C-a-n-c-e-l-i-n-g ‘Spelling Bee’ at a Maryland Middle School

The communication announcing the cancelation of a production of the musical The 25thAnnual Putnam County Spelling Bee at Hyattsville Middle School in Maryland could not have been more terse. Unfortunately we have decided to cancel the Spring Musical dates of May 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. Additionally, we will hold a parent meeting after spring break, […]

At Neil Simon Festival, A Contest Entry Fee That’s No Laughing Matter

If one looks around the website of The Neil Simon Festival, a yearly theatre event held in Cedar City, Utah, there’s a list of donors to the company. On that list are seven entries at the $100+ level. But the list is perhaps some 30 short, because that’s the approximate number of unlisted individuals who […]

Tina Landau: “A Home in the Theatre”

I was asked to deliver the Keynote Address for BroadwayCon, a three day expo for fans of Broadway theater. The theme of the Opening Ceremony was “Home,” and included performances by Susan Egan singing “Home” from Beauty and the Beast, Hailey Kilgore with “Home” from The Wiz, as well as Ethan Slater, Ben Cameron, and Anthony […]

Teaching Students & Audiences About Swastikas, The SS and “The Sound of Music”

If you see a stage production of The Sound of Music, here are some words you won’t hear: Nazi. Hitler. Here are some words you will hear in the stage version: Gauleiter. Anschluss. Third Reich. Regardless of whether you see The Sound of Music on stage or watch the perennially popular 1965 movie, here’s another word you […]

Worry About The Censorship and Homophobia First, Then The Prayers

As word about a scuffle over a theatre production at Mitchell High School in Mitchell County NC has started to make its way beyond the local North Carolina media, accounts seem to be placing their emphasis on what is really the least of the problems there. After all, in America, people are free to pray […]