Jonathan Monro | |
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 Jonathan Monro | |
| Born | Jonathan Luke Weiser June 6, 1974 |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, writer, composer, pianist, singer, musical director |
Jonathan Luke Weiser Monro (born Jonathan Luke Weiser, June 6, 1974) is a multi award-winning Canadian-American actor, pianist, musical director, singer, composer, and lyricist. [1] His first major appearance was as a pianist at Carnegie Recital Hall in New York City in 1991.
Jonathan grew up in St. John's, Newfoundland. His father, David Weiser (formerly a traveling salesman from Montreal) co-founded the Newfoundland Traveling Theatre Company [2] in 1972. The company gave a start to many of today's Canadian stars: Mary Walsh, Andy Jones, Cathy Jones, Greg Malone, Robert Joy, and the late Tommy Sexton. He retired from the company in 1976 to pursue his own wholesale and retail business. Jonathan's mother, Susan Weiser (née Susan Tilley), was a swimming coach. Jonathan has one sister, Andrea Monro, who is a professional singer/songwriter and pastry chef. Jonathan attended Holy Heart of Mary High School in St. John's, and Arizona State University where he studied classical piano with Robert Hamilton. Unfortunately, his trajectory was cut short in 1994 (see career). He tried to continue with piano at Memorial University of Newfoundland in 1994–1995, but switched to the musical theatre program at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario from 1995–1997.
Jonathan lived in Toronto and New York between 1997 and 2015, and currently resides in Montreal, where he continues his work as a freelance artist, while attending University full time.
Jonathan's first pursuit was piano, and he made his first major appearance at Carnegie Recital Hall in New York City at the age of 16. In April 1993, he won third prize in the Johanna Hodges International Piano Competition in Palm Springs, California. The following year, as he was preparing for the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, he began experiencing blackouts and seizures while playing and even listening to classical piano music. He was forced to quit, and decided to pursue theatre. In an interview, he was quoted as saying,
"I always had a suspicion that theatre was my first love. My body proved that suspicion. It was deeply upsetting, but I have faith that the hours spent at the piano will someday pay off.". [3]
Two years later, in 1997, Jonathan made his professional theatre debut at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival of Canada in Camelot, The Taming of the Shrew, and Coriolanus. That year, he won the Louis Applebaum Tyrone Guthrie Award for his musical contribution to the festival. He returned the following year, furthering his classical theatre studies in the John Sullivan Hayes Training Program, and traveled with the Stratford Festival to New York, where he made his Broadway debut in The Miser and Much Ado About Nothing.
Since then, Jonathan has starred/been featured in over 100 productions for stage, radio, TV and film, and has appeared in almost every regional theatre in Canada, and in many in the United States. His first large role in a film was in Heyday! , by Gordon Pinsent, which won a Silver Hugo Award at the Chicago Film Festival. [4] the original Canadian cast of The Producers, and starred in the North American premiere of Glorious. [5]
As a composer, lyricist, and librettist, Jonathan has written over forty original pieces for theatre, film, and TV. Calgary Sun theatre critic Louis B. Hobson wrote in one of his reviews: "Monro deserves to be compared to such giants as Sondheim and Lehrer". [6] His most recent work is a musical adaptation of The Hockey Sweater, based on the iconic short story by Roch Carrier, co-written with Emil Sher, and directed by Donna Feore. The Hockey Sweater played to sold out houses in Montreal (Segal Centre) and Ottawa (National Arts Centre). Other notable works include the score for the feature film A Christmas Fury, starring Mary Walsh (CBC), the World Premieres of AfterImage, [7] and Fear of Flight (which was featured at the Cultural Olympiad in Vancouver, February 2010). His first musical, Variations on a Nervous Breakdown, won four Betty Mitchell Awards (including two for Monro).
As a musical director, Jonathan has worked on over thirty productions, including the World Premiere of Alan Menken and David Spencer's The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, directed by Austin Pendleton, for which he subsequently co-produced the Original Cast Recording, the North American Premiere of Piaf/Dietrich (Mirvish Productions), the Canadian Premieres of Fun Home (Ovation Award Nomination), The Light in the Piazza (Betty Award Nomination), and Floyd Collins (Jessie Award Nomination), both with scores by his composition mentor, Adam Guettel.
