HEY BIG MIKE! at Theatre Passe Muraille

HEY BIG MIKE! is a wildly theatrical musical memoir from award-winning performer Michael Caldwell, and it plays Theatre Passe Muraille from December 1 to December 12, 2026.

The premise is simple and painfully familiar to many families. Since his mother died, Michael and his father, a Vietnam veteran, barely speak. Every Christmas in Pittsburgh, they settle into the same routine of watching reruns on TV together in near silence. But when the words run out, the singing starts.

From there the show becomes a kaleidoscopic cabaret. Caldwell hosts a parade of unforgettable characters, each with their own musical style and story, all backed by an original pop score by Anika Johnson, one of the most in-demand composers in Canadian musical theatre. The result sits somewhere between a solo show, a concert and a family drama, and it uses that mix to look at what goes unsaid between parents and children, and at the hidden, and not-so-quiet, rituals we invent to cope with grief.

For a December theatre option that is not a panto or a Christmas Carol, this is a smart pick. It is set at the holidays and has plenty of humour and big musical moments, but it is really about connection, loss and the families we actually have rather than the ones on greeting cards.

Theatre Passe Muraille has been one of Toronto's key homes for new Canadian work since the 1960s, and its intimate main space suits a personal show like this.

Practical notes: Theatre Passe Muraille is at 16 Ryerson Ave., just north of Queen Street West near Bathurst. The 501 Queen and 511 Bathurst streetcars both stop a short walk away. Tickets start at $20 through passemuraille.ca, and the theatre typically offers pay-what-you-can options for some performances; check the box office. The neighbourhood around Queen and Bathurst has plenty of spots for a drink or dinner before the show.