Mr. Toronto

I guess I need to start this blog with an apology to those of you who actually wait for new entries with baited breath….so mom and dad, I’m sorry I kept you waiting so long…the New Year got away from me, and we are well into 2010.  I suppose my excuse is that there has just been so much going n in Toronto, I haven’t had the time to sit down and write!  The Raptors are winning consistently, the Leafs are sucking less with the addition of three hot new players, and arts and entertainment continues to flourish around the City…

Three fantastic “smaller” theatre productions are being staged right now – all highly recommended.  “The Light in the Piazza” won a Tony on Broadway, and is now on a small stage at the Berkeley St. Theatre.  “Assassins” is a new Stephen Sondheim play about people who have wanted to kill Presidents over the years – playing at the Theatre Centre.  And “Intimate Apparel” a fantastic non-musical (the other two are), playing at the slightly larger venue of the Bluma Appel Theatre, as part of  Canadian Stage’s season.

Speaking of venues, there is a fabulous new one that opened up recently, mainly for (one-night) concerts (all kinds of interesting stuff from Cuban to Flamenco to Pop).  It’s the Koerner Hall at the Royal Conservatory of Music on Bloor St.  Gorgeous spot, great shows – check it out: http://performance.rcmusic.ca/viewallconcerts

Finally, I want to leave you with a bit of tourism-related research you may be interested in, from a visitor survey conducted by Tourism Toronto, in partnership with Ryerson University and the Greater Toronto Airport Authority (an ongoing visitor survey at Pearson Airport and several highway stops outside of Toronto).

Here are the main neighbourhoods of interest during visitor trips:

• Yonge/Dundas
• Waterfront/Harbourfront
• Chinatown
• Queen West
• Entertainment District
• University of Toronto area
• Yorkville/Bloor
• St. Lawrence/Old Town
• Mississauga
• Toronto Islands
• Distillery District
• Scarborough
• Little Italy
• Kensington Market

We’ve covered some of these in previous blogs, and will surely get to the rest in the future.   Look forward to bumping into you!