This is a Tiered Pricing show – Patrons choose their own ticket price to fit their budget. Choose from $5 | $10 | $20 per ticket.

A PUPPET SHOW FOR ALL AGES
Produced by SNAFU. For Age 7+
Performed by Fraggle Rock Puppeteer Ingrid Hansen
Directed by Ride the Cyclone director Britt Small

When you’re small, how do you live in a world designed for big people? Watch Baby Tyler discover his unique super powers to solve problems.

“Hansen turns anything and everything into a puppet and makes it funny. A MUST-SEE!” – FringeReviews.com  Watch as Ingrid performs a live puppet film before your very eyes, using only household objects, a camera, and her bare hands.  

“Utterly magical, insanely inventive, wickedly funny. ★★★★★ ” – Winnipeg Free Press.

Jim Henson Company puppeteer Ingrid Hansen performs a live puppet film before your very eyes, using only household objects, a camera, and her bare hands.
Ingrid Hansen also puppeteers for Sesame and Henson. She puppeteers Heart, a lovable orange monster on Sesame Workshop’s Emmy-Award-Winning series Helpsters. She also performs a magical talking rock and ‘Ma Gorg’ on Henson’s new Fraggle Rock reboot. Ingrid performs Melissa the Dog on the Emmy-Nominated series Miss Persona (TreehouseTV / AmazonPrime,) and even directed scenes with Canadian legend Fred Penner.

Content Warning: The Baby Tyler Show is for ages 7+ and may be a little bit too spooky for younger children. It contains some cartoonish puppet violence and scenes of death, dark lighting, loud sounds, and surprises.

duration of show: 60 mins

Rating: PG / Country: Latvia / Languages: [no dialogue, an animal adventure!]

Cat is a solitary animal, but as its home is devastated by a great flood, he finds refuge on a boat populated by various species, and will have to team up with them despite their differences.

HubCap Comedy Festival is proud to present Sugar Sammy and his brand new 100% English show as part of his 2025 tour across Canada! Sugar Sammy is one of the hottest comedians on the international circuit. The New York Times calls him “A fearless comic with a talent for provoking both laughter and outrage”. He has performed over 2,000 shows in 32 countries. “Fluent in Funny” as the Washington Post describes him, he hits on cultural, social and political themes with great charm and finesse. He is a master of crowd work and audience interaction.

Spend an evening on the Imperial stage with us!

Learn to swing dance and stay for cocktails and dancing after the class.

Workshop: 7 – 8:30pm | Drinks & Dancing 8:3o – 10pm

$20/person

Spots are limited so sign up early!

VaughnCo Entertainment presents HighwayMen Show – American Outlaws Tribute Concert. In 1984, Johnny Cash invited Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson to play on his Johnny Cash Christmas TV Special that was filmed in Switzerland.  When they got back to the hotel, they started jamming and hanging out and that was how the Highwaymen came to be. The Highwaymen Show pays tribute to the great American Outlaws of Country Music – Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson. The Show covers all of the greatest hits including “Mama Don’t Let Your Babies Grow up to be Cowboys”, “Always on My Mind”,  “Me and Bobby McGee” and  “Folsom Prison Blues”. Don’t miss this trip down memory lane with the look and sound of these iconic superstars: The entire show will feel like an encore!

Close your eyes and you’re right back there…You’ll hear all the hits, remarkably replicated, in this spectacular show!

THE IRISH ROVERS

Nominated for Canadian Folk Music Awards 2023 SINGLE OF THE YEAR  

The Legendary Rovers Perform on Tour

George Millar and Ian Millar, lead singers of The Irish Rovers. George, an Irish Rover all his life, wrote the song, “Hey Boys Sing Us A Song” as a response to the Covid years, and includes the refrain “We all need some happiness back in our lives!” The song is nominated Canadian Folk Music Awards, SINGLE OF THE YEAR. 

