The first national tour is Fun Home is getting tremendous reviews. However, one major costume change seems to be upsetting more than a few audience members. One the blog, Sinister woman, one audience member is calling out the costume change as an example of how they are "de-butching" the role of Alison. 

The link appeared in my feed, advertising an opening for a full-time, tenure-track teaching position in Design and Production. The school was Wittenberg University, located in Springfield, OH, about an hour drive from my home in Columbus. I’m embarrassed to say that I was not familiar with Wittenberg, but I visited their website to see if this was a job worth pursuing. I wasn’t optimistic, having seen so many postings over the years that didn’t quite match up to my needs or qualifications.

In the year 1972, for the first time in my life I found myself immersed in theater, both as an acting student and two as an actor in the Traveling Theater of Rockland county.  Admittedly I was a shy boy of 15 years old and had never had an experience where out of  necessity to survive the traveling group, I was literally shaken out of my shell.  I remember thinking about the joy I felt when the audiences laughed or applauded, as well as the young ladies who were enamored by who they perceived me to be. Pretty powerful stuff for a 15 year old.

1984, the dystopian novel written by George Orwell in 1949, is now on the Broadway stage, having opened in The Hudson Theater after a preview in London.  In its day, it was a shocker, commenting on the dangers of governmental control when taken to an extreme, and the subsequent impact on its inhabitants.  Today, its message resonates in our modern world, and no one is denying the timely release of the dramatic version.  However, what is in question is the manner in which it is being presented, based on the audience’s reaction to the piece.

One of the greatest musicals ever written is, these days, under attack for being the opposite of what it is. The attackers mean well, but they misquote the script, disregard other aspects of the story, and misunderstand – perhaps willfully – a key point. So let’s today take a fresh look at Rodgers and Hammerstein’s 1945 masterpiece, Carousel, and answer the charges being made against it.

“When one person in a family transitions, everyone transitions,” says Shelly, the matriarch of the Pfefferman family, played by Judith Light, during season three of the Amazon series, Transparent. Created by Jill Soloway, the multi-award-winning show centers around a Los Angeles family and their lives following the discovery that the person they knew as their father, Mort, played by actor Jeffrey Tambor, is transgender.

But should it become a musical?

99% of theatre fans are amazing. Let's get that out of the way. They're supportive. Open minded. Forgiving. Patient(How many of you have been waiting for a new Sondheim musical?). 

But then there is that 1%. They are the annoying, unbearable, stubborn and obnoxious who somehow find a way to rain on everyone else's parade. 

Yesterday, the New York times reported on the Actors' Equity Jobs Study which was released a month earlier. We did a series of articles when the report was released in May when it came to the gap in pay among female stage managers as well as the jarring statistics when it comes to the casting of performers of color. I don't know what took the Times so long to report of this, but that's not the point. 

The point is, that with their article yesterday, the report was given a much-needed spotlight on the real issue of casting equality in the theatre industry.

What can I say? It does.

By the way, not a whole lot moves me. In general, the list of things that move me is limited to 1) those Allstate car insurance commercials and 2) when I realize I’ve missed the ice cream truck.

But this show moves me, and here’s why.

Over the past couple of weeks, some of you may have noticed things look a bit different at OnStage Blog. Yes, we changed our logo, added a bit of color to it. Yes, we also changed our name. Going simply by OnStage was becoming confusing with all the other entities out there that shared the same name. So we changed it to match the URL and how we're usually referred to by other outlets. 

But one of the bigger changes, that some of you have picked up on, is that we disabled our comments section on the site.