“Instead of telling young actors, amateur or otherwise, to get ready for a “real world” that promotes fatphobia, disordered eating behaviors, and shame, it’s time for us to create a new “real world” – one where equity for actors is guaranteed, regardless of size and body type. We can do better.”

“Why are BIPOC Artists not given the same benefit of the doubt? Seriously you still can't be blind at this point to the double standards that happen far too much in this Industry.”

“We really pride ourselves on the joy of coming together, inclusivity, and making music that brings people happiness. It’s always important, but right now, we all need pure joy and entertainment. Togetherness.”

“If you show any emotion that isn't happiness, it will be conceived as anger”

“I have to admit, there was a lot more tenderness, depth, and sincerity here than I’d initially anticipated.”

“Evan makes a really bad, hurtful choice. He takes advantage of other people. Evan also was left by his father, tried to kill himself, and suffers from a mental illness that significantly impacts his life. These facts about him can all exist simultaneously – and they all elicit an emotional response within us. We are forced to live with the dichotomy of Evan’s vulnerability and his deceit.”

“Positive encouragement and the sense of family in the theatre world should include trans and queer people,” Taylor affirms. “On stage and off.”

“Elphaba has never been played by a Black woman full time in the United States. A character, who is painted green for the entire production, has almost always been played by a white woman full-time in America. One argument defending this is that theatre should not “be political,” or “politically correct,” and that the role should just go to “the best person.” To this, I ask you – why do you believe that the best person is never Black?”

“The theatrical community has lost one of its greatest guiding lights. Alvin Ing, a theatrical trailblazer, passed away this week at the age of 89.”

“If the performing arts are so good for us, and bring us abundant benefits, why do they also influence us so negatively? How can a space be our absolute safest, and also the source of our distress?”

There is the scapegoat comment that I have heard a lot of theatre professionals say to actors and actresses for years and years now: To be grateful or thankful for the opportunity every time an issue arises and a performer speaks up about it. I think that is such a stupid and outdated thing to say.

“It’s not that a musical can’t ever translate well on screen. Grease, Rodger and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, Annie, West Side Story, Hello Dolly! – these worked. I also have hope for other upcoming adaptations, such as Lin Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights. In cases like these, the switch in medium makes sense and serves an artistic purpose. For Spelling Bee, it has the potential to do the opposite.”