“In the theatre, we have the ability to create the world we want to see. Yet so many companies want to wallow in sadness or stereotypes about sex work.”
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“Artists often have a crazy amount of commitments. It can be difficult to set aside time for our own health and well-being. But here’s the conclusion it’s taken me a long time to arrive at: we deserve it. “
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The very first thing to understand about “proving yourself”, is that YOU need to be the first person you convince. You need to develop your abilities hand-in-hand with your confidence to the point where you feel pride in what you can do. Once you reach that point, you can then work on impressing other people.
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“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.’”
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“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.”
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“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”.
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“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.”
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“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.”
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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.
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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.
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“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.”
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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?
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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?
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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.
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When I sat down to do all these projects, I stared blankly at my computer screen. I had very little motivation or inspiration to do any of these projects. The reality was, I was mourning.
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It’s a tricky tightrope to walk, working with friends, isn’t it? We have an idea we are excited about, we want to see it through, but how do we navigate the lines which are so blurred between personal and professional?
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Vulcan Theatre Company’s production of Macbeth is about to take the stage in New York City, focusing on the play’s gender politics, cycles of violence, fate vs. coincidence, and more in this iteration of the well known Scottish Play by The Bard. But there’s a twist.
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