"The World Is A Stage"

Hey! Andrea St. Clair has a brand-new, theater-oriented blog! Let's all wish her the best on her new endeavor!

As a blogger with a little experience (since 2002!), my main advice to Andrea and any other newcomers is to exercise a little care. In blogging, most of hard stuff actually isn't technical at all, it's mostly finding the right words, or the right tone, especially when trying to criticize a performance or an actor. Actors are more-than-able to accept criticism, but more than most people, they don't like being blind-sided by unfounded criticism. So, if I have a critical remark, I ground it in detail about the background leading to the critical remark. So, say "it was a dumb choice of set color, a choice that led the leading actresses' blonde bouffant to disappear into the yellow background" rather than "the dumb blonde's bouffant disappeared in a yellow haze." (and maybe that isn't good enough either - some words, like "dumb" are loaded!)

The nice thing about blogging is that it is facile enough to keep up with the fast pace of the day, and, like theater, it can be a moment-by-moment art. Andrea's signature line, borrowed from "Rent", says it all about theater and blogging: "No Day But Today."