On their 60th Anniversary, ‘Dinosaurs’ of the Canadian Music scene are up for a 2023 Canadian Folk Music Award and now on their sold out NO END IN SIGHT Tour Canadian music veterans, The Irish Rovers continue to entertain and gain generations of fans, into their 60th year, with their upcoming (nearly sold out) tour (30 concerts). Last year the legendary band hit Spotify’s VIRAL TOP 50 in both the US and UK/ Ireland, and recorded a new album, No End In Sight.  They have included their original 1977 version of “The Wellerman” on the new album (with an updated ending).

The No End In Sight album includes a new anthem for our time, Hey Boys Sing Us A Song – nominated SINGLE OF THE YEAR in the 2023 Canadian Folk Music Awards. The song, written by Rovers leader and co-founder, George Millar was inspired by the last few years of frustrations and includes the welcome refrain, “We all need some happiness back in our lives!” 

Video, Hey Boys Sing Us A Song: https://youtu.be/vHH5-W3-FTA

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/4LZu5lzxBwfi6BpNdZ2TsE   Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/hey-boys-sing-us-a-song/1600027792

 NOTE: The Rovers refer to themselves and other music veterans as Dinosaurs on the last song of their new “No End in Sight” album. A tribute to the old crusty musicians who have paid their dues and are still going strong today in an environment that is hostile to their survival.  https://open.spotify.com/track/7KPGaVjsXEsmqSF7GrMHTR?si=f716486ed2d3449d

Fans should fasten their seatbelts for a rollicking night of the hits, Rovers latest, and hilarious stories from decades of Rovin.’ On stage in 2023 will be George Millar, Ian Millar, Davey Walker (keyboards), Gerry O’Connor (fiddle), Geoffrey Kelly (flute/whistle), Fred Graham (bodhran), and joining the Rovers for the first time will be virtuosos Shane Farrell on banjo, Jimmy Keane on accordion and Kevin Evans from Evans and Doherty. Some may remember Kevin from his days singing with the Clancy Brothers.

Canada has been home to the Irish Rovers since its inception in the early 60s. Millar says, “It’s been a bit odd, being from both Ireland and Canada. The fans have found it confusing as well.” This lead to the song “Band Without A Country” from the Rovers’ 2020 album “Saints And Sinners”. The song and video tells their story from Ireland to Toronto and beyond, VIDEO: https://youtu.be/ly4ubkByY7k

1968 – 2023 a few of their honours …

1968 Winner, RPM Gold Leaf Award (predecessor to JUNOS), “Folk Group of the Year” 

1968 Nomination GRAMMY Award, “Folk Performance of the Year”.

1971 Winner ACTRA Award for Best Variety Performance

1971 Winner RPM Gold Leaf Award, Outstanding Record Sales 

1975 Nomination JUNO Award, Best Album Cover, “Emigrate! Emigrate!”

1979 Winner PROCAN Harold Moon Award for International Achievement for TV 

1981 Nomination JUNO Award, Single of the Year, “Wasn’t That A Party”

1981 Nomination JUNO Award, Folk Artist of the Year

1982 Nomination JUNO Award, Group of the Year

1982 Nomination JUNO Award, Country Group of the Year

1982 Nomination JUNO Award, Folk Artist of the Year

1983 Nomination JUNO Award, Country Group of the Year

2010 Winner, VIMA Award, SOCAN Song of the Year, “Gracehill Fair”

2023 Nomination Canadian Folk Music Awards, Single of the Year, “Hey Boys Sing Us A Song”

BC ENTERTAINMENT HALL OF FAME: The Rovers were contracted for 7 half hour shows but the phenomenal ratings made them overnight household names and they continued with Ken Gibson producing several series and 11 Specials taped in studios, on location across Canada and in Ireland, the UK and New Zealand for the next 18 years, picking up a Nellie (Genie) Award and beating Hockey Night in Canada’s ratings along the way.

