BWW Blog: DEAR EVAN HANSEN's Will Roland on Playing Jared, Passion for Acting, & Exiting the ShowMay 14, 2018Dear Evan Hansen's Jared Kleinman is the mastermind partly responsible for the web of lies Evan Hansen weaves about being friends with his departed classmate, Connor Murphy. Equipped with digital savvy and verbal barbs, Jared provides the levity in the show, allowing audiences to view from a comedic standpoint the absurdity and heartbreak of Evan's situation. Actor Will Roland shares many things in common with his character-his humor, word play, quick wit-but one thing he thankfully no longer has in common is Jared's mean streak.
BWW Blog: LOBBY HERO on BroadwayApril 18, 2018Life moves in circles. This sort of cliche isn't the message of Lobby Hero-rather, the play in itself is emblematic of the spirit of zeitgeist, the kind where unintended artistic choices turn out to be eerily prescient.
BWW Blog: Acting - A Leap of FaithApril 4, 2018For the next month or so, I'll be memorizing lines and living from rehearsal to rehearsal. I'll be collaborating with actors older than me, actors with countless years of experience under their belt. I'll be digging deep into three original one-acts and studying videos of goth girls, Sheldon Cooper, and Zooey Deschanel to help me step into the shoes of my respective characters. And if I'm honest, I'm a little nervous.
BWW Blog: Theater - An Invitation to Read Between the LinesMarch 19, 2018Sometimes, in my English class, I feel an overwhelming urge to shout it out: "The curtains were blue!" The saying is common among students, an adage that rose from a hypothetical situation: the author writes "the curtains were blue" and the Literature teacher reads into it, saying "the curtains represent his immense depression and his lack of will to carry on," when really, the author just means that the curtains were blue.
BWW Blog: Cassandra Hsiao - SUPERMARKET OF THE LOSTMarch 20, 2017In January, I said goodbye to working on one of the plays I wrote in my junior year of high school, 'Supermarket of Lost,' which you can read about my experience here: http://www.broadwayworld.com/los-angeles/article/BWW-Blog-Cassandra-Hsiao-Opening-Nights-and-Goodbyes-Looking-Back-on-SUPERMARKET-OF-LOST-20170123
BWW Blog: Cassandra Hsiao - From Page to Stage Part 1: Table ReadMay 31, 2016I walked into a room full of people surrounding a table stocked with Hershey's candy bars, lollipops and flyers for The Blank Theatre's Young Playwrights Festival. For a moment, I hesitated-was this where I belonged, in a building a couple blocks away from the Hollywood Walk of Fame?-but before I could back out, someone spotted me and asked, "Are you here for the 'Supermarket of Lost' table read?" and I said yes.