E tu, All That Chat?

[magruder]

Posted: 6/4/04 at 8:40am

Two posts over at All That Chat this morning accuse BroadwayWorld of bitterness and nastiness, respectively. While there certainly have been posts and threads over here that have disturbed me, does it truly size up to the vitriol that goes on over there? The careers that get sliced up and dismissed? The eagerly awaited dire first preview reports with gleeful follow-ups and crowings of "I told you so's!"? And all of it justified because the posters just love the theatre so much. There are good and bad aspects to both of these message boards, but those posts this morning just struck me as the height of hypocrisy.

[Jon]

Posted: 6/4/04 at 8:45am

The most interesting and intellegent people to ever post at All That Chat have been banned. And if you mention one of the banned ex-members (VERACHARLES) then you get banned, too. That board is now a slow moving bore.

[secondactor]

Posted: 6/4/04 at 8:48am

That board always seems to be filled with bitter failed actors dancers and photographers, eager to wallow in the negative.

Why bother?

[macbeth]

Posted: 6/4/04 at 8:53am

Bitter is certainly the right word to describe All That Chat and most of its denizens. I consider that site to be one of the least supportive places on the net for the theater world. I much prefer the community here at BroadwayWorld which I consider 1000x more supportive of what's out there, big and small.

The attitude over there of being the first to post reports on previews, actors, etc. to tear them all to shreads turned me off on that site months ago. Checking it now, it does look like they're getting a lot less posts than they used to. Pity.

[etoile]

Posted: 6/4/04 at 9:56am

I know I can probably count on one hand the number of times I've even visited ATC this past week. And that has as much to do with the type of post and the posters.

But in all fairness to anyone's opinion over there I do think we need to address the weeds in our own garden. Over the past couple weeks there seems to have been a cancer spreading. An ominous presence that especially crept into the off-topic board. There's a divisiveness that seems to be splintering factions. Gone are the playful bantering comments. Instead they've been replaced with comments that are harsher, dare I say hateful, in tone. We may not all like or enjoy all posters, but now there seems to be a total lack of respect. One only hopes that this is a cycle that will soon pass. But one thing I find offensive is that some here seem to forget, or fail to acknowledge, that there are pre-pubescent persons present.

Posted: 6/4/04 at 9:58am

Well said Etoille!

[Al Dente]

Posted: 6/4/04 at 9:58am

Have I not repeatedly displayed my disdain for that disgusting site? I originally became a member here in order to join a discussion about ATC, long ago. It is the disgruntled "never was" paradise. And it's true, you need only burp the wrong way and you get banned. The best course of action is to give it no energy and it will go away. And yes, it is the absolute height of absudity to call this site "bitter". Even in my best, most vitriolic rants, I don't come close to the usual, run of the mill "tone" that every post there reeks of. They're a bunch of sad nobody wannabe's. End of the story.

[Plum]

Posted: 6/4/04 at 9:58am

I find that the chatter at ATC is more acerbic than that here, but the no polls policy is a beautiful thing, there's less repetition of opinions, the knowledge base is excellent, and there have been some really amazing discussions there.

I see ATC as being filled with mostly very devoted and experienced theater fans who don't have much patience for newbies. BWW is friendlier to young and inexperienced fans as well as fluffier discussions. I like to check both, just because they talk about different things. They're not even rivals in my eyes- they're just two different things. Like apples and kumquats. :)

Edit: Okay, maybe I'm not reading the right threads or something. There are some really sour posters at ATC, but it's easy enough to see who they are and not take what they say to heart. Or maybe I'm just overly naive- I usually believe the best about everyone until they really prove me wrong. But I think my ideal Broadway message board would be somewhere between BWW and ATC. Updated On: 6/4/04 at 09:58 AM

[Jack42]

Posted: 6/4/04 at 10:19am

I think this is twice in a year I have totally agreed with Al Dente, which only proves his point about the people posting on this board and ATC.

I am constantly disgusted at the vitriol on ATC and over the most absurd details such as an obvious typo, not spelling error. There may be "cattiness" over here from time to time, and a butting of heads, but nothing like they have over there. Even worse to new posters.

