I have recently been watching Smash by Theresa Rebeck with my girlfriend and it struck me in two ways. Firstly, Theresa Rebeck is a genius and one of my favorite writers out there. Second… Derek Wills is one of the most charming jerks I’ve ever loved on screen. Three. Three things, then – third being that Smash is one of the most brutally honest dramatizations of…drama. The sometimes cutthroat nature of auditions, the sore feelings afterward, and just how dumb everyone can be during the process because we’re a bunch of weirdos stuck in a single room together for hours.

The naked body.

It is one of the last taboos in American theatre, or in any other form of American art, for that matter. Audience members will gladly accept all of the vulgar language and explicit in the world, but if an actor dares to appear without clothes on for even one short scene, all hell will break loose.

Seldom does the casting of a local production occur and I don't hear about some sort of casting controversy. Every time I'm told of these "atrocities", I tend to ask myself, as well as the person telling me, were you actually screwed over or just didn't get the role?

It happens on almost every production. The final curtain closes, the audience leaves, the tech crew begins to strike the set and most, if not the entire, cast vanishes into thin air. Which, mostly in local or college theatre, leaves behind a small crew responsible for undoing weeks of building, hanging, sewing, etc. If you ever want to find a prime example of animosity between actor and crew, here it is.

Now none of these tech weeks were easy, that I will admit. But are tech weeks ever meant to be easy? Most of the time not. You can only do so much in advance and there are things that you just can’t figure out until you get into the performance space, which was one of the few similarities between the two shows. Neither show could load into the performance space until the week prior to opening.

The use of deaf talent, and hearing actors passing on the roles that have them portraying someone with a cultural background they do not have experience with, is vital when telling stories about deaf culture and in general. Storytelling is vital to the Deaf community and to ignore their contributions and damper the current stunning group of talent would be to the detriment of the theatre community as a whole. 

When on stage or waiting in the wings, it’s business time. But what about backstage in the green room or dressing room? These areas occupy an uncertain space between the world of performing and simply existing as people. Everyone prepares for a show differently, but here are a few general guidelines for establishing a positive green room atmosphere.

So I wanted to do something I've never done before. Something original but also more honest than I've been in the past. I wanted to share the following experience because I believe I'm not the only one who has ever gone through it, and I want people to know how it ends. Spoiler alert: it ends pretty well. The following is what was originally a secret series of blogs that I wrote to document how I dealt with receiving the part in a musical I didn't want. As a disclaimer, I should say first that the following is a process, detailing how my thoughts and feelings change, and that no personal offense should be taken on behalf of those involved. However, I have edited this so that no specifics are mentioned (which means you'll see quite a few 'my character's etc.). I hope this provides supportive, inspiring, or even just interesting reading.

I spent my freshman year after high school in a BA program. I loved the school and the people, but it just wasn’t the right program or intensity for me. I wanted to pursue a BFA but I didn’t know where to begin. Most of my friends used MTCA or similar services as audition help, and I was doing this completely on my own.

Since many friends have come to me this year for help with transferring to another theatre program, specifically for BFA MT programs, I decided to put together this list of some tips/tricks I picked up along the way.

Theatre goers - question for ya, “Why do you care what people wear?”

Let’s set the scene. I was scouring the deep webs of the Theatre Twitterverse at Grand Central Station before my train took off and I lost all cell reception until 33rd St. Right when the 6 train left the station, I stumbled across an article bemoaning the lost sense of propriety, the lack of respect for today’s performers and Broadway’s legacy - all because some audience members wore flip-flops to a show.

Really. Ok.