Couldn’t do an article this month… :(

OK, so I couldn’t do an article this month… or, um… last month. Yeah, sorry. Holidays, life happens, bills happen–ugh! And usually when I can’t do an article, I like to post a theater meme. But this time I thought I’d do something different.

Olivia Hussey, a brilliant actress and all around warm person, passed away recently. I’ll never forget watching Romeo and Juliet in my middle school theater class… and wanting to be her. (Oh, shut up) And I loved watching her in Stephen King’s It. That movie scared the hell outta me and a lot of other actors would be snobby about films like that. But I also read that she was a kind person who everyone loved. In watching footage of her, it looked like she was really chill, and funny.

But… here’s something else that’s on my mind, which unfortunately doesn’t surprise me: a while back, I read that her and Leonard Whiting were greatly deceived and exploited in the making of Romeo and Juliet, in regards to the nudity. And I don’t care if they “defended it” later. Here’s what people don’t talk about: people lie to themselves because they’re conditioned to. And no, nudity was not needed. Plus–they were kids! As someone who’s been working in theater since childhood, I’ve seen some messed up stuff. It looks as though we’re making progress, but there’s still a lot of work to be done. And that’s an understatement. Olivia is one of the reasons I’m dedicated to that work.

She was a great artist, and an amazing person. Rest in Peace Olivia Hussey.

Parting is such sweet sorrow.