Student Blogger: Brianna Arce

What does it mean to adapt Shakepspeare’s Julius Caesar for the 21st century? Well, here in Philadelphia, a local theatre company is answering that question with a captivating new adaption of this Shakespeare classic.

Student Blogger Brianna Arce interviews Dan Hodge about his work with Walnut Street Theatre, the cast and crew of Sherlock Holmes, and the broader Philly theatre community.

This is for the shy kids, the Autistic/disabled kids, the kids finding their courage, and anyone else who might need it.

This semester, one of my goals was to get more serious about my writing. I was recently nominated to be a part of the Kilroys 2025 Web for a play I wrote last year titled I Want to Be.

I have managed to intertwine my passion for disability advocacy and the arts in my work and am on my way to becoming not just an arts professional, but a change-maker who can shake up this industry, as they say in Wicked, for good.

Remember when Josh Groban said 'Hire a former theatre kid. I don't care what your business is. It will go better if you hire a former theatre kid?' Well, I think he was right. This is how working in theater prepared me to step into the world of film.

I am a sophomore Liberal Arts student at the Community College of Philadelphia with plans to transfer next year to study communication & theater. I have been working in the Philly theater community for about two years now and love it.

On Sunday May 25th, I moved to Washington D.C. to participate in the American Association for People with Disabilities Summer Internship Program with a placement site within D.C.’s performing arts community. The AAPD Summer Internship Program is a professional and leadership development opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students and recent graduates with disabilities.

I love Canva because it is easy to use and has all I need to create everything from Instagram posts to flyers. Canva is my go-to tool for designing social media content as a Social Media Manager for the Autistic Theatermakers Alliance and completing design tasks for other projects. Recently, I helped to design the 2025 Theatre Week Guide as a Community Engagement Fellow for Theatre Philadelphia.

I am presently an Intern for Philadelphia Young Playwrights and a freelance Teaching Artist. Last year, I submitted a play to their Annual Playwriting Festival and ended up being one of the playwrights whose work was featured in their annual New Voices Festival at Temple University.

For the last year, I have been an Intern at Philadelphia Young Playwrights, an arts education nonprofit serving youth in the Greater Philadelphia area. Here, I have worked for a team of three women who have given me opportunities to do meaningful work, hone valuable skills, and learn a lot about both myself and the theater community I am working within. Since it is Women’s History Month, I want to take some time to reflect on three things I have learned while working for these leading ladies. 

Being an Autistic/Disabled person working in theater can be difficult, but I had wonderful opportunities that have allowed me to turns my dreams into realities. My journey started as a teenage student in a musical theater program that changed me for good, so now I am reflecting on how that experience led me to where I am today.

Four jobs, multiple other on and off campus roles, a 4.0, and a grant to work on a dream project at my college. As I approach the halfway point of my 2nd semester of college, self-discipline and self care has been more important for me than ever. Hi, I’m Bri - a new Broadway World Student Blogger. Let me provide you with some background information about me: