After more than two decades, Paul Gross is back at the Stratford Festival, this time playing theatre’s most conflicted retiree. He’s never been more ready
"You know a show's a hit when the air changes in the theatre. You smell the pheromones, and you know people are leaning in"
I worked with him at Toronto Life in the late 1980s and early 1990s and marvelled at his passion for arts and media in this country. In his 82 years on the planet, he did more for Canadian culture than probably anyone alive
"One particularly powerful gust sent hundreds of pages of scripts flying, and the the entire company chased after them"
It wasn’t easy and it wasn’t cheap, but the show must go on
"I've decided to continue the work, believing that someday we will be able to do the show"
He was supposed to star in Richard III. Now, like every other actor in Canada, he’s at home wondering when he’ll ever work again
What to do in Toronto during the week of August 15
Including a starlit movie screening in a vineyard and a play in a barn