Spotlight
Stories that deserve your attention
Could 'Ursula' be played by a man?
“Disney is making strides in the progressive direction. To cast a male actor as Ursula would not be “unfortunate” at all.”
The Theatre Community Should End Its Support of ‘Autism Speaks’
“With the upcoming official release of Music this week, I write with a related frustration: This industry has a problem with support for Autism Speaks.”
'Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical’: A Case Study of Connecting to a Digital Theatre Audience: Part 1
“‘Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical’ is a case study that provides two approaches to online theatre-making, the perfect dichotomy in which to examine how we connect with an audience in the infinite abyss of the internet, and more specifically TikTok.”
Randy Rainbow: The tweets, the apology and how our "allies" betrayed us
The controversy over Randy Rainbow’s old tweets certainty drew a lot of reaction on social media. Many were outraged, many were ready to forgive. But the issue led to some observations about how some of us excuse such past behavior and how others accept apologies that weren’t directed to them in the first place.
What The Theatre Industry Can Learn from 2020
“As I reflect on this past year and look toward the future, I hope that the theatre industry remembers what has happened and learns from it. What can we keep from 2020 and what do we want to leave behind?”
Germs Post-COVID: How Do We Move Forward?
“How do we reconvene after this prolonged hiatus in a way that continues to keep safety and love at the forefront of our practices, without sacrificing the quality of our storytelling or censoring compelling narratives?”
"Hairspray" offers a whitewashed portrayal of the civil rights movement
“While it may be well-intentioned, Hairspray's representation of racism and the Civil Rights Movement lacks depth and understanding.”
How my 9 to 5 job helped my theatre career
“Who would have thought that my 9 to 5 administrator job would teach me how to advance as an artist? But here we are.”
Why we love to play bad
“We love to play fun bad characters because they give us leave to do and say things we never would in reality, but we play truly evil characters because they allow us to peer into parts of ourselves that we otherwise keep hidden from view.”
Be more than "one thing" in theatre
“Whoever does take the limelight of a show, they could not do what they do without the team around them. Many people who work in our industry know and appreciate this. Some do not. All of us, however, should make an effort to learn more about what our colleagues actually do on a day to day basis. It will make us better at our own jobs.”
Defending "Baby, It's Cold Outside"
“One of the most popular Christmas standards is under fire for perceived sexism, but should it be?”
The importance of the muse
“It takes the spark supplied by muses like Verdon and Reinking to set the imagination of a creative like Fosse alight, and they must be included in the same breath as his when discussing his artistic footprint. There is no such thing as a wholly independent creation in the theatre. There is only divine collaboration.”