Confession time; I love Christmas. I love the lights and the carols and the shiny wrapping paper, I love the cookies and the pine boughs, and I even love the inevitable crowds and the self-indulgence of sky-high prices for a mug of mulled wine at one of the many Christmas markets around the city.

When I talk about the Christmas miracle that is the revived Ross Petty / Canadian Stage holiday pantomime, The Wizard of Oz: The Toto-ly Awesome Family Musical, the festive spirit will very much be in the room with us. After all, we don’t go to those Christmas markets to eat the mediocre food or shop for tchotchkes. We go for the experience of being swept away in a tide of good cheer with a host of other lovely strangers brimming with good will, and right now, warm and fuzzy is a metric I’m ready to consider.