comedy Writing & Performance program shut down after more than 25 years. Talked with director Andrew Clark about its history, alumni and tomorrow’s final show at Comedy Bar Danforth. www.goaheadsumi.com/humber-comed...

goaheadsumi.com

Humber Comedy School says goodbye with one Last Laugh

The school that helped train everyone from Nathan Fielder and Debra DiGiovanni to Steph Tolev and Kurtis Conner gets in one final show

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Glenn Sumi @glennsumi.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Exciting news out of Factory Theatre, which as @joshuachong.bsky.social rightly suggests in his @thestar.com interview has languished recently and lost its way amid legal, economic and programming issues. www.thestar.com/entertainmen...

thestar.com

Toronto's Factory Theatre appoints new artistic director with plans to expand organization's offerings

Kevin Matthew Wong has been tapped to lead the storied but now struggling arts institution.

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Glenn Sumi @glennsumi.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Slowly catching up on SLOW HORSES and wondering why I slept on it for so long. Did Apple TV do a sh-t job of marketing it? Based on the premise, I thought it was some silly, flatulent satire, when really it provides all the thrills of spy/espionage entertainment with true underdog characters.

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Glenn Sumi @glennsumi.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Jane Austen’s early novel NORTHANGER ABBEY gets an imaginative stage adaptation by @guildfesttheatre.bsky.social’s Tyler J. Seguin. My review of the delightful production is now up at my newsletter. www.goaheadsumi.com/review-jane-...

goaheadsumi.com

Review: Jane Austen’s powers ramp up in Northanger Abbey

You’ll have a ball at Tyler J. Seguin’s imaginative adaptation of the lesser-known Austen novel

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Glenn Sumi @glennsumi.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Experienced some greased lightning tonight.

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Glenn Sumi @glennsumi.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

This is basically my weekend. Oh, plus some theatre. But every non-theatre, non-sleeping moment will be spent with this amazing novel which I have somehow never read until now.

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Glenn Sumi @glennsumi.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Ok. This is my all-time fave name in a theatre program.

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Glenn Sumi @glennsumi.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

For @thestar.com I loved chatting w 2-time Tony-winning designer Linda Cho (raised in Toronto), actor Leanne Robinson (Jordan) and wardrobe supervisor Michael Turner about the clothes, cleaning & flying beads in THE GREAT GATSBY: A NEW MUSICAL @mirvish.bsky.social www.thestar.com/entertainmen...

thestar.com

'The Great Gatsby' costume designer, wardrobe supervisor and co-star on what it takes to dress the Toronto musical

The costume designer, wardrobe supervisor and co-star on what it takes to dress the musical.

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Glenn Sumi @glennsumi.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Cars from the 50s lined up in the market. Gee, what film set in the 50s is currently being made in Toronto by an Oscar-winning writer/director? No idea.

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Glenn Sumi @glennsumi.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

Quick trip to @stratfest.bsky.social to see OTHELLO this afternoon.

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Reposted by Glenn Sumi

Dylan @dylan89.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

Saw Hadestown Pro-Shot last night. Brings back the joy of seeing the OG cast just before COVID. Great camera work that moved with the music and wasn't afraid of a long shot (though I think the show naturally lends itself really well to be filmed). Read Glenn's review and go see it!

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