Spotlight
Stories that deserve your attention
Oklahoma theatre professor arrested for sexually abusing students
“A theatre professor at Northern Oklahoma College was arrested last week on charges of sexually abusing his students. The details of the allegations against him are disturbing, to say the least.”
Chris Jones Once Again Fails The Theatre Industry
“The Chicago Tribune’s Theatre columnist, Chris Jones, has continuously ignored both the process and labor of creating theatre and passed by the stories of workers organizing for a better, safer, more equitable, and accessible industry. It is time he took responsibility for supporting the exploitation many of us are working so hard to end.”
Are Audiences Ready to Return to Broadway? We Surveyed Our Readers to Find Out
“Less than half said they would attend a show, regardless of whether safety protocols were enacted or not.”
Matching Murals with Theatre
“Outside of Michigan, most people have only heard the bad news out of Flint. It’s the city whose drinking water was poisoned by a state administration that took over the city’s governance and wanted to save money. But Flint is also home to the Flint Repertory Theatre, an organization led by Michael Lluberes that has been doing amazing work and this summer is offering pandemic-safe work that marries playwrights and visual artists and takes audiences all over the city.”
5 things that RENT popularized for the Broadway community
“April 29th marks 25 years since RENT opened on Broadway in 1996. As think pieces and tributes pour in, why not take a few minutes to appreciate these 5 things that RENT popularized for the Broadway community.”
Actors' Equity Convention ends with walkout by BIPOC delegates after failure to address "white supremacy culture"
“The final day of the Actors’ Equity Association’s(AEA) first-ever delegate convention featured a protest with many BIPOC delegates leaving the event in protest over the union’s failure to address racist actions that targeted a black delegate which had allowed “white supremacy culture” to create an unsafe space for other BIPOC delegates.”
Big win for immigrant performers as Actors' Equity removes green card restrictions
“Actors’ Equity has removed a longstanding policy that prevented immigrant performers from working on union productions without a green ard of U.S. citizenship. Actress Jessica Wu spearheaded the change which is being described as ‘momentous’ by many in the community.”
Looking at the activism that led to pay transparency on Playbill and BroadwayWorld's job postings
“Thanks to the activism and hard work of the groups On Our Team and Costume Professionals for Wage Equity, Playbill and BroadwayWorld now require that anyone posting a job must include salary in their announcement.”
Is Theatre Really Queer? Separating Fact From Fiction.
“You will be hard-pressed to find anyone who works in theatre who hasn’t heard the words ‘theatre is gay’ at some point during their career. Despite the fact that there are, as we all know, plenty of straight actors involved in theatre and the arts, this stereotype seems to persist relentlessly. Particularly for young people, the image of theatre and performance is often one of campiness and lacking masculinity. But why? Where does this come from? Why is theatre seen to be so queer?”
Scott Rudin will resign from The Broadway League
“The producer announced to the New York Times that he will resign from The Broadway League.”
'March on Broadway' Fights Against Inequity and Racism in Theatre Industry
“On April 22nd, hundreds of people turned out to protest in response to the bullying allegations against Scott Rudin and how Actors’ Equity is promoting BIPOC artists’ safety in the workplace and inclusion for transgender, non-binary, deaf, and disabled theatre workers.”
"Synchronicity": How the Power and Role of Theatre Has Changed During the Pandemic
“Despite some silver linings brought about by the newly adapted theatre industry, we’re still lacking the synchronicity of our collective human heartbeat that occurs at the theater and feeling its absence.”