July in Toronto is really all about two festivals; the Toronto Fringe Festival and Toronto Summer Music.

The Fringe runs July 2nd to July 13th and there are more than 100 shows on 20+ stages.  There’s a huge range of performance styles; drama, comedy, clowning, musicals, stand up etc.  Most shows run an hour or less and the standard ticket price is $18.75 though there are plenty of discounts plus multi show passes as well as free events at the Fringe Hub which this year is at Soulpepper with events also across the street at Old Flame brewery.  Quality varies a lot.  Some shows are excellent; Monks last year would be a case in point, but others a re a bit meh.  But that’s the point really.  You can see what looks interesting to you.  All the details are here.

Toronto Summer Music runs July 10th to August 2nd and features a range of fully professional concerts, performances by their interns and mentors, community stuff and more.  From an opera/vocal music point of view there are three obvious shows to catch.  Opening night sees the Capella Mediterranea give a concert performance of Monteverdi’s surprisingly modern and dead sexy Il coronazione di Poppea at Koerner Hall.  On the 14th soprano Mary Bevan appears in recital with pianist Roger Vignoles at Walter Hall (she’s also doing a free master class on the 11th).  Last, but most certainly not least, on July 24th there’s a concert version (with projections) of Brian Current and Marie Clements’ MISSING; an opera about murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls. It sounds like a bit of a downer but it’s actually a very well crafted and ultimately hopeful piece.  On a lighter note, Schmaltz and Pepper have two concerts in Walter Hall on the 16th; little kids at 11am and big kids at 7.30pm.  Also on the 31st in Koerner Hall Simone McIntosh, soloists and orchestra have a sort of Vienna pops concert with both Strausses, Lehar etc.  All the details are available here.

But if you want some straight theatre and don’t feel like trekking to Stratford there’s Canadian Stage’s High Park production which this year is Romeo and Juliet.  There are previews July 13th, 15th and 16th with opening on the 17th and it runs to the end of August.  Marie Farsi (Fifteen Dogs etc) directs with a pretty good looking cast.