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Derek Kwan is an actor, singer, and theatre creator working at the intersection of theatre, music and movement in a number of forms including opera, clown, and puppetry. His career has taken him across Canada and the globe, from London, England, to performances in Czech Republic, Mexico, Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, and China. Derek received a Toronto Theatre Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical as well as a Dora Mavor Moore Award nomination for Outstanding Male Performer, Musical Division for his portrayal of Boursicot in Mr. Shi and His Lover. Derek is passionate about inclusion in theatre and has worked on projects integrating everything from ethno-cultural diversity, to Therapeutic Clowning for children and seniors, to Deaf/deaf/Hard of Hearing people, to children on the autism spectrum. Performance highlights include: (theatre) a Deaf/hearing integrated production of The Tempest (Citadel Theatre), a Mandarin adaptation of the children’s classic The Blue Bird (Theatre de la Sardine, Taipei), Blood Weddings(Modern Times/Aluna, Toronto), the first male-identified performer of I, Claudia(Theatre Ignite, Taipei), the outdoor winter promenade show Tails From the City (Common Boots Theatre, Toronto); (opera/music theatre) celebrating Toronto’s first multi-cultural neighbourhood in The Ward Cabaret, an apocalyptic animal cabaret The Cave (LUMINATO/Toronto), an immersive Sweeney Todd in London, England (Talk is Free Theatre), Mr. Shi and His Lover (touring to Ottawa; Yokohama, Japan; Guanajuato, Mexico; Macao, China), Play of Daniel (Toronto Consort), The Lesson of Da Ji (Toronto Masque Theatre).

  • Advocacy Committee
  • 2021-22 Dora Juror, Opera
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