“It’s not hard to catch on to the fact that Hadestown is an analogy for 21st-century social concerns.”

“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?”

“Being a paid performer is a privilege, a wonderful, joyous privilege. With privilege comes responsibility, and yes, as someone who is receiving money from paying public customers, you do have a responsibility to treat their health as safely as possible.”

“Interestingly enough, I’m not as pissed off that Laura Osnes isn’t vaccinated and seemingly believes in dumb conspiracy theories, as I am that her actions put everyone involved in potential danger.”

“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 I think that is such a stupid and outdated thing to say.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 completely baked into the artist mindset that a level of self-destruction is necessary to unlock what you want to do. In some ways, you start to believe that without it, you are not an artist. That it helps you to unlock your genius.”

“Dance gave me a new sense of self-confidence that I didn’t really know that I lacked.”

“Some day you’ll make your friends come around.”

“Why are there never enough boys in children's theater programs? Why is it that there is a stigma with theater not being considered masculine?"

“The statement Lin-Manuel Miranda released regarding the criticism towards In The Heights indicates that he understands that his choice to leave out some stories is a direct result of his biases and blind-spots. That would be less of a problem if more people, with different biases and blind-spots, were also telling uplifting stories about the Latino community.”

In the past week, there has been a newfound call to arms for theatres across the globe to make their stages more diverse when they resume operations. However, not every community theatre can do this. Not every community is diverse enough or has the talent pool to produce heavily diverse shows. So what steps can they take to bring more performers of color to their stages?