In 1967, The Irish Rovers released a breakout hit with their second album, The Unicorn. That album and ‘lucky little ditty’ of a title track written by Shel Silverstein, took them from folk clubs of America to concert halls and television sets worldwide. The band returned to the charts 15 more times, nevertheless, the magic of The Unicorn remained. To pay appropriate tribute on its Gold Anniversary in 2017, the Rovers released “The Unicorn, The Continuing Story” with new recordings of the original Unicorn album, plus the sequel to The Unicorn song, which gave us the answer to an age old question: What happened to the Unicorns when the ark left them stranded on the shore?” VIDEO: https://youtu.be/jB3MKGCRfRA  

In the 70’s, the Rovers were the first Irish band to play the Grand Ole Opry, and in ’71 they began hosting one of their three international television series, ‘The Irish Rovers show’ for CBC. The show ran seven seasons and won the ACTRA Award for best Variety Performance. During the 80’s there were two more international series, ‘The Rovers Comedy House’ and ‘Party With The Rovers’ which ran for another seven years and likely the only show to beat Hockey Night in Canada in the ratings! During this time they became so much a part of the Canadian culture that PM Pierre Elliott Trudeau asked them to become Canadian citizens so they could represent Canada around the world. They accepted the honour, became citizens, and subsequently represented Canada at five World Expos.

Since 2010 the band has returned to the small screen with three international television specials, The Irish Rovers 50th Anniversary, The Irish Rovers Christmas and The Irish Rovers Home In Ireland which took us back to the same spots back home they visited in the early years of the CBC series. The Rovers continue to sell out concert halls worldwide with their music climbing the charts on Spotify and going viral on YouTube, subsequently gaining them another few generations of followers.

Over the years, Ireland has felt the impact of The Irish Rovers’ long career of bringing Ireland and Irish music to the rest of the world. Recently, the Rovers were honoured in both Ballymena N. Ireland and Dublin Ireland for all they have done over the years for the music industry and promoting Ireland across North America and beyond. Dublin’s EPIC Museum Director Mervyn Greene refers to The Irish Rovers as ‘one of Ireland’s greatest émigrés’. 

Original Irish Rovers, Will Millar, Wilcil McDowell are retired from the band, but George Millar still fronts the band he founded in 1963 with his best pal, the late Jimmy Ferguson.

When a cockerel apparently flies into a chicken farm, the chickens see him as an opportunity to escape their evil owners.

Mini Pop Kids Live is bringing good vibes across North America with their brand-new, high-energy GOOD VIBES TOUR! This jam-packed concert features songs by Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Olivia Rodrigo, Harry Styles, Ariana Grande, Dua Lipa, and even includes some favorite throwbacks that EVERYONE will love.  This isn’t just a show, it’s an experience that the whole family will enjoy. Don’t miss your chance to sing, dance and pop with Canada’s best-selling music group for kids! It’s the show for kids by kids… and adults too!

VIP Package Includes:

·  One premium reserved ticket in the best seats in the house.

·  Exclusive pre-show Meet & Greet and photo opportunity with the Mini Pop Kids!

·  One Mini Pop Kids autographed poster

·  Exclusive VIP laminate and lanyard

·  Limited availability

VIP Meet & Greet will begin at 12:00pm.  The lobby will open with merchandise on-sale. All children must be accompanied by a paid adult. Unaccompanied children will not be permitted.

The title of William Shakespeare’s As You Like It holds a double meaning that teasingly suggests this is a play to please all tastes. Is that possible? 

Called “sly, funny, and charming” by the Toronto Star, As You Like It Or The Land Acknowledgement by cultural provocateur Cliff Cardinal, is a devastating yet laugh-out-loud examination of land acknowledgements as cultural and political practice. A timeless tale of mistaken identities, banishment, and forgiveness takes on an entirely new meaning in this subversive update of the Bard’s classic. Cardinal’s Cree and Lakota heritage deeply inform his take on the play, which is acerbic, mischievous, and fearlessly deals with difficult subject matter.

