2021 will be a year to remember. The Covid-19 pandemic is still surging around us, and it took hold of everyone's plans for the year and turned them upside down. In 2022, I am looking at the brighter side of life, with my head up high.

I waited months for this day, but I’m finally in Manhattan, wearing my lavender hoodie from Jordan Fisher’s official merch. It reads “Be My Friend” on my chest and there’s a small heart on one of the sleeves, the same place where Jordan has his heart-shaped tattoo. According to him, it means to “wear your heart on your sleeve”.

So you’re ready to be a BFA drama student! That is, until you’re putting up your first Shakespearian scene on top of the three self-tapes you still need to film and you were supposed to be off-book by Wednesday. Every actor has been there at some point, but don't worry - I’ve got you covered.

Three days a week at 8am, I wake up and prepare myself for my 9am movement class. I take off my shoes and stand in a line across the floor with my other classmates. I put one foot in front of the other and slowly push myself across the room. I lift my arms into an outreached position, open, yearning, eager, a position individual from those of my classmates beside me. I laser my eyes on the emptiness before me, in the space between focusing on one point and nothing at all. Until I reach the other side of the room and halt my movement, waiting for the rest of my classmates to complete their journeys and stand alongside me. We are engaging in an exercise called a 'slow ten', we are engaging our skills of discipline, focus, and stamina, utilizing our body's articulation and expressiveness, exploring our imaginative impulses. But I can't get past the fact that I'm just waving my arms and walking across the room.

There has been a trend going around on Twitter where you tweet a list of 10 movies that you feel define you in some way. Those of you who know me know I am a huge film nerd. Don’t get me wrong. I am a theatre nerd as well, but my first love is and always will be movies.

The fundamental nature of living successfully in theatre IS change. If you're working, then you're constantly getting new jobs. New auditions, new agents, new casts and crews, new parts, new lines, new experiences. No matter what these new things bring, they all involve an element of change. Choosing to ignore or despise that change can stall a career. Technically, each new job equals an unprecedented time. We must constantly adapt! That's one of the hardest and most rewarding parts of life in the arts. I realized that I had to embrace that aspect of theatre (and life!) instead of dismissing it entirely.

Now that it’s coming to an end, it’s time to have a recap on this year which is ending nearly in the same place it started, yet it feels like it was more than just 365 days filled with quarantines, and fear, and happiness and fun at the same time.

Lauren Thomas is a student studying Stage Management within her BFA in Technical Theatre. She successfully closed a production of Songs for a New World recently, and her outstanding work needed to be a highlighted and exemplified. Lauren discussed the things she learned, her challenges, and her best advice for fellow stage managers.

Check out 10 of Makalah's Musical Theatre Must-have's in your workout/game day playlist!I listen to all genres under the sun: rap, pop, musical theatre, country, pretty much anything that pricks up my ears. Which is why, you'll find a really big mix of genres in my game day playlist. As a lover of musical theatre, cast recordings have slowly but surely found their way into my game day playlist. That being said here are 10 musical theatre songs that are currently in my game day playlist, that I think you should add to yours, in no particular order.

Andrew Garfield has always been an actor I admired for his dedication to every character he plays and appreciation for both theatre and film. Through each work, he shows how large his range as an actor is and what he values in art.

I knew it was the opening night of Company on Broadway, so after our show was over we made sure to walk by the Company theater. We turned the corner and to our surprise confetti was flying everywhere. People were making their way out of the theater and people gathered in the middle of the street. The timing could not have been more perfect.

In the year 2022, I hope we all resolve to see more musicals. We may be deprived of some of our favorite stage musicals on Broadway, so I have put together a handy list of 6 different movie musicals that you can pop on at home - to keep everyone safe, and to entertain if you are having guests for holiday festivities!

There are so many “take a break from studying for final exams” activities around the Baldwin Wallace University campus that it is a challenge to study for final exams. Students with an interest in the arts are never left out.

