During my second year studying undergraduate theatre, my class watched a documentary called Every Little Step. This film details the story of the musical Chorus Line and follows the casting process of the 2006 Broadway revival. Although it is a truly fascinating film I would recommend to all theatre fanatics, one moment stuck with me most of all. One of the actresses cast in the revival said of dancing and showbiz, “If you have something to fall back on, you’ll fall back.” My fellow classmates seemed to think this was wise advice to keep in mind as we began our careers as actors, but to me something seemed wrong with the picture.

Observations, AuditionsChristopher PetersonMay 4, 2018Tess Nakaishi

What About the Showgirls?

When I was 15 years old, I shimmied into a sequined leotard and balanced a feathered headpiece on my head for my high school production of George M! I distinctly recall claiming a private changing space in our closet-sized dressing room during our first dress rehearsal, only to have it dawn on me that there was no point in being modest: I’d be wearing virtually nothing onstage, so why bother hiding now?

Observations, BroadwayChristopher PetersonMay 4, 2018Maegan Clearwood

Should the Tonys Start Nominating Off-Broadway Productions?

Over the past couple of months, I've heard from more than one person that they are concerned that the over-commercialization of Broadway will mean that less "artistic" and original musicals will be recognized by the Tony Awards.

While I think they're overreacting, I don't think their concerns are completely unfounded. After all, this past year, there wasn't a single musical that wasn't based on a movie or TV show or that wasn't a jukebox collection.

Theatre Kid Survival Kit: The Non-Theatrical Workplace

I was at a disaster training when it happened again. The irony of being in a disaster training but without protocol for....that other disaster. The one, you know it. That feeling that comes on when you are out of place, but shouldn't be. The moment when every sign on earth points to you being the center, placing you right at the right time but the worst place. I was a theatre kid in a theatre scenario with non-theatre people.

ObservationsChristopher PetersonApril 28, 2018Liz Lydic

Will OSF's "Oklahoma" Open the Door for More Same-Sex Revivals?

Last year it was announced that the venerable Oregon Shakespeare Festival would be putting an interesting spin on their upcoming production of "Oklahoma" by making the couplings of Laurey/Curly and Will/Ado Annie, same sex rather than the traditional heterosexual pairing.

The announcement was met with praise but also with some skepticism. Would a recasting like this make sense? Would it work within the context of the piece?

Well, at least according to local critics who have seen the show since its opening on April 22nd, it's worked perfectly.

Broadway, ObservationsChristopher PetersonApril 27, 2018Chris Peterson

Melodramatic Is Not a Dirty Word

Melodrama.

When the term comes up, many people tend to think of the old melodramas that theatergoers were accustomed to in the 19th century. Perhaps if they know enough about the history of theatre, they might think of plays such as Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Corsican Brothers and The Octoroon.

However, all of this overlooks what the term actually refers to: the usage of exaggerated aspects of performance and storytelling, whether it may be referring to the events in the plot or the emotions of the characters.

ObservationsChristopher PetersonApril 26, 2018Anthony Piccione

Is Theater Still Relevant in the Modern Age?

Recently, I have attended several productions ranging from Spamalot to Into the Woods. As I am a person who is often curious, and I usually arrive fairly early, I started looking around at the audience. Except for Into the Woods, which was a high school show, most of the audiences were in the 40-senior range. So, it begs the question, is theater relevant in a modern world of technology?

Community Theatre, ObservationsChristopher PetersonApril 26, 2018Julie H. Jordan

Meet the Wonderful and Talented Audrey Cardwell

Audrey Cardwell is currently starring in the National Tour of Bright Star where she is playing the central role of Alice Murphy. She has also appeared in the national tours of Cinderella (Ella), Anything Goes and Elf and has been seen regionally at The Old Globe, Asolo Repertory Theatre, The Muny, North Shore Music Theatre, Houston Theatre Under the Stars, Dallas Summer Musicals and Pennsylvania Centre Stage. She’s also an alum of Penn State University.

Broadway, National Tour, ObservationsChristopher PetersonApril 24, 2018Kevin Ray Johnson

Why Some Broadway Marquees are Jarring

While my first priority was always seeing whatever shows I had come to see that particular trip, early visits to New York City were also consumed by my eagerness to take it all in. Not the city; Broadway, specifically the fabled theatres. Long before thousands of pictures from a single day could be stored effortlessly on one's mobile phone, my dad would, fortunately, pack enough film (long, black, shiny plastic-y stuff with chemicals that fixed themselves into images when exposed first to light and then to other chemicals) to get pictures of me in front of every Broadway marquee we could find. With no idea what most of the shows were, and absolutely no idea who the theatres were named after, I collected Broadway marquees in a camera. It was really quite innocent if I do say so myself.

Now, I'm old and I know things, and things that used to be pure fun are borderline offensive to me. Watching a television report on a new Broadway show recently, I found myself asking, "What business does that show have in that theatre with that namesake?" It was an irrational response to an ultimately harmless coincidence that I realized I have felt several times over the past few years at least, and something I thought worth exploring. Why is it jarring to see certain Broadway marquees?

Observations, BroadwayChristopher PetersonApril 19, 2018Aaron Netsky

College President Boots Musical from Theatre for Political Event, Then Blames Theatre Students When Event is Cancelled

Imagine you’re a chemistry or biology college student. You’ve spent weeks preparing your lab and have timed everything perfectly. You and your lab partner double checked the equations, and experiments are chugging away. There’s still a couple more weeks of monitoring to go before your work is finished, but you’re feeling pretty good. Now imagine being told that the lab is needed to host a special visitor and that your experiments must be removed. The “compromise” is that you can move to a smaller lab which doesn’t have the right equipment, so all your months of hard work will be lost. You have no say in the matter and nor does your faculty advisor- the college administration made all these decisions for you and without your knowledge or input. This would never happen, right? No one would dream of asking a science student to uproot their work at the last minute. Yet this is exactly what played out at Westfield State University (WSU) and their theatre students.

Observations, CollegeChristopher PetersonApril 16, 2018Liz Chirico

What is Your Favorite Musical of the 1990's?

Last month we tried this with musicals of the 21st Century and it got a huge response. So we're going back a little further this month and re-visiting our favorites from the 1990's!

Since Facebook now has a really fun poll feature. We'd figured the easiest way to do this is to do it bracket style.

ObservationsChristopher PetersonApril 4, 2018

Broadway Revivals: Maybe You Can Teach an Old Show New Tricks

I want to offer a rebuttal to the piece submitted on this site regarding three upcoming musical revivals, Kiss Me Kate, My Fair Lady and Carousel. Upon first glance they all seem horribly outdated, misogynistic and not conducive to the landscape that is 2018. I argue that with the right direction and treatment, they can be very timely and have important lessons to share.

Observations, BroadwayChristopher PetersonApril 3, 2018Liz Chirico

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