Legendary Comedy Theatre The Second City Toronto Celebrates 51st Anniversary with the Announcement of the New Leadership Team

Tickets to upcoming shows are on sale at www.secondcity.com/toronto

Toronto – The world’s most influential name in live comedy, The Second City, proudly celebrates its 51st year in Toronto with the announcement of a new leadership team. Newly appointed General Manager Reem Farag, Stages Artistic Director Etan Muskat, and Training Centre Artistic Director PHATT al join Vice President of the Training Centre, Julie Dumais Osborne and Director of Marketing – Toronto, Mike Farinaccio.

Building on a rich legacy, this dynamic team is primed to usher in a new era of creativity and innovation. For over five decades, The Second City Toronto has been the cornerstone of Canadian comedy, leading the way in live entertainment and comedy studies.

The Second City Toronto’s brand new, critically acclaimed show All Messed Up & Nowhere To Go is onstage now! Tickets are available here: All Messed Up & Nowhere To Go Tickets

Connect with us on socials to see our hilarious performers in action and keep updated on special shows and events: The Second City Toronto on Instagram

The Second City Toronto is located at ONE YORK STREET overlooking Love Park in Toronto’s beautiful Waterfront District.

Media Contact: Mike Farinaccio (Director of Marketing – Toronto) mfarinaccio@secondcity.com

Meet the Team:

Reem Farag (General Manager – The Second City Toronto) is a veteran in the arts and entertainment realm in Toronto, boasting over a decade of experience since her start in 2005. Graduating with honors from McMaster University with degrees in Film and Theatre Studies and Media Communications, she has held pivotal roles across various sectors, including venue operations/logistics, premier event management, corporate event sales, business development. Prior to joining The Second City, Reem oversaw strategic hospitality and event partnerships at TIFF. With a diverse skill set encompassing stage management, talent support, and red carpet coordination, Reem has made her mark at esteemed institutions such as The Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, TIFF, Hot Docs, The Juno’s, and the Canadian Screen Awards. Now poised for her new role as General Manager of The Second City Toronto, she eagerly anticipates spearheading fresh opportunities in Toronto’s waterfront district, continuing on with her brand of wit and vision.

Etan Muskat (Artistic Director – The Second City Toronto) is a writer, improviser, director, and teacher based in Toronto. He began performing in Montreal, where his troupe The Bitter End performed an eponymous long-running improvised sitcom (later adapted to an acclaimed web-series). He is an alumni of the Second City Mainstage where he created and performed in 4 original revues including How to Kill a Comedian and Clickbait and Switch. Etan served as Interim Artistic Director of Bad Dog Theatre where he was also a featured performer and director, and created the award-winning Yes, Android which confronted the use of Artificial Intelligence in improvisation. He has taught all styles and formats of improv, as well as acting, show hosting, public speaking, sketch comedy, and writing for TV and Film. In 2021 Etan won the Screencraft Screenwriting Fellowship, providing him the opportunity to mentor with Krista Vernoff (Grey’s Anatomy), Naren Shankar (The Expanse), David Rabinowitz (BlacKKKlansman), and Meg LeFauvre (Inside Out). Previous to his current role as Artistic Director, Etan served as the Artistic Director of the Second City Training Centre in Toronto, where he oversaw education in all subject areas.

PHATT al (Training Centre Artistic Director – The Second City Toronto) is a Dora and Juno nominated actor, MC, digital visual artist, director, song and sketch writer. He’s a 5- show Second City Mainstage alumnus. He was the band leading rapper of the Juno nominated NuFunk band ‘God Made ME Funky’. He (and/ or his voice) has appeared in various commercials, TV shows, and movies internationally. He was a featured performer at the NBC Universal Break Out Comedy Festival in Chicago. Al is also a recipient of the Second City’s Bob Curry Fellowship and Bad Dog Theatre’s Creator program. Al is also the creator of ‘Yes Yes Y’all’ and ‘Check The Rhyme’, the only longform improv hip-hop classes in Canada, as well as a member of ‘The Untitled Black Sketch Project’ sketch troupe.

Julie Dumais Osborne (Vice President – Training Centers) drives the strategic & artistic direction of The Second City’s Education department and Training Centers. She is responsible for the quality of the student experience from the point of registration onwards. This includes creative and pedagogical oversight of all Second City Training Centre locations (Toronto, Chicago, New York & Virtual) as well as curriculum development, class design, faculty training & support, student performances and special programming, fellowships and educational partnerships. Julie works closely with the Artistic Directors in each location to facilitate a cross-pollination of ideas & expertise and to ensure consistency and quality in all of the Training Centres’ activities. She also oversees the Student Success team and their work to support student growth, wellbeing and retention.

Prior to joining The Second City, Julie was the Artistic & Managing Director of Toronto’s critically acclaimed Bad Dog Theatre Company for ten years. She is an award-winning director, improviser and educator. Previously, she spent nearly two decades working with the Canadian Improv Games in various roles including National Associate Artistic Director, Artistic Director of both Improv Camp & the Next Act Festival, National Head Judge and Regional Director of the Toronto tournament.

Mike Farinaccio (Director of Marketing – The Second City Toronto) joined Second City in 2017 and has since worked with the global team across The Second City Stages, Education, Restaurants, and Corporate Meetings and Events. In this new role of Director of Marketing, Toronto, Mike is responsible for all brand and consumer marketing for The Second City Toronto.  A multi-faceted marketer with 20 years of experience in the learning and development industry, he has worked for performance improvement companies including AchieveGlobal and Miller Heiman Group. Mike is thrilled to help people and companies collaborate, innovate, and communicate more effectively with improv-based learning and entertainment.