Ben Brantley Steps Down — Page 2

MadonnaMusical said: "Phantom of London said: "Surprising news.

I wonder if he left under his own accord? He could have just picked up his pay checks for another 6 months, before theatre, is likely to start again in March. So the timing of his departure makes no sense?

However the position isn’t what it was and wasn’t a sure fire ticket seller for a rave like Frank Rich, we saw this with the early demise of Bright Star and Groundhog Day despite both being raves.

It is also worth noting that the position is /was the powernot the person, when Clive Barnes left for the New York Post his reviews didn’t hold the weight they did with the Times, despite the same faculties at the show.

I wish Ben well and have enjoyed reading his reviews over the years, a person who had a genuine love forthe genre."

There is no way he left of his own accord. In this economy?!?! It’s much more likely that his services are no longer needed due to the lack of actual theatre."

I think he didn’t walk, so hence if he was let go then he would be a staff writer and not a freelancer. If he planned to retire he could’ve just waited out for another year, not doing much and have another year on his pension. Makes no sense for Ben to retire now on his own accord, but very much hope to be wrong.

Wick3 said: "Even though he doesn’t work for NYT anymore, do you think he has enough of a following or influence where if he continues to review shows on his own and post them on his own website or blog or something, people would read it?"

His retirement announcement stated that he would still occasionally contribute to the Times, though I imagine it likely won't be as a regular reviewer. I would guess he'll write essays or profiles from time to time. The actual size of his influence as divorced from his position remains to be seen. People in the industry still talk about Frank Rich constantly, nearly 30 years after he stopped being a theater critic. Charles Isherwood, on the other hand, is all but forgotten already.

Brantley held the chief theater critic job for a quarter century, which is practically unheard of, and he would have been able to keep it as long as he wanted. I highly doubt we'll see him starting his own blog or working for some smaller outlet when he could have just continued on in the country's most powerful theater-critic job. What sense would that make?

VintageSnarker said: "They need to hire a woman. Preferably a WOC but at the very least a woman.

Brantley is still capable of taking delicious jabs at productions or choices that deserved the derision. Flat acting, lazy writing, baffling scenic design. He wrote some of the best pans. But he would also take some weird shots at female characters, actresses, shows for a teen girl demographic, etc. that I'm surprised got past the editors in these supposedly PC times."

I still can't totally get over his comment in the Head Over Heels review making a joke out of the transgender and nonbinary characters in the show - even if it was a "reference," as he said in his apology, it's not as though the reference was well-known enough at that point for anyone to get it - and even in that context, it still sounded like a jab at the characters' identities. As for who should replace him, my vote is for Diep Tran, an incredible writer who happens to be a woman of color.

Eddie3 said: "Brantley did a reasonable job, but the late great Mel Gussow should have got the gigin the first place. I don't think Jesse Green is up to the task. To some extent, in the age of "everyone's a critic," the job is not that necessary any more.



I agree regarding Jesse Green. I really enjoyed him on Theater Talk but don't care for him as a critic for the Times.

"

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/13/theater/ben-brantley-retirement.html

Ben Brantley talks stepping down.

Updated On: 10/13/20 at 07:34 PM

LarryD2 said: "Brantley is as anodyne as a critic can be -- always has been -- but because he writes for the Times, he's engendered his fair share of animosity from the theater community. (Of course, said community has never adequately considered its own stake in elevating the supremacy of the Times.) If his replacement is indeed a woman of color, I think it will be harder for the theater community to get away with the unfounded attacks that have often been lobbed at Brantley, lest they be pegged as sexist and racist."

I think you overstate mightily what you call "animosity from the theater community." Yes of course people who get bad reviews lash out, but those who are the beneficiary of those reviews embrace. To suggest, as you seem to be doing, that the theatre community speaks with one voice is laughable. I am also not sure what "unfounded attacks" you are referring to. Perhaps you'd like to explain. And regarding being "pegged" as anything, again, this is not one unified community on anything, but particularly as the theatre as a whole is making a dramatic shift toward inclusivity, this strikes me as a little tone deaf. I confess I am having trouble understanding where you are coming from, but I am curious to hear a clearer explanation...

For those who've missed Ben's thoughts on theatre, Peter Marks (his close friend) and Elisabeth Vincentelli did a really wonderful hourlong interview with him on their podcast. I find his passion for theatre to be infectious, and it comes out even more in his speaking than his writing.

This and his recent "reasons to love theatre" Tweets make me wish he would write a book.