“The Canadian arts surprise of the year” (The Globe and Mai), William Shakespeare’s As You Like It, A Radical Retelling by Cliff Cardinal was the recipient the prestigious Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama and was shortlisted for the Ontario Trillium Book Award.

“One thing’s certain: this As You Like It is unlike any other production of the play, past or future.”   NOW Magazine

Ages 14+

Cliff Cardinal – Creator and Writer
Named by The Globe and Mail as a Canadian Cultural Icon in 2022, Cliff Cardinal is a polarizing writer and performer known for his black humour and compassionate poeticism. His AS YOU LIKE IT, A RADICAL RETELLING has been performed across Canada, was shortlisted for the Ontario Trillium Book Award, and was the recipient of the prestigious Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama. Other solo theatre productions including Stitch, Huff, Cliff Cardinal’s CBC Special, and (Everyone I Love Has) A Terrible Fate (Befall Them) have toured across Canada and won numerous awards. He is an associate artist at VideoCabaret where he develops his new work. Born on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, he studied
playwriting at the National Theatre School of Canada and fronts the hilarious and nefarious Cliff Cardinal and The Skylarks.

Cardinal’s first multi-character play, Too Good To Be True, opened VideoCabaret’s 2019 season at The Busy Street Theatre in Toronto with Cardinal himself directing. A workshop version of the script debuted at Summerworks ’13, where NOW Magazine said, “This captivating tale of an off-grid mother and her desperate children solidifies Cardinal as one of the most talented and intriguing writers in the country.” Prior to premiering AS YOU LIKE IT, A RADICAL RETELLING, Cardinal was best known for his one-man play Huff, which he has performed over 200 times. This harrowing yet hilarious show about youth who abuse solvent, at high risk of suicide won the Buddies in Bad Times’ Vanguard Award for Risk and Innovation, two Dora Mavor Moore Awards (Outstanding Performance, Outstanding New Play), RBC’s Emerging Playwright Award, The Lustrum Award (which recognizes the greatest moments at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) and was shortlisted for Amnesty International’s Freedom of Expression Award. The production garnered a five-star review in The
Guardian Observer titled “a hard-hitting tour de force.” Huff has been published, translated into French, continues to tour, and was released as a podcast by the CBC.

Cliff Cardinal’s CBC Special, a songwriter/storyteller performance, toured festivals in Ottawa, Calgary, St. Catharines, through Canada’s North starting in Yellowknife with a stint at Theatre Kingston and won the Jon Kaplan Spotlight Award for the top performance at Toronto’s SummerWorks Festival. Cliff Cardinal and The Skylarks’ first recording, This is Not a Mistake was released in 2016 and their follow up Gonna Be Fine was released in 2020, both are available online. The band’s third album Suicidal Valentine is out on Merlainen Music. The title track has risen to number six on the Indigenous Music Countdown.

Chris Abraham – Co-Conspirator, Crow’s Theatre Artistic Director
Crow’s Theatre Artistic and General Director, Chris Abraham has been the driving force of Crow’s since the 2008.09 season. He has successfully led the company through several major milestones: the 25th, 35th, and 40th anniversaries of the company as well as building Streetcar Crowsnest, a pioneering, state of the art facility with three venues in the east end of Toronto. At Crow’s, Chris has directed numerous award-winning plays including Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, The Master Plan, Uncle Vanya, MixTape, As You Like It, Julius Caesar, Stars: Together, The Wedding Party, True Crime, Boy in the Moon, The Assembly, The Watershed, The Seagull, Winners & Losers, Someone Else, Eternal Hydra, and I, Claudia. In 2003, Chris directed the film adaptation of Kristen Thomson’s award-winning hit I, Claudia for which he won a Gemini Award. A graduate of the National Theatre School’s renowned directing program, Chris served as co-director of the program from 2006 to 2010, In 2013, Chris was awarded the Siminovitch Prize in Theatre for Directing. Chris’ artistic practice spans the spectrum of solo work, documentary, highly lauded Stratford and Shaw productions, hybrid music theatre concerts, opera, and filmmaking. This summer, Chris will direct One Man, Two Guvnors at the Shaw Festival.

