We’ve combed through the reviews of this season’s family shows and here are the top three recommendations.

Top 3 Toronto Shows

#1 The Little Mermaid
Number one on my list because it’s Ross Petty’s most popular show in years. The critics agree it’s the best family show this season. The children I’ve talked with who saw it all loved it, and want to see it again!

J. Kelly Nestruck at The Globe and Mail gives it 4 1/2 stars.
Nestruck attended the performance with a three year old “who somehow managed to stay awake and as engaged as I did through a two and a half hour show (with intermission) in the evening.”

Fans of the Stratford Festival will be pleased to see Chilina Kennedy and Dan Chameroy. Writing about Kennedy, Nestruck notes that “While it was earnest rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar that took her to Broadway, Kennedy has always impressed me most in musical comedy. She gets a chance to show off her chops in the second act when she is transformed into a human for a day in exchange for her voice.
Read the full review HERE
Runs through Jan. 4. Tickets start at $27 – Get Tickets HERE

Ontario Premiere of “Elf” the musical.
If you have plans to be south of Toronto be sure to see my review of the Ontario premiere of “Elf”, at the Grand Theatre in London, and “Peter Pan”, at the Dunfield Theatre in Cambridge. My seven year old son Cole and I saw both.

“Elf,” featuring a book by Toronto’s Bob Martin, and Broadway’s legendary Thomas Meehan, is a spectacular show worth seeing. “Peter Pan” is a traditional pantomime with lots of fun for kids of all ages.

Click here to Read our review, and listen to our podcast to hear what young Cole likes most about the shows.

#2 Annie
Number two on my list because, like “The Little Mermaid”, it features top-notch Canadian performers, but also because the tickets are affordable.

The Young People’s Theatre’s kicks it up a notch this Christmas casting Tony award nominee Louise Pitre as Miss Hannigan.

Robert Crew in The Toronto Star admits he isn’t a fan of the musical, but grudgingly gives kudos to Louise Pitre as Miss Hannigan and Sterling Jarvis playing “Daddy” Warbucks. Davis brings a wealth of experience in family theatre having played “Simba” and “Pumba” in the Toronto production of Disney’s “The Lion King.”

Runs through Dec. 29. Tickets start at $24 – get Tickets HERE

#3 Aladdin
Number three, rather than two, mostly because it’ll cost a lot more than the others for the average family to attend.

Disney assembled some of the best people in the business to create this production, with the hopes of landing on Broadway. For example, as the Toronto Star`s Richard Ouzounian notes, the show`s composer Alan Menken, “may be one of the most successful songwriters in history, with eight Oscars to his credit and a catalogue of musical numbers that informed the childhoods of several generations of filmgoers…“

Writing in the Globe and Mail, J. Kelly Nestruck finds some praiseworthy moments, including: “James Monroe Iglehart – trying his best to fill the big shoes of Robin Williams – has a hilarious entrance, doing his best Oprah impression and shouting: “You get a wish, and you get a wish, and you get a wish!” Naturally, his songs like Friend Like Me and Prince Ali involve the conjuring of large chorus lines. He’s a hoot.”

Read the full review HERE.

Runs through Jan.5. Tickets start at $35 but the lowest priced available tickets are $59 and they are limited – Get Tickets HERE

Be sure to listen to my podcast interview with Chilina Kennedy from “The Little Mermaid” and Louise Pitre from “Annie.”

Click Here to see my review of the Ontario pre­miere of “Elf”