All stories by Melissahillman on BroadwayStars

Saturday, September 12, 2015

“Too Street”: Hypocrisy in Policing the Speech of our Actors by Melissahillman

I just had an interesting conversation with someone whose white teens are using the slang words “finna,” “aight,” “brah,” etc. She characterized it as …

SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 03:29PM
Friday, August 28, 2015

Celebrating Thin White Women by Melissahillman

Sometimes it seems like our whole entire culture is one huge celebration of thin white women. Ogling them, collecting them, advertising products to help other women become more like them, …

SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 01:56PM
Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Please Stop Asking if Shows Are Appropriate for Children by Melissahillman

Unless your show is called “Seven BJs for Seven Brothers,” (someone get on that), or unless you’re specifically doing TYA, people will contact your theatre and ask question…

SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 10:40AM
Saturday, July 18, 2015

Time to Retire the Word “Offended” by Melissahillman

There’s almost constant talk online about what’s “offensive,” or who’s “offended,” and it’s high time we retired this word. “Offend̶…

SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 03:55PM
Wednesday, July 1, 2015

AEA Waivers: Not Your Enemy by Melissahillman

While everyone’s in a great mood about the SCOTUS ruling, I figured now is a good time to post something controversial, right? It’s always a good idea to bring up the fact tha…

SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 03:33PM
Tuesday, June 23, 2015

I Wrote a Thing for TCG by Melissahillman

I was asked by the wonderful Jacqueline E. Lawton to participate in the latest TCG blog salon, “Artistic Leadership: How Do We Change the Game?” She sent me a series of question…

SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 12:34PM
Thursday, June 11, 2015

That Religious Person Next to You in Rehearsal by Melissahillman

Theatre has a certain . . . reputation, no? That professional theatremakers are an iconoclastic, irreverent community that ignores or even outright disrespects religion? The reality is, as…

SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 04:24PM
Friday, May 29, 2015

I See White People (and I’m Sick of It) by Melissahillman

About a month ago, I tweeted a little snark at Cameron Crowe about the poster for his upcoming film, Aloha. I was shocked to get a response. I wasn’t shocked, however, when the film tu…

SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 09:22PM
Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Having Kids: Worst Idea, or Worst Idea Ever? by Melissahillman

I have two kids, one I made myself and one I got free in a marital acquisition merger. So of course the title of this article is a joke, but the kind of joke that feels like the comedy equ…

SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 05:31PM
Thursday, May 7, 2015

Adam Sandler, Charlie Hebdo, and “Freedom of Expression” by Melissahillman

America has been exploding with issues surrounding the concept of “freedom of expression.” Like many freedoms, “freedom of expression” sounds great in the abstract. I…

SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 11:01AM
Saturday, April 11, 2015

Handheld Technology Has Not Ruined Today’s Youth Any More Than Dig Dug Ruined You by Melissahillman

If there’s one thing that grinds my gears, it’s the disingenuous concern trolling over the rising generation’s “addiction” to technology, and how it has impacte…

SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 12:57AM
Sunday, April 5, 2015

How To Rock Your Musical Theatre Audition by Melissahillman

I understand that there are something like 47,000 books on this topic, but I’m going to give you some succinct, usable advice right now for free. In addition to running Impact Theatre,…

SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 07:23PM
Friday, March 20, 2015

The Lies We Tell About Audience Engagement by Melissahillman

TCG is holding a multiyear inquiry about audiences called “Audience (R)evolution.” The piece I wrote for it is called “The Lies We Tell About Audience Engagement.” It…

SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 11:16AM

Why Is Race the Line? by Melissahillman

I had an interesting conversation with a theatremaker recently about casting. The discussion centered around multiethnic casting, particularly whether casting actors of different races as m…

SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 11:01AM
Sunday, March 15, 2015

Go Ahead and Start Your New Company. But. by Melissahillman

So you want to start a theatre company. My first bit of advice: don’t. It’s insanely difficult. Undeterred? OK. Here are some things you need to know. 1. Vision and Mission. I kn…

SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 06:38PM
Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Theatre’s “Broken Business Model”: An Open Letter to Dwayne Clarke, CEO by Melissahillman

