I'm Lazy...

[mamamia sammy]

Posted: 11/24/03 at 11:18am

That's not lazy it's plagiarism.

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 11/24/03 at 11:10am

Please help me. Here is your assignment: For my school newspaper, I need mini synopsis' of two shows. They are CATS and Millie. It is hard for me to narrow it down to 4 or 5 sentences. If you could do this ASAP, that would be great!

[Horsey]

Posted: 11/24/03 at 11:22am

Why don't you say:

"CATS...sucks."
"MILLIE...also sucks."

That should work.

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 11/24/03 at 11:26am

I thought you were obsessed with all new shows??? Taboo isn't any better, buddy. I hate to give your hopes up.

[rlbgbc]

Posted: 11/24/03 at 11:34am

There IS no synopsis for CATS. Well, I guess it could be:

"Cats run around a junkyard. A whore-y cat sings a song and is rewarded by a trip in a cherrypicker."

[JakeB]

Posted: 11/24/03 at 1:44pm

This is ON TOPIC!

(and actually, one of the longest synopsises I ever saw was for CATS, it was in the foyer of the theatre.. I figured it was because they had so many tourists that they needed to explain what was going on)

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 11/24/03 at 3:44pm

Right, but I knew people would be a$$holes like this.

[TheaterBaby]

Posted: 11/24/03 at 10:23pm

Cats: Now and For Yesterday!

Millie: Ex-stage actress sells orphan young ladies into White Slavery in China, while Middle American girl seeks independance, a job, and a husband. Friendships are made, true love is found, evil plans are spoiled, and a lot of tap dancing occurs. "Only in New York."

[JoizeyActor]

Posted: 11/24/03 at 10:33pm

A wide eyed Millie moves to NYC during the roaring 1920's where the skirts are higher, the hair is shorter, and flappers are all the rage. With her welathy boss's hand in marriage as her ultimate goal, she must face the jazz age, the female workforce, and white slavery - all while pursuing her own true "green glass" love!

[TheaterBaby]

Posted: 11/24/03 at 10:45pm

oooo joizy, your's is much better than mine. :)

[JoizeyActor]

Posted: 11/24/03 at 11:14pm

Aww, thanks. If my house wasn't so damn cold and my skin wasn't frozen, I would blush.

[Madame X]

Posted: 11/25/03 at 12:26am

You don't want to do YOUR job and WE'RE the a$$holes? Interesting...

Posted: 11/25/03 at 11:43pm

I seem to remember a line from a Tom Stoppard play.... "Aeschylus did not create the theatre so that little kitty cats could run around on a stage wondering who's going to go to kitty cat heaven."

And, especially as a writer, I have to agree with Sammy and the good Madame. Asking us to help you edit your synopses to four or five sentences is one thing, asking us to write them for you is entirely different. I've had my stuff ripped off before, and it is one of the most disgusting feelings I've experienced to date. And editors and teachers/professors are picking up on that feeling and double-checking everything they get on the Internet now. Six people in my Philosophy class received failing grades on the proposals for their final papers--not even the paper, a proposal which almost everyone else received an A on--because they borrowed words from various sources that weren't their own. And for a school paper!? That's not even an assignment that you're required to follow up on to graduate. You're on that paper to convey YOUR voice to the student body, not some random person who happens to frequent the same message board. If you can't take the heat, get out of the copy room.

Sorry for being an asshole about this, but this REALLY gets my goat (Sylvia?).

I'll get off the soapbox now, Lord knows somebody could use the wood.

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 11/25/03 at 11:47pm

The reason I called you a$$holes was because you are not getting what I wanted and telling me something that is not true. I tried to write synopsis', but I thought some of you could be a little bit more creative then me...I guess not. Thanks TheaterBaby and JoizeyActor for your help.

Posted: 11/25/03 at 11:51pm

Yes, but then you would be passing our creativity off as your own. Same principle.

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 11/25/03 at 11:52pm

Who said I would not credit you? The paper was sent to print and everything is done. It's all over.

Posted: 11/25/03 at 11:56pm

Then the error was in your phrasing of the original question. Tact and the ability to negotiate, my friend, are what make a good journalist. (Usually, the ability to write comes in handy, too, unless your last name is Riedel....)

[TheaterBaby]

Posted: 11/26/03 at 11:35am

If you all are so concerned about people taking your thoughts and ideas and using them in things like articles, or school assignments, then I wouldn't even share those thoughts online.
This person made it clear that this was for their school assignment. If you didn't want to offer any synopsis or whatever then you don't have to. Had you given a synopsis of show without being asked by someone, and then someone took it and used it publicaly in a papers, then you can be angry; but this is just silly.

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 11/26/03 at 1:46pm

Thanks for understanding, TheaterBaby! Vicious, I could care less about being a good journalist (that's not what I want to be). You should be glad I am bringing Broadway/theatre into a school that focuses on sports.

Posted: 11/26/03 at 8:17pm

It's the principle, TheaterBaby. Asking to do so or not, it's still the act of passing someone else's intellectual property off as your own. When you fail a course in college, the professor doesn't check to see if you asked the source you ripped off if you could use it or not.

Now, had you mentioned in the beginning that credit would have been given where it was due, that would have been a different thing BwayTheatre. I'm glad that you're bringing theatre into a athletically-centric school (I know that story all too well), however I don't want to see it brought in on poor ethics. And if you could care less about being a good journalist, why bother writing for a paper? If you're going to do it, do it right.

PS, I'm not planning on being a journalist, but I write for my college's paper.

[BillFinn]

Posted: 11/26/03 at 8:25pm

I totally agree Alterego. It is bad ethics to use others ideals for your own work. Which college paper do you write for?

Posted: 11/26/03 at 8:57pm

I'm assuming that was directed towards me, albeit I'm not Alterego (I've been having the same day, no worries). I'm a staff writer for the Arts and Culture section of Fordham University at Lincoln Center's Observer. In fact, I'm getting a double feature in our upcoming issue; reviewing both the BC/EFA Carols for a Cure CDs/plugging said CDs and reviewing Beckett/Albee (which was directed by the chair of our theatre department).

[BillFinn]

Posted: 11/26/03 at 9:39pm

*mouth drops* FORDHAM?!?! THATS MY DREAM COLLEGE! I think I found my new best friend...

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 11/27/03 at 1:58pm

Don't get sucked in, Vicious! Anyways, after all this bickering, I have come to respect you. I now understand where you are coming from. I am a good writer and enjoy writing. I guess I should use my talent and not other peoples. I will not let down Broadway! Thank you. Please forgive me for acting like the a$$hole...