All stories by Melissa Leong on BroadwayStars

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Toronto Cabaret festival is the place to be this weekend, old chum by Melissa Leong

More than 150 artists will present 21 one-hour cabarets at the fifth annual Global Cabaret Festival.

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 04:34PM
Wednesday, October 10, 2012

In conversation with George Hamilton and Christopher Sieber by Melissa Leong

The La Cage Aux Folles stars sat down with Melissa Leong to ask each other some burning questions.

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 10:00AM
Friday, October 5, 2012

Second to nun: The stars of Sister Act share their sinful and saintly stories by Melissa Leong

The stars of Sister Act the Musical share stories of saintly and sinful behaviour, as well as the good and the bad on stage.

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 08:00AM
Tuesday, October 2, 2012

On the town with Rex Harrington, artist-in-residence at the National Ballet of Canada by Melissa Leong

It has taken Rex Harrington years to create a garden of trees, bushes, flowers and vines at his house in Toronto

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 04:00PM
Wednesday, September 26, 2012

The cast of Tap Dogs on first steps and road stories by Melissa Leong

Four of the fast-footed cast members of Tap Dogs endure a round of rapid fire questions.

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 10:43AM
Monday, September 24, 2012

Mirvish goes edgy with alternative season by Melissa Leong

Clybourne Park will launch the inaugural “off-Mirvish” season, the Toronto-based company’s foray into alternative theatre.

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 05:01PM
Friday, July 27, 2012

Scenes from a Life: Jackie Maxwell by Melissa Leong

Jackie Maxwell, artistic director of the Shaw Festival, shares scenes from her life.

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 01:00PM
Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Backbeat’s Isabella Calthorpe loves you, yeah yeah yeah by Melissa Leong

Isabella Calthorpe appears in Backbeat, telling the famed love story between Stuart Sutcliffe and German photographer Astrid Kirchherr.

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 03:30PM
Friday, July 20, 2012

Pay it Forward: Just for Laughs edition by Melissa Leong

We asked comedians appearing at Just for Laughs to recommend their favourite colleague, and then we asked that colleague to do the same

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 05:00PM
Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Dancap’s Aubrey Dan on bowing out by Melissa Leong

“We knew it was coming a year ago. There are not enough great shows from New York and the West End to bring to Toronto,” Dan says.

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 07:00PM
Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Crash and The Penelopiad nab the most Dora nods by Melissa Leong

Both productions netted six nods each, it was announced in Toronto on Tuesday.

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 02:50PM
Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Theatre review: Cavalia’s Odysseo a beautiful escape from reality by Melissa Leong

In the final moments of Cavalia’s magical new show, Odysseo, the stage is flooded with 80,000 gallons of water

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 08:00PM
Monday, May 14, 2012

Horseplay on a grand scale, Cavalia’s Odysseo comes to Toronto by Melissa Leong

Odysseo is a colossal production featuring 50 artists and acrobats and more than 60 horses under the world’s largest touring Big Top.

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 10:00AM
Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Stars of Bring It On: The Musical remember high school by Melissa Leong

As Bring It On: The Musical hopes to show, there is more to cheerleading than high kicks and spirit fingers. The Post spoke to the stars of the show, now on in Toronto, about being the geek …

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 02:42PM

Kathleen Turner flies High by Melissa Leong

At 57, Kathleen Turner’s body and voice now mark the presence of someone who has endured.

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 10:00AM
Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Q&A: Jillian Keiley, National Arts Centre’s incoming artistic director by Melissa Leong

Jillian Keiley, an award-winning director from St. John’s, N.L., has been named the new artistic director of the National Arts Centre’s English theatre department.

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 04:39PM
Wednesday, March 14, 2012

K’Naan, Rufus Wainwright, Alice Munro among headliners at Luminato by Melissa Leong

This June, Kate McGarrigle’s music will be a part of Luminato, Toronto’s annual festival of arts and creativity.

