It's 2019, and we have a lot of issues. Theatre and art are rightfully being accepted and respected as part of the conversation about our feelings and the problems themselves, as well as changing policy and, well, the way we live.

In reaction to the news and national events, we open up our computers, and we create; we gather our friends, and we create; we get on stage, expose our guts, and we create. We create plays and work that responds to this new world we're in, the very one we attempt to change through art and creation.

That's awesome. Really, it's awesome. But it also could potentially create some issues.

Selecting a “best” of creative work is about as futile as picking the “best” Beatle.

Yet we are here at awards season for Broadway and off-Broadway, and most lovers of this art form are paying close attention to who gets nominated and who wins.

A couple of years ago, I attended a production of RENT that was touring through my area. I was sitting towards the front of the mezzanine area and behind me were a group of younger men and women who were very excited to see the show. 

As the show began, and pretty much throughout the entire performance, they all proceeded to sing or speak dialogue from the show. Seldom is a minute go by where I didn't hear their rendition of various moments in the script. 

When the show ended and we got out to leave the theatre, I took a dollar out of my pocket and offered to the girl behind me. 

"What's this for?" she asked. 

"I wanted to make sure I paid you for the performance," I said with the most amount of snark I could muster. 

Having been performing for over 40 years, I have learned that the most important thing about doing a show is the appreciation shown by the audiences. Did they like the show? What was their take on the production? I also appreciate the constructive critiques they may offer. Then we have…the reviewer. The person who many people use as their go-to person for advice on should they or shouldn’t they see a show. The person who potentially has the power to make or break a show.

A local community opera company, Greater Worcester Opera (GWO) is performing, “The Mikado” in June. When I first saw the notice for auditions, I was perplexed. Admittedly, I don’t know much about opera, but I do know a few things about The Mikado. It’s a Gilbert and Sullivan piece, written in the latter half of the 19th century, and is fraught with controversy with yellow-face” performances (in the not-to-distant-past) and for its stereotyped portrayal of Asian people and cultures. In 2019, it seemed an odd choice to perform. I reached out to the Executive Director, Elaine Crane, to ask why. Why this opera and why now.

I’ve noticed something of a trend at the Winter Garden Theatre over the past few years. Three of the last four productions that have played there have been musicals based on movies with iconic central characters. The one production that did not was about icons, but of a very different sort. The historical figures depicted in “Wolf Hall” are iconic, but not from movies, not from being embodied by a singular actor. Rocky, from “Rocky,” Dewey, from “School of Rock,” and Beetlejuice, from “Beetlejuice,” are very closely tied to the actors who played them originally, actors who were a big part of why the movies were so popular that they were adapted into musicals. As each one of these musicals has come to Broadway, most recently “Beetlejuice,” taking up residence in the Winter Garden this spring, I’ve had the same apprehension: the material may be good for the musical theatre treatment, but who’s going to get stuck toeing the fine line between doing his own thing and imitating an icon?

It’s one of my favorite films. And now it’s going to be presented on stage in a musical format with music by Sir Elton John, lyrics by Shaina Taub, and book by Paul Rudnick.

And just announced, Steppenwolf Theatre Company Artistic Director Anna D. Shapiro, a 2008 Tony winner for her direction of August: Osage County, has been named as the director.

Now I am not one to judge before a product is released and reviewed but this just feels wrong.  I am personally not a big fan of Spears but there is just something about a musical with her music coming to Broadway. I will be the first to admit I was wrong if it turns out to be a hit.   It seems we are starting to see a trend of musicals coming out with the music of popular artist.

Recently, Chris Peterson, the Editor-In-Chief of OnStage Blog, wrote about meeting actors whom we respect and admire and the effect that it had on them. In digesting the article, I wanted to weigh in on this subject and maybe give it some more food for thought.

Personally, I have had the opportunity to meet some celebrities after a show either at the stage door or, on a few special occasions, in their dressing rooms. My expectations were based on my admiration for their work in theatre, TV and/or film. And I was ready to be humbled at the opportunity to meet them.

A while back, I saw an upsetting case of deconstructive criticism brought to the surface in the case of “Karlan Judd and the Cyberbully”. Basically, a show’s creator publicly shamed an actor for posting a negative review. Both the comment and the review have since been taken down. 

Others have talked at length about how unprofessional it was for the creator to take a public stance on a negative review but I want to talk about something else that sparked my interest: the purpose of negative reviews and the role of the contemporary audience member.

Last week, it was officially announced that a Michael Jackson musical would be making its way to Broadway next year. “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” is set to open its out-of-town tryout in Chicago on Oct 29th with plans to move to New York in Spring 2020.

However, should plans for the upcoming show be altered considering the detailed sexual abuse allegations in a new documentary?