Yet I tell the story of my artistic start over and over again, because isn’t that kind of our job as artists? Telling stories? And so, we tell stories of our lives, what brought us here and, yes, our ‘start’ in the arts. Just as all stories go, I tell mine differently every time, for every person, every instance, everything...

When I found out that this fall semester would be in person, I was so excited. But I was also nervous. This last semester ended up being what was probably the best semester I have had so far in college. It was also one of the most challenging semesters I have ever had.

In my senior year of high school, I went down the Yellow Brick Road as “Dorothy” in our production of The Wizard of Oz. As a junior musical theatre major at LIU Post, I’m putting on my ruby slippers and braiding my hair as I reprise the role this December. Here's my experience of approaching the same role again and doing it during a pandemic! 

With the new year just around the corner, many take time during the holiday season to reflect upon this past year as it comes to a close. Although 2021 has been challenging, it becomes clear that there is so much to be grateful for from vaccines to new movie musicals. While Broadway theaters began to open their doors, several streaming services opened their platforms to producing movie musicals. Unlike most years where few if any Broadway musicals were adapted into movies, 2021 was a year like no other with over ten musicals being created for the screen or being adapted from the stage to the screen. In celebration of the past year, here is a list of the best movie musicals from 2021 and where to watch them.

Go out and meet your friends. Half of my December was booked by friends, to catch up with them because I’m not able to spare time to meet them during the semester. What I also did was to catch up on sleep (not scientifically proven to work) and catch up on my favorite shows. Honestly, it’s enjoyable.

In early December, I had a chance to speak with Brian Blythe, one of the creators of the Costume Industry Coalition and the Showstoppers exhibit that ran until December 5th in Times Square. We reflected on the creation of Showstoppers and how the costume industry has been impacted by the pandemic, as well as what theatre fans can do to help the industry recover.. Enjoy!

The clues that Steven Spielberg would be a brilliant musical director were there-- the beginning of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, to name one-- but the filmmaker has reserved himself for a titanic challenge: revisiting West Side Story with an extraordinary adaptation that seeks the balance between the homage to its predecessor, directed by Robert Wise in 1961, and the need for a narrative and visual modernization with a certain historical justice.

The original musical is by Jonathan Larson, but you have to acknowledge all the style and heart that Lin-Manuel Miranda adds to his work in Netflix's tick, tick... BOOM! Clearly, this was a tribute Miranda paid to one of the songwriters who changed the Broadway industry. Rent is one of those heartbreaking and joyful stories about youth. This theme is reflected in tick, tick... BOOM! with good music, choreography and the excellent performance of Andrew Garfield. With many cameos from the Broadway industry and witty lines full of irony and emotion, TTB does a pretty good job highlighting the original stage show. It may even cause you to shed a few tears.

Whether you celebrate one of the holidays during December or not, it’s finally that time of year where we get a chance to take a breath and relax. You may be home from your fall semester of college, on winter break from school, or just a break from work.

Our student bloggers write about how they're coping with the current global health crisis, give insight on their school's performing arts programs, share their opinions on the latest theater news, and so much more. Returning to the movie theater to see West Side Story, Broadway stars covering hit songs, a roundup of theater moments from the year, and more-- read the latest from our college student bloggers!

If you have read my previous blog posts, you will know that I love making resolutions and goals for myself. Even if I don’t accomplish everything that I put in my list, I love the feeling of acknowledging what I want to work on and how I wish to better myself. It helps to keep me focused on what is in front of me. I always try to make a resolutions/goals list at the beginning of every calendar year, and school year, to help me get excited about the year in front of me. 

We have finally reached what can be considered the most stressful and chaotic part of the school year: Finals. A time where sleep doesn’t exist and caffeine is in high demand. Going into my fifth round of college finals, I have determined that it does not in fact get easier. It gets harder and more stressful. It feels like there is never enough time for anything and it is almost as if there is a large timer counting down to the end.