In a normal year, KJK Productions would work with high school students to present a full-length musical for a live audience. Of course, these days, an in-person project like that would be impossible. Instead, this daring creative team decided to jump headfirst into the world of Zoom to create a unique virtual version of Urinetown. Using green screens, ring lights, new microphones, and some serious editing, this is not your average “zoomsical”.

“Listening to that music created a world of magic for me to play in. You know, it never mattered if I had the characters or the story exactly right. What mattered was that I was creating. Constantly and completely.”

Dear Community Theatre,

Before I had become acquainted with you, I was a young child. A young, introverted, homeschooled, shy-as-hell child. My mother had said before then we should get to know each other, but I didn’t budge. I didn’t want a spotlight. I didn’t want a line. I wanted to stay in my room and be left alone. I didn’t see what you had to offer, what my potential with you was, and I didn’t care.

Now, I can’t thank you enough.

“If I’m looking for quality theatrical entertainment online during this pandemic, I don’t have to look any further than the Team StarKid Youtube channel.”

“I’m here to talk about modes of creativity that are outside the “norm” of artistry and aren’t things we would normally consider creative. Nothing about the times we’re in are normal, so it stands to reason that creativity can hide in the activities we do in these abnormal times.”

“Earlier this month, the University of Utah decided to cancel their production of Jason Robert Brown’s Songs for a New World due to a failure “to address essential issues of representation and identity presented by the script.” To add insult to injury, theatre department officials pulled the show two weeks before it was set to stream online, after students had already been cast and rehearsing for months.”

“So much of the job is advocacy for actors, what the actors’ boundaries are, what they’re confident in doing, and then translating. What is the director's vision? Translating that into movement for the actors or translating actor movement or boundaries back to the director.”

“Last week a woman detailed on social media how she was sexually abused by her theatre director when she was a teenager. In addition to posting evidence of how he preyed upon her, she also states how her claims were mishandled by the theatre where he worked.”

“I did not expect to start my morning by defending a predominately all-white cast who just lost their jobs due to them being a predominately all-white cast, but here we are.”

“What is wrong with the theatre fandom is the belief that objectively, some musicals are better than others, and that if you like a certain show, you aren’t the right kind of theatre fan. Gatekeeping is the practice of musical theatre fans who feel that they have the authority to determine who belongs and who doesn’t belong based on whether or not someone is a ‘true fan.’”

“We have to learn to be okay with other people not loving the thing we love as much as we love it. Accepting each other as individuals is one of the core principles in the theatre. This should extend to every aspect of life in the theatre.”

“In a world where there are so few casting directors of color, we must rely on each other to be aware of our privileges, humble about our abilities, and intentional in deciding when we show up. We must rely on each other to ensure that the actors who will stretch the imaginations of those on the other side of the table actually get into the room.”