Fine, I’ll do my job. Your friendly neighbourhood theatre nerd is here to give you the low-down on 3 more 2026 Toronto Fringe shows.

CAMP!

CAMP! is a new musical from the team behind last year’s Iris Says Goodbye, Ben Kopp & Margot Greve. It should not be confused with last month’s play, CAMP (no exclamation mark), which was half set at a concentration camp. The peppier CAMP! takes place at a run-of-the-mill, modern-day children’s summer camp – no Holocaust references. Anyway, all the parts are played by genuine teenagers (most coming from Bravo Academy). How authentic!

Jokes aside, CAMP! is about experiencing independence for the first time, growing up, making friends and moving on. The premise isn’t exactly novel (think Camp Rock, the Anna Kendrick Movie Camp, Theater Camp, Moonrise Kingdom…), but it’s a sweet show with beautiful music, fast-talking teens, a sharp script and genuinely funny moments. The kids are quite talented, the set design is effective, the plot is easy to follow, and I had a lovely time. Sometimes, things don’t need to be completely original or overly complicated to be wonderful. Hats off to Kopp & Greve – y’all are very talented. I’ve loved following your journey over the years.

One minor suggestion to the team: cut the first part of the opening number (the “gather round the fire let me tell you my story” part), and just start when the campers arrive for the start of camp. You don’t need that exposition.

The Wounds of Love and Other Gifts

I’m going to start off by saying a friend of mine produced this one, so I’m way too close to be an impartial reviewer. But I also don’t want to penalize someone for being my friend, so I’ll give you a general overview of the piece, and you can decide if it’s of interest to you!

The Wounds of Love… is a modern opera by Bruce Dow (of Stratford fame) based on Oscar Wilde fairytales. The cast mostly comprises operatic/classical musical theatre singers, plus a ridiculously talented featured dancer (Erinn Bekkers). Though the Fringe version runs 60 minutes, it’s my understanding that this is an excerpt from a full-length musical. The shortened version doesn’t feel incomplete, though, presumably because the expanded work explores additional fairytales. Words I’d use to describe this show: whimsy, sentimental, melancholy, contemplative, opera.

Galen’s Grocer: The Musical

I briefly reviewed a non-musical version of this show last year. Galen’s Grocer: The Musical is about Galen Weston (of Loblaws grocery fame) and his desire to become better liked by the general public so as not to become a victim of the “CEO Killer.” He decides that the best way to do this is to produce a musical sitcom mirroring Kim’s Convenience about a modern Korean family working at one of his grocery stores, casting himself as the lead (not Korean), alongside three other family members as his wife and two children, Janet and Jung (also not Korean). I love this premise.

From last year to now, the show has improved substantially. The plot is tighter and easier to follow, the pacing is better, and it’s funnier. The music is fun – not the most complex I’ve heard, but it doesn’t detract from the show. There were a few new jokes that I loved (e.g. the background dancer’s shirts, the integration of product placement, the new set). And I really liked all the performers.

The only substantive thing I’d push the team on is to make the show’s central argument more layered. As it stands, the play’s main takeaway feels close to “billionaires are bad,” which is a bit basic and likely preaching to the choir of Fringe audiences. Can you make the play challenge the audience a bit more? Perhaps expose contradictions that exist in the world, or invite the audience to think differently about capitalism, corporate power, or consumer culture? President’s Choice food for thought.