January 5, 2011

Starting today, the Next Stage Theatre Festival is the “best of the best” of the summer Fringe Festival.

Hear about a fantastic show this summer, but didn’t get the chance to see it?  The guess-work of the Fringe is taken out of the mix in this winter theatre festival, as a panel selects eight shows to appear at Next Stage, based on the merits of the finished script and the companies’ past successes.

This year’s shows include At The Sans Hotel, Duel of Ages, Fairy Tale Ending (The Big Bad Family Musical), The Grace Project: Sick!, The Apology, Eating with Lola, Swan Song of Maria (A Tragic Fairy Tale), and Tom’s A-Cold.

Tickets are $15 for evening performances and $12 for afternoon performances; four play passes are available for $48, and you can see all eight shows with an eight play pass for $88.

Today you can catch Fairytale Ending and At the Sans Hotel at 7pm and 9pm, respectively, in the Mainspace, and you can see Swan Song of Maria at 7:15pm and The Apology at 9:30pm in the Studio Theatre. The Next Stage Theatre Festival continues until January 16th; for a full schedule of show times, go to the Fringe Toronto website.

These shows are held at the Factory Theatre, 125 Bathurst St (at Adelaide St West).   Also, be prepared to benefit from the McAuslan Brewery Heated Beer Tent on site!  Sweet!