Jonathan is currently the Musical Director for the Toronto production of Piaf/Dietrich (Mirvish), and his new play, "Nothing in Between", will soon enter the workshop phase.
The Royal Alexandra Theatre, commonly known as the Royal Alex, is an historic performing arts theatre in Toronto, Ontario. The theatre is located at 260 King Street West, in the downtown Toronto Entertainment District. Owned and operated by Mirvish Productions, the theatre has approximately 1,244 seats across three levels. Built in 1907, the Royal Alexandra Theatre is the oldest continuously operating legitimate theatre in North America.
The Hockey Sweater is a short story by Canadian author Roch Carrier and translated to English by Sheila Fischman. It was originally published in 1979 under the title "Une abominable feuille d'érable sur la glace". It was adapted into an animated short called The Sweater by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) in 1980 and illustrated by Sheldon Cohen.
Brian Ronald Macdonald was a Canadian dancer, choreographer and director of opera, theatre and musical theatre.
David Mirvish, is a Canadian art collector, art dealer, theatre producer, real estate developer and son of the late Toronto discount department store owner "Honest" Ed Mirvish and artist Anne Lazar Macklin.
Michael Therriault is a Canadian actor. He attended Etobicoke School of the Arts in Toronto, Sheridan College in Oakville, and was a member of the inaugural season of the Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Theatre Training in Stratford, Ontario.
Richard Ouzounian is a Canadian journalist and theatre artist. He was the chief theatre critic for the Toronto Star and the Canadian theatre correspondent for Variety.
Louise Pitre is a Canadian actress in musical theatre. She performs on Broadway and in Canada. She is best known for her role as Donna Sheridan in the ABBA-themed musical Mamma Mia!, which earned her a 2002 Tony Award nomination.
Richard Jean Monette CM, DHum, LLD, was a Canadian actor and director, best known for his 14-season tenure as the longest-serving artistic director of the Stratford Festival of Canada from 1994 to 2007.
David Christopher Richards, best known as Christopher Richards is a Canadian playwright, theatre designer and casting director.
Jesse Aaron Dwyre is a Canadian actor, musician and writer. Dwyre has appeared in film, theatre and television. He currently plays Henry in HBO's crime series Jett, and Young Hogarth in His Masters Voice. He has starred in independent films Imitation (film) and Adam's Wall. He has drummed since the age of five primarily with the rock group Stylewinder.
Gordon Greenberg is an American stage director, a theater and television writer, and an Artistic Associate at The New Group.
The CAA Theatre, formerly the Panasonic Theatre, is a theatre located at 651 Yonge Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is operated by Mirvish Productions. On December 1, 2017, Mirvish Productions announced a marketing partnership with CAA South Central Ontario, which included renaming the venue that was known as the Panasonic Theatre.
Louis Negin was a British-born Canadian actor, best known for his roles in the films of Guy Maddin.
Patrick Kwok-Choon is a Canadian actor, best known for his recurring roles as Perry Crofte in the television adaptation of the horror Western comic book miniseries Wynonna Earp and as lieutenant commander Gen Rhys in the CBS science fiction drama Star Trek: Discovery.
Katherine Kingsley is an English actress.
Michael Bawtree is a Canadian actor, director, author and educator.
Damien Atkins is a Canadian actor and playwright.
Come from Away is a musical, with book, music and lyrics by Irene Sankoff and David Hein. It is based on the events in the Newfoundland town of Gander during the week following the September 11 attacks, when 38 planes, carrying approximately 7,000 passengers, were ordered to land unexpectedly at Gander International Airport. The characters in the musical are based on actual Gander residents and stranded travelers they housed and fed. Audiences and critics have received the musical as a cathartic reminder of the capacity for human kindness in even the darkest of times and the triumph of humanity over hate.
Donna Feore is a Canadian choreographer and theatre director, most noted for her work with the National Arts Centre and the Stratford Festival.
Lee MacDougall is a Canadian actor, writer and theatre director. Originally from Kirkland Lake, Ontario, he studied at the University of Toronto and Ryerson University before launching his career as an actor.
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