Seldom does a week go by where I don't see message boards light up with rage if a certain performer of a certain show doesn't come out to greet the fans by the stage door, after the show. 

While I understand the disappointment they may feel not being able to get an autograph or selfie with their favorite performer, I'll never understand the hateful comments towards those who don't grace the stage door audience with their presence. 

Recently, Chicago Sun-Times theatre critic Hedy Weiss' out-of-bounds commentary within her theatre reviews has finally caught up with her. Her racist comments about the subject matter in the play Pass Over,  was certainly an unacceptable place for a theatre critic to go. 

When you combine this latest issues with her past ones such as anti-Semitism and body shaming, I'll be the first to say that Ms. Weiss has no business working for a major newspaper, let alone in a city as diverse as Chicago. 

The first national tour is Fun Home is getting tremendous reviews. However, one major costume change seems to be upsetting more than a few audience members. One the blog, Sinister woman, one audience member is calling out the costume change as an example of how they are "de-butching" the role of Alison. 

1984, the dystopian novel written by George Orwell in 1949, is now on the Broadway stage, having opened in The Hudson Theater after a preview in London.  In its day, it was a shocker, commenting on the dangers of governmental control when taken to an extreme, and the subsequent impact on its inhabitants.  Today, its message resonates in our modern world, and no one is denying the timely release of the dramatic version.  However, what is in question is the manner in which it is being presented, based on the audience’s reaction to the piece.

One of the greatest musicals ever written is, these days, under attack for being the opposite of what it is. The attackers mean well, but they misquote the script, disregard other aspects of the story, and misunderstand – perhaps willfully – a key point. So let’s today take a fresh look at Rodgers and Hammerstein’s 1945 masterpiece, Carousel, and answer the charges being made against it.

99% of theatre fans are amazing. Let's get that out of the way. They're supportive. Open minded. Forgiving. Patient(How many of you have been waiting for a new Sondheim musical?). 

But then there is that 1%. They are the annoying, unbearable, stubborn and obnoxious who somehow find a way to rain on everyone else's parade. 

Yesterday, the New York times reported on the Actors' Equity Jobs Study which was released a month earlier. We did a series of articles when the report was released in May when it came to the gap in pay among female stage managers as well as the jarring statistics when it comes to the casting of performers of color. I don't know what took the Times so long to report of this, but that's not the point. 

The point is, that with their article yesterday, the report was given a much-needed spotlight on the real issue of casting equality in the theatre industry.

Clint Ramos has dressed Jake Gyllenhaal (“Sunday In The Park With George”), Allison Janney (“Six Degrees of Separation”), Lupita Nyong’o (“Eclipsed”) and Bradley Cooper (“The Elephant Man”), all on Broadway and in the last few years. He’s designed costumes for modern, New York commuters (Broadway’s “In Transit”), 15th-century revolutionaries (Off-Broadway’s “Joan Of Arc: Into The Fire”) and mischievous fairies (the upcoming “Midsummer Night’s Dream” at the Public Theater’s Shakespeare In The Park).  

When asked about his extremely eclectic resume, Ramos said he is “attracted to projects that are about belonging: a character or a group of characters who are looking to belong.” A broad category, but clearly one that has served him well.