In October 2019, controversy swirled over the firing of an actress set to portray the role of Celie in the musical, The Color Purple, due to anti-gay comments she had posted on Facebook. Now, in proceedings due to her suing her former employer, legal representatives for Seyi Omooba said the performer was fired in part due to “the particular demography of the theatre company”, of which “LGBTQ people are a sizeable proportion”.
Read More“While its producer announced yesterday that it would be closing for good, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group has moved to crush reports that The Phantom of the Opera has closed permanently and has insisted the “brilliant original” will be returning to the West End.”
Read More“As we all know, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused numerous problems for many people and industries. But these challenges have bred creativity and introduced us to Zoom Theatre. This has allowed many theatres to continue to produce original ideas, albeit in a different way. One such theatre is The Headgate theatre in Colchester, England. This volunteer-lead community theatre decided to run a ‘Sofa 2 Stage’ competition for playwrights to create their own 10-minute monologues or plays.”
Read More“When West End theatre reopens, fans of the long-running The Phantom of the Opera could be seeing a much different show than before. Rumors all but confirmed by Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber himself, report that the show is being revamped. It’s unclear if these changes will also be made to the Broadway production.”
Read More“You might be writing every day in order to cope. And you know what? That’s completely okay. The only important thing right now is whatever helps you get through each day. Your mental health is always more important than the illusion of staying productive.”
Read More“The acting industry is a difficult one to break into, and acting isn’t an easy career. However, you don’t necessarily need to go to drama school or come from an acting dynasty to succeed.”
Read More“Full of that dark humour and nihilist thinking that Beckett is so famous for, it really spoke to me on that day. What I didn’t know, however, was what it was teaching me for our very near future, a.k.a. our present lockdown.”
Read More“It is vital that we, as an industry act and act now to reform theatre in order to level the playfield for working-class writers, actors, directors, etc.”
Read More“This is a first for me. There is news coming out of Scotland that a paramedic has been fired from his job after it was found out that he had skipped part of his shift to attend rehearsals for an upcoming community theatre musical.”
Read More“It was reported today that Transgender actor and campaigner Kate O’Donnell has withdrawn from a show in London over the casting of a cisgender male in a trans role.”
Read MoreAfter experiencing a rise in aggressive behavior from guests, theatres in London’s West End are using body cameras to deter audience members from being abusive toward staff.
Read MoreDuring the 2017-18 theatre season, Broadway attendance was higher than the cumulative attendance for ALL of New York’s main sports teams (Mets, Yankees, Rangers, Islanders, Knicks, Liberty, Giants, Jets, Devils and Nets).
This goes to show that musical theatre is still as popular as ever, with over a third (62%) of Broadway audiences attending at least two shows every season.
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