Wayne Leung (1981-2019)
Wayne was the Managing Editor of Mooney on Theatre from 2012 - 2019 and will be sorely missed. His death from an apparent heart attack was a loss not just to Mooney on Theatre, but also to the Toronto Theatre Community at large. You can read our publisher Megan Mooney's tribute to him here here.
Wayne was a writer, editor and corporate communications professional who was thrilled to be a part of the Mooney on Theatre team. Wayne loved theatre ever since his aunt brought him to a production of Les Misérables at the tender age of ten . . . despite the fact that, at that age, the show’s plot was practically indiscernible and the battle scenes scared the bejeezus out of him. Wayne’s current list of likes ran the gamut from opera, ballet and Shakespeare to Broadway musicals, circus and Fringe theatre. Outside of the theatre Wayne’s interests included travel, technology and food.
Mirvish presents the new definitive production of the international hit musical Les Misérables in Toronto
Les Misérables is a bonafide phenomenon of the stage. Based on the novel by Victor Hugo; a story of one man’s journey to redemption set against the backdrop of class-struggle and political unrest in post-Napoleonic France, Les Mis is hugely ambitious in scope and scale. It’s a grand, sweeping epic and an iconic mega-musical.
Les Mis originally opened in London’s West End in 1985 and has played there ever since making it one of the longest running musicals in history. The show has been so prolific that chances are, even if you haven’t seen it, you’d still be able to recognize some of its iconic songs like On My Own, I Dreamed a Dream, Do You Hear the People Sing, and Bring Him Home.
Toronto’s Lower Ossington Theatre presents Next to Normal; a rock musical about mental illness
Next to Normal is a compelling drama about one family’s struggle with mental illness; a scathing critique of psychopharmacology and the pharmaceutical industry. Overall, it’s also a big, bold rock musical. This gripping, intelligent and emotional show won the 2010 Tony Award for Best Musical as well as the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and is easily one of my favourite musicals of the past ten years.
The SummerWorks Performance Festival has wrapped up for another year. The Mooney on Theatre team spent the past eleven days covering the 45 theatre shows presented in this year’s festival. Once again, the festival presented a mix of boundary-pushing productions to a growing audience; SummerWorks announced a 10% increase in revenue this year.
At the Closing Night Party, held at the Festival Hub’s Shop Bar in the Lower Ossington Theatre on Sunday night, SummerWorks announced this year’s slate of winners for the festival’s awards.
Congrats to all the winners and congrats to SummerWorks on another successful festival.
SummerWorks Performance Festival 2013 Award Winners
Once again this year the SummerWorks Performance Festival features a mix of daring, provocative, challenging, thought-provoking and controversial theatre and once again the Mooney on Theatre team has reviewed the 45 theatre shows* in the festival.
If you’re looking for a place to start, see the following list of recommendations for the shows that our staff think you should see at this year’s SummerWorks Festival.
Mooney on Theatre Staff Picks – 2013 SummerWorks Performance Festival
On Tuesday night I attended the third and final production of this year’s Musical Works in Concert series at SummerWorks; the science-fiction opera Paradises Lost by composer Stephen Andrew Taylor and Librettist Marcia Johnson based on a novella of the same title by Ursula K. Le Guin.
