Picture this: it’s the third day of tech week. You are running on hardly any sleep because, not only are you three days away from opening, but you have a job that you have to be at during the day. You are feeling overwhelmed because nothing seems to be going right and as you buy your fourth cup of coffee, you are being hopeful that tonight just might be that early night.

I’ve been on both sides of the equation. As an audience member watching and as an actor performing. Chemistry is one of those things that either happens or it doesn’t. It can’t be forced. It can be helped along though and I’ll get to that in a minute. First, the audience perspective.

Let’s examine the biography of a man who lived and breathed entertainment –  a man who, by so many standards for so many years, was branded a genius. This man redefined how and what kinds of stories his community told, and was the brilliant mind behind that was credited with discovering and nurturing the careers of numerous critically lauded artists. He created an empire of not only art, but of people: he curated a personal community of followers who were brainwashed or threatened into degradation and violence for the sake of their craft. More than one woman went public about the terrifying environment that his company enforced via media exposes, nightmarish practices that went ignored for decades because of the sheer amount of power this man wielded over his artistic community.

The original title of this piece was going to be "Please Oak, STFU", but I thought that might come off as a bit too aggressive and mean. But don't let my new title lessen how angry and disappointed I am with the Okieriete "Oak" Onaodowan's recent comments he made at a Forbes event in Boston. 

I'm not a Broadway performer, never have been. So I'm not sure of the unwritten rules performers have among themselves. But regardless, Oak broke some with me. The first being, don't throw dirt on a previous production by using it as an example of what's wrong when in reality, they did it right. 

For theatre students, where you attend can certainly have an impact on your career with the type of training you receive. It's also important to note that while each school listed here is excellent, a college degree doesn't guarantee success nor is one required to become successful in this industry. 

Here at OnStage, we take months to research the best BFA programs to come up with our own lists. We base it off cost vs. scholarships, curriculum, performance opportunities, facilities, the experience of faculty, career support, everything you yourself would consider before making a college choice. We even have gone as far to call admission offices to ask them questions. 

Once we collect all of the data, it's loaded into a matrix scoring system which determines where schools are ranked. Trust us when we say that some of the results even surprised us. 

Join CastAndLoose Live! as we take on all the pigeon-holes and stereotypes facing Latinx actors and characters in film, TV, and theater.

I have written a number of blogs about the importance of communication in order to have a successful production, but I recently realized that another keyword for a successful production is trust. Trust is something that you need to have when it comes to working on a show. I have learned this by being both an actor and a production designer. Even more so when you are the director.

I have said in another column that I would like to see school productions being more adventurous, tackling more adult themes as and when the director of drama of said school considers it appropriate. But I wanted to elaborate a bit on that. Firstly, I will always endorse the attitude that with something as ambiguous and subjective as theatre, there cannot be a universal or even a national governing body that decides anything to do with what gets put on and where. The way I see it, the theatre has always been one of the least didactic aspects of life- as a more rebellious or enthusiastic personality might say "they can't tell us what to do", and though it seems too simplistic: here, it is apt. I would rather allow schools (and by extension anyone) to produce any play they like and 'offend' a few people, than put repression of any kind upon the cultural niche I call home. You don't have to agree with me, but I thought I'd clarify that for context to this column, as when I now come to write about productions I'd like to see in schools, I shall mean versions that are unchanged, uncensored and unabridged. What's more, I would have no age restrictions on said productions. So without further ado, here are 7 plays of which I want to see an unabridged, all-accessible, school production. 

I think I could probably write a book on the numerous conspiracy theories that surround The Wizard of Oz. And Wicked is, essentially, a whole conspiracy theory in itself: an alternative slant on the well-known story; one which, personally, I much prefer. For this blog, I have sifted through the most enjoyable theories that I could find on The Wizard of Oz and Wicked, and have summarised my absolute favourites.

Don’t compare your chapter one to someone else’s chapter twelve. Comparison is the thief of joy. Flowers don’t worry about blooming more than the one next to it, only about how much it blooms itself.

Chances are, you’ve heard all the above and more.

Chances are, you still compare yourself to others.