Toronto Fringe Festival 2026
Galen’s Grocer: The Musical
Ian Yamamoto
Genre: Musical Theatre
Venue: Theatre Passe Muraille, 16 Ryerson Ave, Toronto, ON M5T 2P3
Festival: Toronto Fringe Festival
Low Down
This is an entertaining hour about the grocer you may have come to hate but still support by shopping the in-house brands, played by multi-talented singer/dancer/actors.
Review
For Canadians, the dislike of pricing and employee wages at Canada’s major food stores is not news. Playwright Ian Yamamato turned those sentiments into a fast-paced musical, after last year’s Toronto Fringe run as a play. It is funny, engaging, and hits home for Canadians.
The premise of the show is that the troupe is making a grocery store themed sitcom, similar to the very successful Kim’s Convenience TV series. The lead character is called Galen Easton, clearly modeled after Loblaw’s grocery chain billionaire CEO Galen Weston Jr. His family owns Canada’s largest food and drug retail empire, extensive real estate, and luxury department stores. Weston has become the face of their in-house brand, President’s Choice.
During the pandemic, the chain paid bonus wages to employees. However, this practice was discontinued and is a flashpoint for unions and other organizations to protest the high profits and low wages of the company. This dichotomy is a theme throughout the show.
So the making of a sitcom may be the way for Galen to redeem his image – or is it!
The set is simple – grocery store cartons in piles across the stage, creating the look of a shop.
The characters each have a different agenda. One male character is quite conceited and will support anything that make him a movie star. One female character is the daughter of Indian immigrants whose store was unable to survive once the large supermarket opened nearby. A third female character wants to be a billionaire. The actors handily change characters as needed throughout the performance.
The running theme of a purported CEO Killer is both dark and comic. It produces songs, staged sword fights, three very different puppets, and even a love story, all played by a multi-talented ensemble of Thomas Sharpe, Lance Oribello, Gunjan, Allison Mah, Nitin Anand, and Ian Yamamoto.
The songs support the story line. They are well written and often quite funny. “That’s Rich For You” is a song about family dynamics. The music varies from rap to pop, with good choreography to enhance the tunes. There is even a ballad about Costco and how that chain pays superior wages than Loblaws. Each piece of music moves the story line forward.
This is an entertaining hour about the grocer you may have come to hate but still support by shopping the in-house brands. The show will play well in Canada, but may not translate to other countries, as many of the references are local.
Music and lyrics are by James Atin, Thomas Sharpe, Lance Oribello, Gunjan, Allison Mah, and Nitin Anand. Direction is by Dave Barclay, choreography by Katie Mills, set designer is Julia Sanders and the producer is Maeve Pagan.
The show is part of the Alliance for Canadian Musicals at the Toronto Fringe.
