What happened to BWW?- Page 4

[mikem]

Posted: 9/18/10 at 5:10pm

I don't know why people are so bothered by stage door reports. If I am seeing a show early in the run, I might discuss the stage door because I know people are curious and they have no other way of finding out. It doesn't mean that I think it's the most important aspect of the show. I'm providing information for my fellow message board members that they can't get any other way. It's the same thing as discussion of the show curtain or of the merchandise -- I don't know why that gets under people's skin, either. That stuff gets disproportionate bandwidth because there is no other mechanism for discovering that information, not because people think it's the most important part of the show.

I would have to agree, though, that the board has become more about sharing information than about analysis or true dialogue. Often, when people venture an opinion or an analysis, they get jumped on, so they stop sharing themselves and just share facts.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 9/18/10 at 5:12pm

I'm not bothered by them categorically. Like I said, I have certainly been known to post about stage door encounters. I'm bothered by them being considered fair game in a "review" of a show.

[mikem]

Posted: 9/18/10 at 5:29pm

Emcee, I didn't mean that stage door comment towards you specifically, but more as a global reaction to many message board postings. (Although I think you are giving some people too much credit about their writing and analytic skills regarding their review/report of their day at the theater. As someone said before, the "stage door review" is usually a factual report, not really a review. For many people, it's easier to factually record many lines about, "So-and-so came out and signed these items, but so-and-so did not" rather than spend that many lines analyzing in detail why you liked or didn't like the show you just saw. The relative length doesn't necessarily reflect the relative importance to the writer. These are not necessarily experienced writers.)

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 9/18/10 at 5:39pm

Exactly. If that's going to be part of how you "evaluate" a show, then you have no business calling it a "review," but that's just people misusing the term. But nor is "I saw this and it was good" a review. There's a lot of that, too, and the thing that I think people lament about that is that there's just no basis for discussion. It may be the level of the writing, and not everyone is expected to be experienced, or an aspiring critic, but it's nonetheless unfortunate when you open a thread entitled "so and so's review of whatever" and it's three lines.

Updated On: 9/18/10 at 05:39 PM

[mikem]

Posted: 9/18/10 at 5:48pm

Agreed.

[Schmerg_The_Impaler]

Posted: 9/19/10 at 4:43am

Well, I haven't really been on BWW for awhile now, but I have to say... I'm used to being THE most clueless person on the boards and absorbing everyone else's wisdom, and I feel like lately, there are some new, even more clueless people running around. Totally throws off my groove.

Plus, buzz about this past year's new productions didn't particularly excite me... and when the I Enjoy Being A Girl thread somehow died off, I really stopped visiting as much.

[Schmerg_The_Impaler]

Posted: 9/19/10 at 4:43am

Well, I haven't really been on BWW for awhile now, but I have to say... I'm used to being THE most clueless person on the boards and absorbing everyone else's wisdom, and I feel like lately, there are some new, even more clueless people running around. Totally throws off my groove.

Plus, buzz about this past year's new productions didn't particularly excite me... and when the I Enjoy Being A Girl thread somehow died off, I really stopped visiting as much.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 9/19/10 at 6:24am

I want to know what happened to the BWW search feature. It used to be relatively efficient and now it's completely useless. I type in titles of shows or phrases and receive utterly nonsensical results.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 9/19/10 at 7:36am

I don't think that people MENTIONING the stage door bothers most. I know that I find it annoying when that gets more details, thought and attention than the performance. (and as already said, effects their feelings towards the show)

Few people here want to discuss anything. All they want is to be validated. So if someone disagrees with them, either on their interpretation or with their opinion they take it as an attack. And on the other hand, there are those that DO attack simply because of the poster's taste -- and that didn't happen too often in years past.

I would love to "get into it" with someone that disagrees with me -- but by talking about WHY, not to know who is right or wrong.

Even when gads of people here disliked shows like Spring Awakening for example, people actually had CONVERSATIONS about it why. They had REASONS and articulated them. People had QUESTIONS that required thought and they were truly looking to know more. I miss that. (I don't miss SA, but the discourse.)

Isn't it interesting that THIS thread has been one of the most respectful and thoughtful ones as of late?

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 9/19/10 at 8:49am

And can we PLEASE have the BLOCK feature back?!

PLEASE?!

It would be an effective way of deleting posts that mean nothing to me, so I don't have to slog through the ranting of some of the more deeply disturbed posters on this board.

[CountA]

Posted: 9/19/10 at 9:31am

It is so interesting and notable how many liberals wish to create a delusional (Obama-Like) world for themselves.

[jasonf]

Posted: 9/19/10 at 10:19am

I wonder what the percentage of under 18 on here is now....

[Q]

Posted: 9/19/10 at 10:21am

On the off-topic board, not too high, I don't think. The main board, however, is a different story.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 9/19/10 at 10:40am

The block feature never did really work properly. Incidentally, the people who I had blocked way way back when are actually still blocked for me (they're long gone but if I go back to old threads, I still can't see their posts), but there's no way to get to that option anymore!