With the rehash after rehash of the Disney Corporation, and all the other rebrandings and crazy adaptations happening in a collage of grotesque parodistical Hollywood writing rooms. I have but one question for the beloved industry: what happened to all the writers?

Quite often, I hear people tell young, aspiring actors, directors and playwrights in theatre – and it’s something that I’ve heard myself a few times, in the past – that people need to have a backup plan. In reality, what many of these people are trying to say to them is this: As they are dreaming about their future in the arts, they ought to be thinking more “realistically” about their future careers, at the same time. This is a sentiment I’ve seen echoed on many occasions, and it’s a sentiment which, based on my own life experience and those I’ve observed, I find to be something that all people who are serious about pursuing their dreams in the arts should ignore at all costs.

I was recently on my way home, going down the side of the street I normally take to get to the train. On my way there, I was met by a slightly unexpected blockade.

Earlier that morning, I did catch a glimpse of the red carpet. By the time I had returned to the same spot that afternoon, the festivities had begun. Earlier than I expected, of course. Curious, I waited to see what was going on.

Recently, Chicago Sun-Times theatre critic Hedy Weiss' out-of-bounds commentary within her theatre reviews has finally caught up with her. Her racist comments about the subject matter in the play Pass Over,  was certainly an unacceptable place for a theatre critic to go. 

When you combine this latest issues with her past ones such as anti-Semitism and body shaming, I'll be the first to say that Ms. Weiss has no business working for a major newspaper, let alone in a city as diverse as Chicago. 

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?