Posts tagged Staff Writer
From Hero to Villain: Why We Suddenly Hate Evan Hansen

“Evan makes a really bad, hurtful choice. He takes advantage of other people. Evan also was left by his father, tried to kill himself, and suffers from a mental illness that significantly impacts his life. These facts about him can all exist simultaneously – and they all elicit an emotional response within us. We are forced to live with the dichotomy of Evan’s vulnerability and his deceit.”

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"Why the green girl is never Black?": Racism in casting

“Elphaba has never been played by a Black woman full time in the United States. A character, who is painted green for the entire production, has almost always been played by a white woman full-time in America. One argument defending this is that theatre should not “be political,” or “politically correct,” and that the role should just go to “the best person.” To this, I ask you – why do you believe that the best person is never Black?”

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Does 'The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee' work as a film?

“It’s not that a musical can’t ever translate well on screen. Grease, Rodger and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, Annie, West Side Story, Hello Dolly! – these worked. I also have hope for other upcoming adaptations, such as Lin Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights. In cases like these, the switch in medium makes sense and serves an artistic purpose. For Spelling Bee, it has the potential to do the opposite.”

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