Logan Raju Cracknell – Lighting Designer
Logan Raju Cracknell is a Toronto based theatre artist specializing in lighting design and live stream creation. Their work has taken them across the country, and they are truly excited to see what journeys lie ahead. Recent works include: Prodigal (The Howland Company, Crow’s Theatre), William Shakespeare’s As You Like It: A Radical Retelling by Cliff Cardinal and Orphans for the Czar (Crow’s Theatre), The Extinction Therapist (Theatre Aquarius), Alice in Wonderland (Bad Hats Theatre), BLACKOUT (The Musical Stage Company), Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill (Theatre Calgary), Dixon Road (The Musical Stage Company, Obsidian Theatre), As You Like It (Canadian Stage Company), and Concord Floral and Casimir and Caroline (Theatre Sheridan), and Fairview (Canadian Stage Company, Obsidian Theatre).

Jennifer Stobart – Stage Manager
A veteran of live theatre, having stage managed over 175 professional productions, in theatres both grand and modest, Jennifer has toured coast to coast in Canada and the United States several times, to Dublin, Ireland, London, England, Sydney, and Perth Australia, and Edinburgh, Scotland. Most recently, she stage managed (Everyone I Love Has) A Terrible Fate (Befall Them) with Video Cabaret, The Chronicles of Sarnia with Blyth Festival Theatre, The Christie Pits Riots with The Hogtown Collective, The Land Acknowledgement with Mirvish
Productions & Crow’s Theatre, As You Like It, a Radical Re-telling by Cliff Cardinal in Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton, Peterborough, Ottawa, and New York City, our place with Cahoots Theatre & Theatre Passe Muraille, huff with Neptune/Prismatic Theatre in Halifax, Dreaming Roots with The Yukon First Nations Arctic Arts Summit, in Whitehorse. As always, she sends her love to her Mom, her adventuring travelling companion.

Sherrie Johnson – Crow’s Theatre Executive Director
Sherrie Johnson began her tenure at Crow’s Theatre (Toronto) in February 2019, becoming Crow’s first Executive Director. Sherrie brings a wide range of experience as an arts leader to her role at Crow’s Theatre. Sherrie was a member of the leadership team at Canadian Stage (Toronto) from 2013-2019. Prior to joining Canadian Stage, Johnson’s artistic career includes serving as founding Artistic Director of Outside The Box in Boston, MA; Senior Curator at the highly esteemed PuSh International Performing Arts Festival in Vancouver, B.C.; and Co-Founder/Artistic Director of the Six Stages Festival in Toronto, Prague, Berlin and Glasgow. An active producer and agent, she’s worked with Germany’s internationally renowned triumvirate Rimini Protokoll, Antwerp based artists Bart Baele and Yves Degryse of Berlin, filmmaker and installation artist Srinivas Krishna, and visual artist Stan Douglas. Sherrie successfully led the indie company da da kamera with Daniel MacIvor from 1993-2007. Sherrie was the inaugural recipient of the John Hobday Award for outstanding achievement in arts management from the Canada Council and the recipient of the 2019 Leonard McHardy and John Harvey Award.

Crow’s Theatre – Producer
For 40 years, Crow’s Theatre has been a leading force in the Canadian theatre landscape, recognized for provocative and award-winning new theatre works that premiere in Toronto often followed by national and international tours. Crow’s Theatre is distinguished as a preeminent cultural destination for its far-reaching imagination, ideas, exchange, diversity, and grassroots belief that the arts are essential to healthy and thriving communities. In January 2017, following the completion of a $12 million capital campaign, Crow’s Theatre
opened the doors to its first permanent home, Streetcar Crowsnest, at the corner of Carlaw Avenue and Dundas Street East. Led by Artistic and General Director, Chris Abraham and Executive Director Sherrie Johnson, Crow’s Theatre is located at the corner of Carlaw Avenue and Dundas Street East in Toronto’s east end. Our home at Streetcar Crows nest is comprised of four venues for dynamic cultural and community programming: the Guloien Theatre (200 seats); Studio Theatre (80 seats); the Nada Ristich Studio Gallery (80 seats); the full- service Lobby Bar; as well as an onsite restaurant which can accommodate 60 seated indoors and 75 on the outdoor.

