All posts by Wayne Leung

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.

Preview: Disgraced (Mirvish)

disgraced-photoMirvish presents the Toronto premiere of Ayad Akhtar’s Pultizer Prize-winning play Disgraced

Mirvish is producing the Toronto premiere of Disgraced, a new play by Pakistani-American writer Ayad Akhtar that grapples with issues like politics, religion, Muslim-American identity and Islamophobia. Disgraced received critical acclaim in Chicago, London, and New York, won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and will be one of the most-produced plays in North America this season.

We asked actor Raoul Bhaneja, who plays the lead role of Amir, a few questions about the show: Continue reading Preview: Disgraced (Mirvish) →

Review: The Hotline Always Blings Twice (The Second City)

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HOTLINE 3 LR KIRSTEN RASMUSSEN KEVIN WHALEN KYLE DOOLEY PHOTO BY RACHEAL MCCAIGThe Second City Toronto opens its Spring 2016 Mainstage show The Hotline Always Blings Twice

It’s the time of year when that local sketch comedy institution, The Second City, reveals its Spring Mainstage revue. This edition, titled The Hotline Always Blings Twice, is a love letter to The 6ix replete with sketches referencing TTC streetcars, the Toronto Blue Jays, Murdoch Mysteries and even Drizzy himself. Unfortunately, I don’t think this spring chicken was quite ready to hatch. Continue reading Review: The Hotline Always Blings Twice (The Second City) →

Review: TORO (Akram Khan/Canadian Stage)

ToroToronto’s Canadian Stage presents TORO by Akram Khan & Israel Galván

It was to be a meeting of two titans of the dance world: Israel Galván, a flamenco dancer known for pushing the boundaries of that traditional form of dance, and Akram Khan, one of Britain’s top choreographers who has garnered worldwide acclaim for his unique contemporary dance inspired by an ancient Indian style called kathak. The pair were to bring their two unique styles of dance together in a show called Torobaka.

Unfortunately, Galván recently suffered a knee injury while performing in Paris and is unable to perform. Previous engagements of Torobaka had to be cancelled but in the interim Khan has been busy adapting the show into a new solo piece simply titled TORO to be performed for this Toronto engagement. Continue reading Review: TORO (Akram Khan/Canadian Stage) →

Review: Cowboy Versus Samurai (Soulpepper)

Toronto’s Soulpepper Theatre presents the searing, political comedy Cowboy Versus Samurai

Soulpepper has had a lot of success staging updated adaptations of classic plays so who better to mount a production of Cowboy Versus Samurai, American playwright Michael Golamco’s hilarious, clever, edgy and political adaptation of Edmond Rostand’s classic play Cyrano de Bergerac? Cyrano, the man with the poet’s flair and famously large nose, believed that his ugliness denied him the dream of being loved. But for Travis, the protagonist in Cowboy Versus Samurai it’s not a giant nose that renders him unloveable it’s his race.  Continue reading Review: Cowboy Versus Samurai (Soulpepper) →