When you first get into theatre, it can be a lot to take in. Even after being involved in a few shows, you may not have everything together. And that’s okay!  However, when getting into theatre, there are five things that might be useful to have in your arsenal as you find your place in the theatre world. 

This may be an extreme statement, but don’t worry-it’s not the actors or the directors, designers, playwrights or producers that have failed me. Imagine this scene: you’ve taken off an evening of work to go see a Broadway show. You’ve been waiting for weeks to have the time and the money to burn on a show you’ve been dying to see. You arrive at the theater a few minutes early, take time to use the restroom, chat with your date for the evening, check out the theater, or read a snippet of the playbill. At 8:00, the omnipresent voice announces to turn off all cell phones and refrain from unwrapping food or other disturbing noises. You oblige, quickly turn off your phone, sit back and eagerly anticipate the excitement that the next two hours will bring. 

Tomo Suru's production is set in XY nightclub in the heart of Gay Vancouver's Davie Street Villiage. This immersive production has the audience in cabaret seats while performers perform the show. Onstage Blog Vancouver contributor spoke with the creative team Gerald Williams (Artistic Director), Jeremy Hoffman (Musical Director) and Lyndsay Britten (Choreographer) about the show.

May I suggest that while J.B. Priestley’s Time and the Conways (1937) is not the only play to rearrange time’s arrow, it may be the best?

Its rivals on this front include the 1934 Kaufman and Hart comedy, Merrily We Roll Along (not to be confused with the 1981 Sondheim and Furth musical that’s based on it), in which the clock is reversed so that we see the bitter ruins of a triangular friendship first, and its dewy-eyed origins last. But neither Hart nor Kaufman seemed able to manage the formal demands of such a piece or, for that matter, the characters and their relationships.

I admit, the title to this column is a little misleading.  I imagine that you might have expected me to write about Ouija Boards and midnight games of “bloody Mary,” séances and psychics, you know—real-life attempts to make contact with those on the “other side.”  Though there is plenty of room for such a piece (seriously, if you don’t know about WB Yeats fascination with the occult, it makes an amazing read!), I want to write instead about something a little more philosophical and hard to substantiate.  I want to talk about memory.

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.