{"id":78,"date":"2009-02-25T22:57:00","date_gmt":"2009-02-26T02:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/66.147.244.61\/~twisithe\/?p=78"},"modified":"2023-08-05T14:23:38","modified_gmt":"2023-08-05T17:23:38","slug":"wayne-gwillim%e2%80%99s-a-genius","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.twisitheatreblog.com\/?p=78","title":{"rendered":"Wayne Gwillim\u2019s A Genius"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

By Greg Gibson<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

How does one begin to describe the entity that is Wayne Gwillim? Well, I hope my words will do the fellow justice, but it\u2019s doubtful. The boy\u2019s a genius<\/strong> \u2013 how does one begin to describe a genius?
I met Wayne back when I was new to Toronto (the first time) in 2001\/2002. I think we met through mutual friends or the internet or something. I was just thrilled to meet someone as geeky about musical theatre as I was! After a few coffees and late-night breakfasts at \u201cThe Victory Caf\u00e9\u201d on Bloor St., I knew I had a kindred spirit in Mr. Gwillim.
I don\u2019t think Wayne had branched into musical direction full force yet\u2026 At the time he was doing some church gigs (as a vocalist and accompanist), playing for auditions, and had done a bit of musical direction (and acting) for the Bluewater Summer Playhouse \u2013 but had definitely been bitten by the bug. I don\u2019t know if he knew that he was headed towards making the transition from performer\/vocalist to musical director\u2026 But I think it\u2019s safe to speak for everyone when I say \u2013 \u201cWayne, we\u2019re glad you did!\u201d
Wayne has a Bachelor of Music from the University of Toronto where he focused on voice studies. Besides having a lovely voice (which we don\u2019t get to hear enough of, but pops out from time to time), he\u2019s a killer pianist \u2013 as anyone who\u2019s ever had him as an accompanist can attest to! Anyone who walks into an audition and sees Wayne behind the piano admittedly breathes a sigh of relief\u2026 There\u2019s nothing you can\u2019t throw at him. (Truth be told, he\u2019s probably played everything in the musical theatre repertoire a bunch of times anyway!)
Over the years, Wayne and I stayed in touch (barely) \u2013 despite the fact that I moved out of the city and travelled around as a musical director myself for several years. As we each built up our resumes, our paths crossed again through mutual friends. I quickly discovered he\u2019d earned the respect and admiration of the Toronto musical theatre community as a whole, and was quickly becoming Toronto\u2019s \u201cIt Boy\u201d when it came to musical direction. Most notably on the Toronto theatre scene, Wayne\u2019s musical direction with \u201cActing Up Stage Company<\/a>\u201d on their productions of tick, tick\u2026 BOOM!,<\/em> john & jen<\/em>, and Elegies: A Song Cycle<\/em> have earned him rave reviews both from the media and his peers. You can be assured that if you see a production that Wayne has musical directed, that it will be sharp, clean, and melodically rapturous.
Wayne has also made his mark with the prominent theatre schools in the area \u2013 Sheridan, Randolph, George Brown\u2026 As well, Wayne brilliantly conducted Talk Is Free Theatre\u2019s <\/a>concert presentation of Stephen Sondheim\u2019s Anyone Can Whistle<\/em> at the Diesel Playhouse last year. He spent most of 2008 at the Shaw Festival<\/a> as the Intern Musical Director and made such an impression that he was asked to be involved in the 2009 Shaw Festival season. Sadly, he had to turn that offer down\u2026 because he\u2019s going to be joining the Toronto production of The Sound of Music <\/a>as Assistant Conductor very soon! (To the Shaw Festival fans, don\u2019t fret\u2026 his work can be heard as Associate Orchestrator for their production of Sunday In The Park With George<\/em>!)
I could go on and on about how talented this boy is, and how much I adore and respect him \u2013 as I\u2019m sure we all could. I think the best way to find out more about Wayne is to see for yourself\u2026 Go see \u201cA New Brain\u201d<\/a> before March 1 \u2013 and come to \u201cSing Out, Louise<\/a>!\u201d to see his brilliant accompaniment.
(On a personal note \u2013 I\u2019d like to thank Wayne for subbing for me on several rehearsals during Talk Is Free Theatre\u2019s recent production of Kiss of the Spider Woman, where at the last minute, he was asked to be prepared to play a run of Act Two \u2013 and did so brilliantly! Oh, and thanks for teaching me how to program the synthesizer in 45 seconds. You\u2019re such a smart-ass sometimes.) Come see Wayne play live at: SING OUT, LOUISE<\/em>!: Monday, March 9th, 8pm. $25.00. Buddies in Bad Times<\/a>.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Toronto\u2019s Biggest Theatre Stars.
ALL TOGETHER. ALL STAR. ALL FABULOUS.<\/p>\n

416 975-8555.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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