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.
Toronto’s Acting Up Stage Company & Obsidian Theatre present the ’20s jazz musical The Wild Party
It was the roaring ‘20s; the era of prohibition and bathtub gin, Vaudeville and minstrel shows, jazz and flappers. World War I was over and the economic boom it spurred ushered in an entire decade that felt like one big party. This is the world of The Wild Party, a musical by Michael John LaChiusa and George C. Wolfe inspired by a scandalous 1928 narrative poem of the same title by Joseph Moncure March. This new production of the musical, a co-production of Acting Up Stage Company and Obsidian Theatre Company, is indeed a wild, if at times uneven, party. Continue reading Review: The Wild Party (Acting Up Stage Company & Obsidian Theatre)→
Toronto’s Soulpepper presents The Dining Room, A. R. Gurney’s comedy about #WhitePeopleProblems
White People Problems, as defined by comedian Louis C.K., is “when your life is so amazing, that you make shit up to be upset about”; like when you lose the hood ornament on your Mercedes or when your polo tournament gets rained out. Soulpepper’s production of A. R. Gurney’s play The Dining Room is essentially two hours of White People Problems. Continue reading Review: The Dining Room (Soulpepper)→
One of the things I love about the new Progress Festival is that it brings international works to the Toronto stage that audiences here might not otherwise have a chance to be exposed to. While not every show will hit the mark; if you take the chance, you may discover a performance that surprises you and affects you in an unexpected way. D-Sisyphe (décisif) created and performed by Tunisian actor, dancer and playwright Meher Awachri is such a show for me. I went in with a bit of a detached, academic curiosity and emerged surprisingly moved by the performance.
SummerWorks launches Progress; a new festival bringing international performances to Toronto
This week marks the opening of Toronto’s newest festival; Progress. Produced by the SummerWorks performance festival, Progress is dubbed an “international festival of performance and ideas”. The focus is global but the size is more manageable than its summer counterpart; the programme features roughly a dozen performances, workshops, talks and exhibits, hosted in a single venue; the new home of The Theatre Centre on Queen West. Continue reading This is Progress→
Mirvish presents BOOM in Toronto, a solo show documenting the baby boom starring Rick Miller
BOOM, written, directed and performed by Rick Miller is an interesting beast. The show is sort of a live documentary about the lives and times of the baby boom generation; the large cohort born after the Second World War. BOOM is part history lesson, part nostalgia trip, part musical tribute concert and part multimedia slide show. It’s not nearly as academic an exercise as it sounds and it’s surprisingly entertaining. Continue reading Review: BOOM (Mirvish/Kdoons/Wyrd Productions)→