Macbeth, I have also noticed a rapid decline in their postings ever since they switched over to their new message board.

And to Magruder, all I can say is you are dead on!

Updated On: 6/4/04 at 10:19 AM

[Al Dente]

Posted: 6/4/04 at 11:20am

Jack, I think we've agreed on two threads today, alone. What's going on here?

[Jack42]

Posted: 6/4/04 at 11:22am

I don't know Al. Next thing bound to happen is a revival of Moose Murders

[Al Dente]

Posted: 6/4/04 at 11:23am

LOL, only if you and I can produce, direct and cast it.

[Jack42]

Posted: 6/4/04 at 11:26am

And only if Holland Taylor comes back to star. I think it should be a musical this time.

[Al Dente]

Posted: 6/4/04 at 11:28am

Holland Taylor, wow is HT still amongst the living? That's a name I've not heard in ages. Good one!

[Jack42]

Posted: 6/4/04 at 11:31am

She was in the original and is very much alive. She left Broadway after Moose Murders and has been in several movies. You know movies, Al. That's the OTHER place where people talk, crinle wrappers and leave their cell phones on.

[Al Dente]

Posted: 6/4/04 at 11:35am

Yes, but you're only out 10 dollars to get annoyed and be around rude, idiotic patrons. For a 100 dollars, I have no tolerance. How about when they actually decide to have the conversation as was the case with Lisa Ling at a performance of La Boheme' that I attended. I was shocked.

[Jack42]

Posted: 6/4/04 at 11:42am

Lisa Ling? Is that one of the chinese pandas?

[Al Dente]

Posted: 6/4/04 at 11:46am

That's priceless. No, she was one of the original "View" ladies. A show that makes my skin crawl btw. She was infuriatingly oblivious as to proper theater etiquette. I couldn't tolerate that behaviour from an A-lister, let alone some Z-lister, like Ling.

[Dawg]

Posted: 6/4/04 at 11:48am

Insider Industry Nicknames for ALL THAT CHAT include (but I'm certain are not limited to):

"THE BAD PLACE"
"THE SEVENTEEN"-this alludes to the 17 posters there who most likely live in the midwest, have seen one or two Broadway shows, and are bitter because though they played Mama Rose their junior year in High School, their theatrical career has lead no further.
and finally (perhaps my favorite)

"STALKIN' BROADWAY"

[Al Dente]

Posted: 6/4/04 at 11:52am

All brilliant. I've heard All that "Crap", or did I make that one up?

[Jack42]

Posted: 6/4/04 at 11:55am

I've heard it referred to as

All That Crap
That's All Crap
Pure Evil

[nystateomind04]

Posted: 6/4/04 at 11:57am

ive never been to atc, nor do i plan to, not from what ive heard about it. this place can get pretty nasty sometimes, but there are also a lot of fun, and informative people who i love to talk to because of how much i learn about theater that i could never learn out here in nowhere, usa.

sometimes i feel horrible at the prospect of some of the stars we post about reading our threads, and they arent always even that bad. i just wish we could all remember that the people in the shows we talk about ARE in fact people, and they should be treated with human decencey, whether or not we enjoy them as performers.

[Dawg]

Posted: 6/4/04 at 12:03pm

You're VERY right-and I can tell you that all three of those nicknames for All That Chat, came from people who've had their feelings hurt by really cruel remarks made on that site. I often encourage people to look at this board instead-since usually the postings are far more informative, analytical and friendly as opposed to the "vitriol" on the other site.

[Plum]

Posted: 6/4/04 at 12:22pm

But of course, no one could accuse the posters here of bitterness or vitriol against ATC...

Quit generalizing, folks. Saying ATC is populated entirely by bitter old queens is the same as saying the audience of Wicked consists entirely of vapid teenage girls. Not true, and definitely not up to the standards of fairness you claim BWW upholds.

[Jack42]

Posted: 6/4/04 at 12:26pm

Plum

I believe the issue is about the hypocrisy of it all, not about any one site.