Maryna KRUT (pronounced “kroot”) is a Ukrainian singer and virtuoso of the bandura, a stringed instrument unique to Ukraine that looks and sounds like a hybrid of lute and harp. At 28, KRUT is an assured performing artist; her compelling, soulful performances evoke both folk traditions and modern sensibilities, with pop and jazz flourishes. A Eurovision finalist, she often represents Ukraine at official events and performs for soldiers in the current war zone, and she has appeared at the Edinburgh International Culture Summit, Andalucia Big Festival, Montreal Ukrainian Festival, and on other international stages.

KRUT (pronounced “kroot”) is a Ukrainian singer and virtuoso of the bandura, a stringed instrument unique to Ukraine that looks and sounds like a hybrid of lute and harp. At 28, KRUT is an assured performing artist; her compelling, soulful performances evoke both folk traditions and modern sensibilities, with pop and jazz flourishes. A Eurovision finalist, she often represents Ukraine at official events and performs for soldiers in the current war zone, and she has appeared at the Edinburgh International Culture Summit, Andalucia Big Festival, Montreal Ukrainian Festival, and on other international stages.

The bandura’s harpsichord-like sound is both delicate and assertive. KRUT’s instrument has an astonishing 64 strings stretched over a single piece of wood, with 13 bass strings stretched along a short, fretless neck, and the remaining treble strings stretched across a large soundboard. She plays the bass set with her left hand, while the right plays across the prodigious treble array. In addition to being a masterful instrumentalist, KRUT’s striking, powerful voice soars in an acoustic setting, whether with a string quartet or solo.

Early bandurists were male balladeers who travelled from village to village; early in her career, says KRUT, “I dyed my hair pink, painted my nails black, wore leather jackets and started to play the bandura in a more modern, jazzy and funky way” (Vogue Australia). Now she’s stretching her style back toward the bandura’s folk roots. “[Her music] represents the DNA of Ukrainian culture, in all its styles, classic and very modern” (Ouest France).

“Why see a show when you can BE the show!”

Choir! Choir! Choir! is the fully interactive, participatory show that turns audience into performer! So get ready to laugh, dance and SING! your hearts out with hundreds of other music-lovers just like you. It’s like a big birthday party for the greatest songs of all time and you’re invited!

So grab a friend (or ten), and come out ready to GIVE IT ALL YOU’VE GOT! – all voices welcome, no experience necessary. They Teach, You Sing! Everyone Wins!

This time, Choir!Choir!Choir!  Presents: We Will CHOIR! You!: An EPIC QUEEN Sing-Along

When it comes to EPIC anthems, it doesn’t get BIGGER than Queen! And nothing feels better than belting out their biggest hits with a room full of Queen fans! So unleash your inner Freddie Mercury, grab your best friends and frenemies, and create harmonies that will blow the roof off the place! We Will CHOIR! You! will be the most fun you’ve had in years…

Since 2011, Choir! Choir! Choir! directors Daveed Goldman + Nobu Adilman have blurred the lines between performer and audience, traveling the world to create harmony with strangers and friends alike. They’ve collaborated with renowned artists like Patti Smith, David Byrne, Brandi Carlile, Rick Astley, Rufus Wainwright, and even Kermit The Frog at New York’s Lincoln Center, creating memorable videos that have garnered views in the millions. Now it’s your turn to SING!, so grab your friends, get your tickets and we’ll C! you there! #NeverStopSinging