Dear Mr. Clarke: I read the Stranger article about your play at ACT in Seattle. As a millionaire (billionaire?) CEO, it’s honestly touching that you wrote a play about your life-ch…

SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 11:56AM
Friday, January 30, 2015

Homing in on Home by Melissahillman

I’m a fifth-generation East Bay resident. My family came here in 1900. My son makes six generations of my family in the beautiful East Bay. This is my home. But lately, I’ve been…

SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 02:34PM
Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Oh, THAT Play by Melissahillman

So I’m in heavy season planning right now, and reading many many many plays a day. Yesterday I cracked open four plays in a row that were all two-person plays with people in some kind…

SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 01:50PM
Wednesday, December 3, 2014

The Most Important Thing in Theatre You’re Not Talking About by Melissahillman

There’s a massive disconnect between theatre intelligentsia– bloggers like me– and what’s actually happening on the ground. Theatre writers have been doing an excelle…

SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 03:02PM
Saturday, November 29, 2014

The Performance of Protest vs The Performance of Excusing Apathy by Melissahillman

Once upon a time I met an actor with mental health issues. Just . . . save that joke for later; I’m serious times right now. He told me that the Korean government was trying to kill hi…

SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 04:24PM
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Words and Symbols: Not Just Decorative by Melissahillman

Theatre is storytelling. A large part of that job is understanding how various aspects of your story, visual, aural, linguistic, etc– will affect your audience. You’ll never be 1…

SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 04:44PM
Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Protecting Racism in Theatre by Melissahillman

Yes, I am still talking about this, despite some truly delightful comments and emails requesting that I stop draining all the fun out of life. (One woman, who said, and I quote, that she wou…

SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 01:44PM
Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Ferguson, Narrative, and Dungeons and Dragons by Melissahillman

Like everyone, I’ve been thinking a lot about Ferguson, and about the epidemic of white men gunning down unarmed young African American men.  What is racism made out of? What makes so…

SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 11:15AM
Thursday, August 21, 2014

10 Tips for Choosing an Audition Monologue by Melissahillman

Hello, you magnificent bastards. I love you all, and I’m prepping a new blog post for you while I’m also prepping a bunch of classes and a new season at my theatre, so it’s…

SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 12:09PM
Sunday, August 3, 2014

The Class Divide in Theatre by Melissahillman

For so long I’ve wanted the Theatre Industry machine to behave a certain way and suddenly I realized I want to take that machine apart and build a new one instead. It’s been bre…

SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 05:19PM
Thursday, July 24, 2014

Things Playwrights Do That I Love by Melissahillman

Sometimes I open a play and see something that makes me feel like this: Here’s what you do that makes my heart sing as I’m reading the plays in my stack. Are these subjective? Su…

SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 03:51PM
Thursday, July 17, 2014

Six Female Characters You Really Need to Stop Writing by Melissahillman

There’s been a lot of talk lately about the stereotypical “Strong Female Character,” based on the CRAZY idea that we need to start thinking of female characters as . . . c…

SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 03:21PM
Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Why “Audience Participation” Doesn’t Work by Melissahillman

There’s been a lot of talk in the past few years about “audience engagement.” It’s partially been driven by a few big grantors requiring some form of it, and partiall…

SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 06:57PM
Wednesday, June 18, 2014

You Need a Dramaturg (Because Clowns are Creepy, and Other Semiotic Shifts) by Melissahillman

Like everyone (right?) I have a running joke with a friend about how scary and creepy clowns are. It’s just a joke– considering I sleep every night with a Dell’Arte-traine…

SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 07:09PM
Thursday, May 29, 2014

Our Role in This as Artists by Melissahillman

Like pretty much every blogger, the plan I had for my next post got chucked out the window after the violence at UCSB. I’ve been closely following #YesAllWomen on twitter, the news sto…

SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 01:16PM
Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Why You Didn’t Get Cast by Melissahillman

A few days ago, I had two conversations almost back-to-back. One was with an experienced and talented actor who believed they were getting the message that their career was over just becau…

SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 03:17PM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards