Playing iconic theatre roles is never easy. Now add the fact that the role is from an iconic movie, I don't envy the actors taking that on.  

Usually, roles like these have intense fanbases who have the highest expectations when it comes to how these characters are portrayed. But such challenges also provide some incredible opportunities. The chance to explore these characters and put your own spin on them is something actors rarely pass the chance to do. 

Last year I was notified of a local production of Fiddler on the Roof which had an all-Christian cast and without a single Jewish person involved with the production. While I thought this was certainly eyebrow-raising, I would stop short of saying I was offended by it.

I have been a firm believer that when casting roles of color, they should be cast with performers of the role required race. But when it comes to religion, I find that my stance softens more than a bit. This is because I feel that one's religion is not usually tied to a race classification. There are Asian Christians, there are Black Jews, there are White Muslims. So if a role is described as being simply of being of a certain religion, I more than not, feel that it's an open race role. However, I understand if others feel differently.

An immersive theatrical experience KPop not only touches on the pervasive topics of “What does it mean to be Korean” and “Why American’s will never accept Asians” but also takes you on a journey into the dark side of the music industry.

One might argue that KPop portrays the music industry in a satirical light, and unless you’ve actually been part of that scene you’d never believe how abusive and backstabbing it is. However, watching this show was enough to give me a PTSD flashback from my time spent in the pop group Dream.

“Very seldom do you get to speak the words first,” said actor Denis Arndt on performing in the world premiere of Matthew Barber’s “Fireflies” at Long Wharf Theater, “It’s a great privilege.”

For someone who has been in the business a long time, Mr. Arndt recently has had more than a few moments of great theatrical privilege. Besides making his Long Wharf debut alongside two stage veterans, he was nominated for a Tony this summer for Simon Stephens’ two-hander “Heisenberg” with Mary-Louise Parker. It was his first Tony nomination and also his Broadway debut, an impressive career milestone made at age 77.

Today I want to talk to you about auditions. Unfortunately, nothing is perfect. As much as we want to think that auditions are the beginning of something great… Well, that doesn’t mean that they don’t have their faults. Some of these are annoying things that happen because of the actors, and some of them are things the people casting you do.

Who doesn’t enjoy a good theatre ghost story?  I love those moments, after rehearsal, when everyone shares their spectral experiences…or those moments IN rehearsal when something happens that is beyond explanation.

There are musicals that last, and there are musicals that don't. But sometimes the musicals that last shouldn't, and the musicals that don't, should. That's not what I'm going into now, but it sets the tone for what I am going to do quite nicely. This musical has lasted in a different way to most, it is not performed as much, but it is as prevalent in the minds of some as perhaps Joseph is, or even The Lion King. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang took the wonder and excitement of musicals for children to a whole new level in the 60s, but if we take a closer look at the nuances, we can see some danger afoot. I stumbled across some interesting ideas when discussing the film 'intellectually' as a joke, and have come to realise that it doesn't take much to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as a heavily layered musical with subtleties some of which need to be taken as warnings, others as socio-political commentary, and some as reasons not to let kids watch it without explaining some of the following points to them afterwards. 

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.