It was an evening of cheers and celebration as the first “College Break Thru” program concluded on Friday, June 29th with 500,000 in college scholarships begin passed out to students! Parents, supporters, and program faculty gathered at the University Center in downtown Chicago to close out the 5-day intensive program that welcomed 56 of the country’s top performing arts students for high caliber classes and exclusive auditions.

Lauren Molina is an actress, singer, and songwriter who can currently be seen Off-Broadway in Desperate Measures as Bella Rose at New World Stages. Her performance earned her an Outer Critics Circle Award Nomination for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical and a Lucille Lortel Award Nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical. 

Taylor Iman Jones is currently starring as Mopsa in Head Over Heels (featuring music from the Go-Go’s) on Broadway which is currently in previews right now at The Hudson Theatre. I have been a fan since her Broadway debut in Groundhog Day. What made her debut so amazing was that she had only living in New York for two months when she booked the gig.

Fans of the musical 9 to 5 might have been a bit surprised when seeing its production at the Cascades Theatre in Bend, OR to see the character of Joe portrayed as a female rather than as a male as it's written into the script. 

Authorities are searching for the man accused of groping three teenage girls outside a New York Broadway theater Friday night.

It happened at about 11:15 p.m. after a performance of ‘Anastasia’ at the Broadhurst Theater as crowds of people were exiting the building.  Police say a man stood outside the theater and made inappropriate sexual contact, groping three teenage girls, ages 15, 16 and 19.

Recently, a quick ten-minute pre-show discussion before a highly successful matinee performance of Fiddler on the Roof at Port Hope's Cameco Capitol Arts Centre inspired me to learn more about the indelible mark Antonio Sarmiento has left on the thriving arts community in this pretty town, about a forty-five-minute drive east of Oshawa.

This morning, the Hungarian State Opera announced that a third of their performances of  Billy Elliot: The Musical would be canceled due to criticism from the government that the show could turn boys gay. 

Seriously. I'm not joking. 

This morning it was reported that at last night's performance of A Bronx Tale, a man sitting near the front row, stood up and displayed a pro-Donald Trump sign towards the audience. 

The incident occurred during the curtain call of the show, which just seems pointless because the audience is already cheering the show.

A couple of people on Twitter were able to catch the act. 

Leading up to the 72nd Tony Awards, many prognosticators out there were assuming that without a "Hamilton-ish" cross over hit or The Band's Visit's likely dominance, the TV ratings would drop through the basement. 

How wrong they were. 

Just a day after the big night, it was reported that the TV ratings actually went up from last year's awards. Sunday night’s telecast of the Tonys drew 6.3 million viewers on CBS, an improvement of 4% from the 6 million who watched last year.

For the past few months, I had the very amazing pleasure of working with an amazing woman. Her name is Tatianna Berinbaum, but we all know her as Taty! I asked her a few questions about acting and why it's important to her!  Everyone, Meet Taty! 

At the 2018 Tony Awards, OnStage Blog was able to speak to several artists who work behind the curtain at some of this season’s biggest shows. As the nominees moved into Radio City Music Hall for the night, they stopped briefly to discuss how they brought their shows to life.

Surprises? There were a couple. But other than a few unexpected wins, the 2018 Tonys shaped up exactly the way most people thought they were. The Band's Visit dominated the evening with 10 wins which surely pleased the "theatre snob" crowd who feel like the sky is falling when it comes to "quality" Broadway shows. 

Did The Band's Visit deserve every award it won? Yes and no. But it did certainly warrant some of the bigger wins in the evening. Let's run down some of the highlights as well as the lowlights of the ceremony. 

We’re launching a Running Diary during the Tonys Telecast, keep hitting refresh for updated comments!

Last week, former University of Oklahoma student, Chandler Corbeille released a statement on her Facebook page detailing disturbing incidents while interning for a former OU professor. 

Meet Kristen Sieh!

Kristen is currently playing the role of Iris in "The Band’s Visit" which has been nominated for 11 Tony Awards, including Best New Musical. She has also appeared in "Orange is the New Black" as Francine and as Kelsey in "House of Cards".

One of the most prestigious theatre programs in the United Kingdom will be trying something new come Fall. First year students at Cardiff’s prestigious Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama won’t receive academic marks comparing them with classmates.

Meet Kyle Selig!

Kyle is currently playing the role of the Aaron Samuels in "Mean Girls" on Broadway which has been nominated for 12 Tony Awards including Best New Musical. "Mean Girls" is based on the 2004 film written by Tina Fey (who also went on to write the book for the Broadway show which earned her a Tony Nomination). The movie made $129 million at the box office, and since its official opening, the film has developed a strong cult following around the world. So bringing this to the Broadway stage was a very smart and inevitable move.

A theatre company in Copenhagen has created quite a stir with their upcoming show. While the folks at Sort/Hvid have never shied away from the more avant-garde material and controversial material, it looks like they have crossed a line with their production of "Black Madonna", which was originally titled "White N*gger, Black Madonna"

In response to the outrage the title of the play cause, Sort/Hvid changed it. However, the play itself seems to be an issue because it's about a woman donning blackface in order to live her life as a black woman.

In case you were one of the fans of the now-canceled "Rise", who felt empty that there wasn't a musical-based show on television, it looks like you won't have to wait too long. It looks like Disney's preparations for their own streaming service are ramping up with the announcement today that their TV series based on the popular trilogy, "High School Musical", has found its writer. 

It was reported this morning that the co-chairs of the theatre department at Dawson College have resigned their positions over the school's response to harassment and abuse allegations that dated back almost twenty years.