Actor Hailey Gillis is pictured in this promotional shot of Onegin.Adam Rankin
Onegin
In her review of Onegin upon its premiere last year in Vancouver, The Globe and Mail's Marsha Lederman praised the sung-through musical as a "searing love story with authenticity that cuts through the song-and-dance spectacle and strikes the audience at its core." Whoa! Has someone told Tchaikovsky the news? The indie-rock adaptation of the Russian's opera and the Pushkin poem hits Toronto before opening the National Arts Centre season in the fall.
May 17 to June 4 (previews begin May 13). $35 to $59. Berkeley Street Theatre Downstairs, 26 Berkeley St., 416-368-3110 or canadianstage.com.
It's All Tru
It's billed as a "darkly entertaining story steeped in sex, love, jealousy and pharmaceuticals," but before you jump to conclusions about the drugs, they're not the recreational kind. In his snappy new drama about three gay men, Sky Gilbert zeroes in on anti-HIV medication and the criminalization of a disease.
To May 14. $29 to $39. Buddies in Bad Times, 12 Alexander St., 416-975-8555 or buddiesinbadtimes.com.
Canada: The Thinking Man's America
The touring Second City Comedy troupe puffs its nationalistic chest out with a collection of sketches that lampoon the United States and show Canada in a better light. If laughter is the best medicine, a feeling of smug sesquicentennial superiority could be the cure for whatever ails you. May 15 to Oct. 16 (in repertory).
$15 to $25. Second City, 51 Mercer St., 416-343-0011 or secondcity.com.
Daniel Lanois: North
Not only a renowned musician and producer (of albums by U2, Peter Gabriel and Bob Dylan), Daniel Lanois is a searcher and a painter. An exhibit that is part of the month-long Scotiabank Contact Photography Festival shows off prints created from his original paintings, described by Lanois as abstract visual companions reflecting the "natural earthly beauty that I saw in our great North."
To June 10. Free. Gallery House, 2068 Dundas St. W., 416-587-0057 or galleryhouse.ca.
An Evening with Tomson Highway
As an Order of Canada recipient, Tomson Highway has earned the right to give a "greatest hits" cabaret. With saxophonist Marcus Ali and vocalist Patricia Cano, the Cree playwright presents songs from five of his shows, including The Incredible Adventures of Mary Jane Mosquito and his new Songs in the Key of Cree. May 12, 8 p.m. $40 to $85.
Koerner Hall, 273 Bloor St. W., 416-408-0208 or rcmusic.ca.
Brad Wheeler