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.
Daniel MacIvor performs his solo play This Is What Happens Next at Toronto’s Factory Theatre
A few years ago, Daniel MacIvor, prolific Canadian playwright, director and performer, swore off performing solo shows. Though I’ve seen a few productions of MacIvor’s plays including a few in which he performed, I hadn’t experienced MacIvor in a one-man show. After seeing his newest solo play, This Is What Happens Next, I’m glad he reconsidered his decision to abandon the genre. Continue reading Review: This Is What Happens Next (Necessary Angel)→
Angelwalk Theatre presents quirky musical Ordinary Days at the Toronto Centre for the Arts
Speaking from experience, your late 20s/early 30s are a turbulent time; you’re figuring yourself out, deciding what you want to do for the rest of your life and often making your first serious go at a real adult relationship. These are some of the core subjects explored in Ordinary Days.
For the first time, Toronto’s Angelwalk Theatre partnered with Winnipeg Studio Theatre for a co-production. Ordinary Days by composer/lyricist Adam Gwon made its debut in 2009 at New York’s Roundabout Theatre. This quirky little musical is a great fit for Angelwalk, a company steadily making a name for itself producing off-Broadway shows in Toronto.
Canadian Stage presents Venus in Fur, shows by Robert Lepage, Kim Collier & Crystal Pite in Toronto in 2013.14
Last night, on a brisk late-November evening and barely half-way into its current season, Canadian Stage unveiled its upcoming 2013.14 season to the media at an event in the rehearsal space of their Berkeley Street facility.
While Canadian Stage’s artistic and general director Matthew Jocelyn had taken some flack when he first took over the reins of the company in 2009 for some overly arty and high-brow programming choices, in the past two seasons I’ve really noticed the company re-gain its footing and strike a balance in presenting work that’s still high-minded and challenging but also accessible and engaging.
Outside the March’s Terminus, an unconventional Irish play on stage at Toronto’s Royal Alexandra Theatre
Back in September when Toronto’s foremost theatre purveyor, Mirvish, announced the creation of Off-Mirvish, their second-stage series, they promised it would feature “bold, original, exciting new theatre”. The show they chose to kick off this inaugural season, Outside the March’s Terminus, fits that description to a tee.
If you’re a regular Mirvish subscriber accustomed to their usual offerings of imported Broadway and West End musicals be prepared for something surprising and different. We’re definitely not in Kansas anymore! Continue reading Review: Terminus (Outside the March/Mirvish)→
Theatre Passe Muraille presents Fare Game: Life in Toronto’s Taxis, a play shedding light on Toronto’s taxi industry
I don’t own a car so I occasionally use taxis to get around. I’ll hail a cab, let the driver know where I’m going, proceed to check my smartphone for most of the trip, pay the fare and leave. Taxis are so commonplace in Toronto that we don’t really think much about them or the people who drive them for a living.
However, if we peer just under the surface we’d see an industry fraught with conflict and struggle and an arcane system of licensing that’s leading to all out class warfare.
