The weather decided that hot girl summer would not happen this year for me. I quickly forgot my plans for outdoors parties, hiking, and short trips. I opted instead for catching up on books, TV shows, plays and movies. Sometimes, we need to slow down and enjoy small things. It took me a while, but I can now look back on those two months without feeling ashamed or blameworthy. You do not need to feel pressured to go back to school with tens of ridiculous stories to tell.

Though I will miss my Maryland friends and family dearly, I am so ecstatic to be back at Pitt. I haven't stopped thinking about it since I chose to stay home last spring. Though I try not to get my hopes to high in case of another lockdown or something of the sort, I cannot help myself in preparing for one of the greatest academic years of my life. I wish all college sophomores luck in there studies this year, and frankly, anyone else as well. We deserve it.

As an International Student, I've been glued on the news to see if I am able to enter to Canada so I can make my final semester in person. I need to be emotionally strong as I see how my friends are all coming back to the city and singing in person and everything. I feel happy that I am able to connect with them through technology, because even I am not there I still feel part of the community.

Pass Over was an absolute rollercoaster of a play. I went from laughing to crying, crying to sitting in shock, and sitting in shock to trembling in fear throughout the 85 minutes. The play is described as having the two main characters, Moses and Kitch, 'talk smack, pass the time, and hope that maybe today will be different,' but no small summary can describe what you will be seeing on that stage. While the play appears to take place in New York City, it also takes place on a plantation and in the land of Ancient Egypt, with all of the time periods colliding in one setting.

Choir was my real outlet last year, and I've no doubt that it will be the same this year. My professor, the wonderful Dr. Jordan Cox, was and is a light to everyone he came in contact with. He accepts people as they are, and embraces that special part of them. You really do see Christ in him, and that's rare nowadays.

It is now August, so I am sure most of us are starting to prepare for going back to school. For me and other musical theatre majors, this auditioning and just getting back into that 'go, go, go' mentality. Every semester is always a whirlwind of class, work, practice, and performing. A lot of times it can be hard to juggle these things.

August, can you believe it. August is a funny month. It's supposed to be winter but August is always confused. The weather is cold and gloomy, one day and then shiny and warm the next. Makes me confused to be completely honest. August also means that the cold months are behind us and that is so sad! I love the cold, the rain, the clouds and the bundling. But August also means that we are in the home stretch for the end of the year!

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. Learning about mental health in theatre from Simone Biles, moving back to New York City, and more-- read the latest from our college student bloggers!

I was so excited for High School Musical:The Musical: The Series season two, more than I thought I would be, I mean last season really surprised me with the cast, the amazing original songs and the way they made High School Musical work as a TV show, it felt fresh, original and special, but now that season two is over, I have a lot of thoughts. The plot changed a little bit, but we have the same cast and the same style so, that was not a problem, but from my point of view something felt different and at first I thought I was expecting too much because I loved season one, but with every episode my excitement went down.

As we begin to reemerge from the shadow of a pandemic, the first thing many of us want to do is go to the movie theater. Before the world shut down, it was my favorite thing to go out and do; so when 'Spirited' is released Christmas of 2022, you'll find me cozied up in a seat with a bucket of popcorn.

I believe that my biggest source of growth is from working and managing a kid's theater camp. I've never been a huge fan of children and while working with them this summer has not absolutely changed that, I feel like I understand them much better. The kids were aged 4-15 so I had a huge range of kids to understand, work with, and learn about. Sometimes the kids took a lot of energy out of me, but I enjoyed it.

After a year and a half of living in my hometown, it’s nearly time to go back to New York. I moved to New York in 2018, and I lived there until the first months of the pandemic. So, the question is, why do I feel more nervous about going back than I felt when I first left my hometown?

'It took me like, 10 years from graduating to starting to make a living doing it myself, solo, without assisting or anything. So yeah, just stick out if you can and just keep trying and don't be told that you can't do it, just persevere.'

I had always enjoyed writing. I have written countless miniature stories and plays since I was nine years old. Naturally, when I got to college, I had figured maybe writing was something I wanted to do, but I decided against it. I am lucky enough that my theatre had the opportunity for students to write and direct their own one-act play. After acting in this show my freshman year, I knew I wanted to write one for my sophomore year. So, I got to work and took a screenwriting class in the spring of my freshman year to help me. With the assistance of my teacher, I was pushed into actually submitting my script to be put on stage, and I was fortunate enough to be picked.

One of their most popular packages is the Agency Jump-starter Program, which includes 3 two-week intensives with agents, and closes with a private industry night via Zoom. On industry night, each actor goes into a private breakout room and performs one-on-one with each agent and receives feedback. As of now, Acting & Voice Studios works with over 150 agents, casting directors, and managers; including agents from Gersh, Paradigm, A3 and Verve.

As the story usually goes, a young person is bit by the “acting bug” and knows immediately what they want to do for their career. For Yue, not so much. His life was an acting drought until he turned 26.

According to a recent announcement from the Broadway League, all audiences, performers, crew members, and theatre staff must be vaccinated and audiences must wear masks. This does not bother me at all since I recognize the benefits of keeping everyone healthy and safe in exchange for incredible theatre.

In the absence of live theatre during quarantine, I turned to the next best thing -- theatre made for T.V. I love this show because even while I was sitting at home during the pandemic, the realistic sets of Times Square and the Broadway Theatres brought me comfort and excitement. It was a way for me to feel connected to Broadway again. So… why didn’t they make a season three? 

'You shouldn’t feel the need to sacrifice your mental health for others. I think that sometimes, like Biles, we feel like by being a part of a show, we have the weight of the world on our shoulders. We don’t want to let anyone down by protecting ourselves.'

Summer Stock auditions are a total numbers game and I implore you to cast a wide net, but make sure you're really targeting Venues that are most likely to hire you, Venues that are looking for performers with your skillsets and strengths--you want to set yourself up to receive as many callbacks as possible. Because more callbacks means a higher callback rate and a higher callback rate leads to a higher likelihood of booking work next summer!

I Didn't Plan It, but What I Was Born To Do is Run and Tell That A Musical is one of My Favorite Things!

If I had just allowed the time to let my piece grow without rushing myself to make something, this process would have gone a lot smoother. If you’re creating something, it doesn’t always come to you right away but that doesn’t mean it won’t come to you

I don't believe in anticipating the possible impending downfall of my career and everything I've worked for. I feel when you prepare a plan B, you've already accepted the failure of plan A. Anything is possible until it isn't, so don't sell yourself short. I've been through a few 'plans' or ideas of what is next in my career so to speak, but not until the previous plan is completely written off as a no go. I'm not going to think up and move on to the next plan until the first plan has completely run its course. So don't ask me what plan B is when I haven't even started plan A.

If you're a history buff, you might have noticed something in a movie, TV show or stage production that wasn't quite right. Turns out, it's possible there's an easy explanation. We're tasked with maintaining the historical integrity of the production, but the storytelling is always our first duty. If you are like me or my friends, you always notice these things, and hopefully now you might be a little more willing to let it slide next time you might see something imperfect in a TV show or movie.

1 in 4 Americans has a disability. It's high time for the media to step up and deliver on empty words with meaningful follow-through: Hire disabled people. Let THEM share their authentic stories. LISTEN to them when they say what you're doing is wrong, and change your ways. People fear what they don't understand. Educate them with proper representation in media and watch the world bloom in living color. When you let the colors in and change the narrative in media, everything begins to change, and the world is better for it. Without diversity, there is no art. Can you paint with no color?