“Zoom theatre has given me a new appreciation for the power of theatre to resonate and connect across infinite distance. But more than anything, directing on Zoom has left me longing for the day when we can create together in a physical space. Oh what magic that day will be…”

“I’ve heard you scoff at my plea to save the arts. Roll your eyes at me trying to explain why they are worth saving. Yet you watched Hamilton on Disney+ this month, you’ve seen recorded performances, from concerts to sing-a-longs to dance productions. And you exclaimed, ‘thank goodness for these outlets! I’ve been so bored during the quarantine.’”

“A good Broadway musical revival should leave audiences with a piece of the show that they can carry into their own lives, bridging the gap between then and now in a way that shows that some things remain the same throughout time.”

“Instead of making the same old ineffective resolutions, what if we reframe and retool them so that they actually create lasting, positive change?”

“In the world of small theater and education, it’s always a question in the back of my mind. Where do people learn to do that? Where is the authenticity, the commitment, or at least the look of it? I think it’s in the body. It’s always in the body.”

“Food has to be put on the table, rent needs to be paid and life has to go on. We all have to make choices out of necessity especially when it’s a matter of survival. What irks me is when non-creatives shake their head at us, throw their arms up and say, ‘well, you shouldn’t have picked such a hard industry.’“

“I don't believe that all art has to be about environmental justice, but all art is in some way because our lives are concerned with this. Whether we deal with it or not, we are living in relationship with it”.

“Conversations with my theater community during the pandemic have overwhelmingly revolved around the hope that theater will return; more importantly, the hope that it returns differently. The truth is that the Broadway theater model was not working for most of the artists in New York for a myriad of reasons, from cost to accessibility to content being too safe or commercial. Throughout the last few years, the complaint about theater by theater artists themselves was that it was catered too much to tourists and not to the community.”

“I have decided that I want to proudly embrace and display all aspects of my identity, and there is no way to do that unless I also embrace the conflict. And, though it’s a daily effort, I recognize that how the world sees me almost never translates to who I am. Mainly, I am not half of anything. Not half straight, not half gay, not half Brazilian, and not half Portuguese. Everything I am, I am entirely. And even when doubt comes knocking, I take comfort in knowing that No Man’s Land isn’t a lonely place. There are a lot of us here.”

“I am Black, Korean, and white. I am an actress. I am so tired of not getting the job because of my race. I am so tired of being asked to be more or less of the races that I am. I am so tired of not saying anything to the racism I experience for fear of burning bridges in a career that I’m so desperate to have.”

“When thinking about how to tie this into her love for performance, Kumala reflected back on the power in the knowledge of global issues and advocacy. “I felt like I really wanted to tell these stories because if only people understood and learned about the world outside of their own bubble, they would be able to make more empathetic decisions in their business practices, government positions, and in their daily lives,” said Kumala.”

When I wasn’t treating my mental illness, I wasn’t able to fully do anything, let alone hack it as a professional actor in NYC. I can’t tell you how many auditions I didn’t make it to because of a panic attack, or because I couldn’t bring myself to shower. I can’t tell you how difficult it was to walk in the room and display any level of confidence. I was unwell, and people could tell.

That’s the thing about theater education: it relies on interpersonal connections. I can’t work on blocking with my classmates on Zoom, I can’t reach out and touch the hand of my scene partner through a computer screen. My classmates can’t dance in the living rooms of their small apartments, and my friends can’t direct their projects from a video conference with all of their cast and crew.

“I not only want this time to be an opportunity to self-assess, reflect, wallow and create, all of which are necessary to cope during this time, I also want us to take this time to prepare to raise hell. I want us to value ourselves, our worth, and when we start to reopen the world again, I want us to demand more.”

Theater is an inherently collaborative art form. It is people gathering together in a room and trying things. It is an audience communing and watching something happening live right in front of them. But who knows how long it will be until we can come together in person?

4. Moose Murders: The Worst Show Ever...

On February 22nd, 1983, Arthur Bicknell’s mystery farce Moose Murders opened at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre. It ran for one night and went down in history as the worst Broadway play ever made.

For the performing arts, an industry built on the gathering of bodies and the ephemerality of the moment, this has been a difficult, if not career-questioning process. I spoke to several New York City-based performing artists, from comedy & drag to theatre & dance, who have made the leap to virtual live events.

How can we rectify this urge to tie everything in a neat little bow with the complex and grim realities of being human, especially now, in a time of tremendous uncertainty and grief and loss? Megan Sandberg a theater director who has written a series of ten essays all about our collective need for happy endings, and how we can reconcile that need with a not so perfect and happy world.

With a contract that details her three-month run in Aladdin on Broadway, Pires admits that she can only hope that she will be able to perform for three full months whenever Broadway shows resume. If the shutdown lasts more than 3 months from her intended March debut date, is her time in the show up?

Interns are not meant to be indispensable to operating the theatre or running the show. If you’re solely responsible for lighting Scene 4, laundering costumes, checking props for Act I, keeping the actor playing Hamlet from missing his entrance, and acting as the understudy for Gertrude, you’re indispensable and therefore not an intern.