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 05:43PM
Thursday, March 1, 2012

Head or tail: Giving life to the War Horse by Melissa Leong

In January, reporters and television crews gathered at a rehearsal hall in Toronto to see their first glimpse of the First World War play War Horse. While the cast and crew prepared to run a…

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 09:00AM
Wednesday, October 26, 2011

2 Pianos, 4 Hands, 6 Questions, 1 Interview by Melissa Leong

It’s been eight years since Ted Dykstra, 50, and Richard Greenblatt, 58, last performed their seminal collaboration, 2 Pianos, 4 Hands. But Dykstra didn’t even need to look at the script…

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 06:00PM
Friday, October 21, 2011

Sahr Ngaujah of Fela! moves to the Afrobeat by Melissa Leong

Sahr Ngaujah walks almost leisurely inside the Canon Theatre in downtown Toronto and takes a seat in the lobby. “Cool,” he responds when I ask how his day has been. Ngaujah is cool. The …

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 04:37PM
Thursday, October 6, 2011

Inside Cirque du Soleil’s Montreal headquarters by Melissa Leong

Journalists from around the world arrived in Montreal this past Sunday to write about Cirque du Soleil’s new arena spectacle, Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour. The Post’s…

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 08:00AM
Wednesday, October 5, 2011

The Man in the Mirror: Cirque du Soleil’s Michael Jackson show a labour of love by Melissa Leong

Michael Jackson would have loved this, says Greg Phillinganes, the late singer’s long-time music director. Phillinganes is sitting on the stage at Montreal’s Bell Centre where Cirque du…

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 07:03PM

Craig Revel Horwood faces the challenge of Chess, the musical by Melissa Leong

Staging the musical Chess can be as tricky as the game itself. Inspired by the famous 1972 Bobby Fischer-Boris Spassky championship match held in Iceland, lyricist Tim Rice wrote it as a 198…

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 05:39PM
Saturday, October 1, 2011

Canada’s Walk of Fame story here by Melissa Leong

Audiences at the 14th annual induction ceremony for Canada’s Walk of Fame were treated to a star-studded event Saturday night featuring comedy by host Howie Mandel and a surprise perfo…

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 08:59PM
Monday, September 26, 2011

Public lives: Paul Gross and Kim Cattrall share the stage by Melissa Leong

Kim Cattrall and Paul Gross are laughing while huddled together on a couch in Toronto’s Royal Alexandra Theatre. They compose themselves for a photographer. Cattrall says she hopes th…

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 09:00AM
Monday, August 15, 2011

Choreographer Twyla Tharp invites audiences to Come Fly Away by Melissa Leong

A good phrase is a good phrase, legendary choreographer Twyla Tharp says. “It’s like a good melody. It’s like a composer at a piano bench — he remembers his melodies,” the 70-year-…

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 06:00PM
Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Cirque du Soleil’s Totem: The origin of trapeze by Melissa Leong

It was early October 2009 and acclaimed Quebec director Robert Lepage was preparing to present his vision for the latest Cirque du Soleil show to CEO Guy Laliberté. “When are we showing t…

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 08:00AM
Wednesday, August 3, 2011

TSO gets new concertmaster by Melissa Leong

McGill University violin professor and former Montreal Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Jonathan Crow will make his debut as concertmaster of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra on Sept. 22. Crow…

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 04:36PM
Monday, July 11, 2011

Carrie Fisher on her “Leia-laden life” by Melissa Leong

When you reach Carrie Fisher’s voice mail, a friendly voice informs you: “You’ve reached Elizabeth Taylor’s stepdaughter.” It’s just a touch of Fisher’s sense of humour. In 195…

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 03:02PM
Monday, July 4, 2011

Hugh Jackman: Inhabiting the space between action hero and Broadway star | Ampersand | National Post by Melissa Leong

There is Hugh Jackman, the Tony Award-winning, singing and dancing Broadway star. And there is Hugh Jackman, the scruffy, adamantium-clawed action hero. And then there are the people trying …

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 11:13PM
Monday, June 27, 2011

Dora Awards honours Toronto’s best: Blasted leads theatre category by Melissa Leong

Buddies in Bad Times Theatre’s production of Blasted, a dark, controversial drama involving anal rape, eye-gouging and baby-eating received mixed reviews when it opened last fall. But the …

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 11:00PM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards