After a year of online school, I feel like I should be ready. I should be jumping at every opportunity to make friends, but my social anxiety along with a raging fear of rejection stops me in my tracks. I feel like I made more friends through Zoom than I have in real life. Seeing these people in real life is like seeing a micro-influencer in the streets. It is the weirdest experience of my life. I find myself as the kind of person who will not consider someone else their friend until the other person said it first.

One week I have been at Pitt. Only one and it has been filled to the absolute brim with opportunities. I have met so many people, learned about all sorts of clubs and organizations at Pitt and I have never felt more a part of a community then I have recently. All the students around me feel the exact same way. Though we dread normal schoolwork, exams, and the like, we have had incredible opportunities to let our strengths shine in many ways.

I'm extremely lucky to have all my classes in person (masked, of course). While I'm thrilled for each and every one of my classes, my theatre classes have been particularly exciting. The opportunity to be in a room again with other theatre makers has been magical. In just a few days, I feel like I've established a thriving community of artists and makers who are gonna take this privilege to do wonderful things. There's a sense of joy and excitement vibrating throughout the air, and I cannot get enough of it.

We are actually not a goal oriented industry where there's gold, silver or bronze at the end of the race, or where the value of our work is determined by our grades. I think that art is subjective and the subjectivity is reflected in your grades too.

You've met some cool people, gone to some parties, and, yes, auditioned for some things. I know a lot of the initial excitement has worn off and you're starting to question why you went to this school in the first place, but hang in there, it gets so much better.

@broadwaybob is an star among the TikTok theatre community. Here's what he has to say about dealing with hate, his new podcast, and Broadway divas.

I can't believe I'm finally back on campus. The last time I was here was in March of 2020. The difficulty of a year of online college made my on-campus reunion with my friends that much sweeter. I was greeted with big hugs, and my heart was so full. I moved into my dorm and looked forward to getting the semester started. I couldn't wait to eat with my friends in the dining hall and enjoy movie nights, or late-night milkshake runs. But first, I would have to get through Week One.

Adams’ Apples is a John Strasberg talent trifecta. He wrote, directed and starred in this contemporary homage to Anton Chekov’s The Cherry Orchard. In our recent interview, Strasberg explains that like Chekov’s dramatis personae of 100 years ago, the modern day characters we meet in his film “never did anything about doing what they dreamed of doing”.

The moral of the story here is that it's normal to go through phases where all you can really think about is this one fictional character you have a massive crush on. What you have to avoid is letting that take over your entire life. That leads to bigger problems, and trust me, you know you're not ready to deal with those.

This semester, I have the privilege of workshopping a brand new production! I wanted to share a little bit about this amazing experience. It has been a really valuable acting and general life skill to be able to connect with a group of people on a deeper level.

When I started looking into college theatre programs about 5 years ago (I can't believe it's already been that long), I had very limited knowledge about the difference between a BA and a BFA. It has been drilled into my brain by a variety of sources that BFAs are better. I had no reasoning behind it other than hearing it from other people. In reality, BAs and BFAs are just different. Neither one is inherently better than the other. It just depends on what you are looking for. It still feels like there is a stigma around opting for a BA program over a BFA in the general theatre community though.

We've reached out to 19 of our college student bloggers to see how their colleges and universities are planning to create a safe environment with classes, on campus activities and the impacts on performing arts courses and productions, along with vaccine and mask mandates.

I got the vaccine in memory of those who did not make it to this day, people like Nick Cordero. I took the vaccine in honour of families who have lost their world, like Amanda Kloots and Elvis. I was happy to be jabbed in thanks of all of our health care workers, who have had a much longer eighteen months than anyone can ever claim to have.

The return of Waitress brought Sara Bareilles back as Jenna and Drew Gehling as Dr. Pottamer. At the opening night curtain call, the cast called Amanda Kloots onstage to pay tribute to her husband, Nick Cordero. In productions of Waitress around the world, audiences will be able to spot Cordero's 'Live Your Life' Pie' on the menu board in honor of the late actor.

There will be many times when one day you pack up your life and wave goodbye to everything you once knew and run towards the unknown with nothing but yourself. It's scary and people will tell you how brave you are while you stand with your knees shaking with fear for what's in front of you. There are so many questions you don't have the answer to yet and so many ways this could all go sideways. It used to be a dream and now it's a-soon-to-be reality that we toy if we're even ready for.

Schools with a large technical budget can really play up the fantasy of the musical. They can do high tech transformations and amazing monsters. Schools with a smaller budget can really play up the camp factor of the show, and have more simplistic sets and special effects. The same goes with cast size. The chorus of this show can be huge or small, depending on the needs of the school.

Calling all theatre-loving college kids! We're looking for Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors to share their knowledge, recommendations, and school tips in blogs for BroadwayWorld. Find out more about how you can blog for us!

For the past few years I have had a tradition of driving out to Manheim, Pennsylvania, to spend a day at the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire. It's been a way for me to forget about the stresses of everyday life during some crazy times. But now that I'm living in New York, I decided it was time to give a new Renaissance Faire a try.

Every time I felt myself spiraling into uncertainty or fear, I would re-direct my focus to what was happening right now. If I were in class and worrying about next weekend, I stopped myself. Grabbed my runaway mind and re-directed it to what was happening in that moment or what would happen right after. This sounds like the smallest technique, but I swear it helped. For those few weeks, I would just put one foot in front of the other. Take it moment by moment. It eventually worked itself out to the point where I no longer needed to repeat that phrase 10,000 times a day. I got adjusted!

For anyone who knows me, two of my favorite things are live music and spontaneous plans. Whenever there is a chance to see an artist I like, I'll somehow find a way to be there even if it's a plan that's pulled together in the matter of minutes. In my experience, the spontaneous concerts are some of the very best and there are never any regrets for going because it's worth all the craziness.

Yes, I learn many new things in school, but coming to college taught me a lot more than just what I learn inside the classroom. Just as an example, before this week, I have never dismantled a big piece of furniture or used an electric screwdriver, and even if these don’t seem like big achievements to some, knowing that I am able to do these things when I need to give me a self-confidence I wouldn’t otherwise have. 

It’s 2021 and we already have a lot of Cinderella remakes that have tried to give a modern twist, show another perspective or vision of this classic but someone decided that the world needed another Cinderella movie that could work as a Jukebox musical. I had no expectations for this movie, but I ended up enjoying it. It made me laugh, sing and had a good time with a story that even though it had been told hundreds of times, the vision of Kay Cannon made it fresh and perfect for a movie night with your family, your little cousins or your friends.

Thanks goodness wicked exists.Wicked's concert aired last week, and every performance was spectacular, it was so different to watch different actors singing these remarkable songs, they transmitted to me the passion, love and connection. Even if I've listened to every song more than a thousand times, I got to feel the sensation that it was the first time my ears were hearing these songs. When Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth, showed up to present the songs and give a little synopsis, my eyes started watering, I think it is so special that they are still there, telling this amazing story and opening the road for younger generations to keep the narrative.

When it comes to video specials, the game has changed. The rules are different. It’s no longer acceptable for comedians to have a few cameras in the audience and call it good. There is now a heightened sense of performance, and endless possibilities to make comedy more than a man pacing the stage asking “Have you ever noticed…?”

Before 'Great Comet,' I didn’t have a singular favorite show. If asked, I’d list off 'Wicked,' 'Les Miserables,' 'Chicago,' 'Hamilton,' and 'Evita,' but I couldn’t give just one answer. But now, the answer is easy. This show is my absolute favorite of all time.