Broadway.com Audience Choice Awards 2018 — Page 2

Oak, you're a child. A straight up child. You have no idea of what you're talking about. Like others on here have said, I'm sure Jerry Springer is some people's favorite show, doesn't make it good. Also, don't act like theatre hasn't declined in quality over the last couple of decades. It certainly has and the theme park/vegas theatre is killing Broadway. Cry me a f*cking river and continue to spew your immature nonsense all of these boards about how we're all a bunch of elitist snobs because we like to see some theatre that isn't aimed at rich tweens and their parents who will probably text for half the show, get drunk at the bar, and then run out during the finale to catch an Uber. Get over yourself and do your homework. It's almost bedtime.

I know exactly what I'm talking about. I may be autistic but I am an adult, and I am actually able to accept all audiences as valid while you aren't, which means you're the child: stuck in the infantile notion that if you don't personally like it, it shouldn't exist. You don't have any authority for why your tastes are superior as it's all subjective. If Jerry Springer is someones favorite then it IS good, to THEM, and thus it deserves to exist. And no, I don't think theatre has declined. I love shows from all eras. I love theme parks and Vegas, as do many, so these types of shows are valid and deserve to exist because an audience exists. You're saying they shouldn't exist just because you don't like them, which is evil. And thus anything that makes you mad is Holy. I shall indeed continue to hope that every show finds its audience and flourishes, even if it's one I personally don't care for. Maybe it's you who should get over yourself and your notion that you're the high authority of what people are allowed to enjoy.

dmwnc1959 said: "Oak2 said: “These teens don't HAVE to know what they're talking about. All that matters is what they enjoy.

These people aren't saying that "intellectual" shows of the type you snobs love shouldn't exist, they're showing support what they love.”



They probably enjoy McDonald’s too, but again, it doesn’t make it The Best. It’s nice that they’re showing appreciation and support for what they love. Maybe the “intellectual” shows are just over their collective heads."

It means it's "The Best" to them if they consider it the best for their demographic, which is perfectly valid. They're allowed to like what they like, and they don't need people demeaning them or thinking them as lesser just because of what they enjoy.

I'm not arguing that this is the same extent as the Tonys, or that it's necessarily something to take as a sign of importance. I agree with what JBroadway earlier said. But I just object to outright disregarding their opinions and act as if these people and what they enjoy doesn't matter, because it does. Broadway should be for everyone, not just a specific few.

I'm glad you agree that it's nice that they're showing appreciation. The main issue I only take is people acting like it's a bad thing for them to show such appreciation and treating their tastes as invalid. They're just as important an audience as any other audience. You at least seem a little bit more reasonable. I think I'm going to block GeorgeandDot so I don't have to see any more of its evil - I'm counting it in the same league as After Eight - unable to treat anything but its own taste as some kind of objective truth of quality.

dmwnc1959 said: "Oak2 said: “It means it's "The Best" to them if they consider it the best for their demographic, which is perfectly valid.

I'm not arguing that this is the same extent as the Tonys, or that it's necessarily something to take as a sign of importance.”

“Broadway should be for everyone, not just a specific few.“


Broadway is for everyone. That’s why we have shows like “My Fair Lady” and “The Band’s Visit”, “Sponge Bob” and “Frozen”, “Mean Girls” and “Carousel”,and plays that take four hours or two DAYSto watch.

And every opinion and taste is valid to that person, and they have a right to express that.

But when it comes down to quantatively saying what is The Best (personal opinion), or what qualifies something as actually beingThe Best based on a stringent set of boxes to check, is what we’re taliking about.

Popularity and Best are two different things. And The Tony’s and their voting members will let us know in a few weeks what theyhave decided as Best.

It won’tchange popular opinions though. Like that of the Audience Choice Awards.

Popularity doesn’t mean The Best."

Hm, yes, after the way you've worded it there, I can agree with that. I think popular still means it's what "that group" considers the best, and I do agree that what the Tony Awards considers the Best is a different thing. But on the same level, just because the Tony Awards declares something the "Best" doesn't mark it as a law that it is "objective" the Best - it's a high honor awarded by the committee. Granted, I believe it does deserve a lot of respect and certainly does have more clout than a pure popularity contest, and I especially appreciate that the Tony voters have shown in the past that they are much more open to what kind of shows can be declared the "Best" - as many previous musicals that some would call more "populist" have been awarded Best Musical. I have a lot of respect for the Tony committee when I consider that the kind of material that occasionally gets awarded Best Musical would never have a chance in hell of winning an Oscar, due to a more limited scope of criteria. But that's just my opinion.

In any case, I do apologize to you for any previous over-reaction. I tend to have these autistic temper flare-ups when I feel that people are demeaning/invalidating other tastes as inherently "inferior", and while I agree that the winner of this doesn't mean it's the "Best" by any objective sense, I disliked the tone in which it felt like a lot of people were essentially ****ting on a demographic just for having a different idea of what they want when it comes to theater.

That's the last I'll say on this thread in any case. I apologize again for the flare up.

Anyways, bashing teens for liking certain musicals is just mean-spirited and wrong. I know plenty of young adults who grew into liking more "mature" shows, but their gateways as kids were shows like Wicked, Phantom, etc. Just let the kiddos enjoy what they enjoy right now, because most of them will grow up and start appreciating more musicals as their experiences grow. Getting mad at kids for liking Mean Girls and SpongeBob is like screaming at a thirteen-year-old because she's enjoying Twilight and not gushing over Citizen Kane or The Godfather.

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The only thing that really bothers me is how no one who votes for these things has even SEEN any of the shows. None of these teens have even seen Mean Girls, and the cast album wasn't even out until a few hours ago, so they literally were going off of nothing but love for the actors' social media and Erika Henningsen's Broadway.com vlog.

It would be one thing if they had even seen the show they obsess over, or better yet, if they had seen every show and still preferred Mean Girls. That's totally their right and I don't blame them for loving what they love. Just my two cents.

Oak2 is right here and GeorgeandDot is absolutely wrong. Oak2 explained concisely that the fans voting for the awards poll can only vote based off of what they know. It's an AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARD, of course it's going to be a popularity contest - no need to overreact and troll those who voted doing exactly what the poll was intended to do. People are going to groan about the outcomes of the actual Tony Awards anyway, why should these awards be different than any other. For Oak2 to objectively and maturely defend the rationale of the results just to have GeorgeandDot accuse Oak2 of being immature speaks volumes to GeorgeandDot's depleting levels of emotional maturity and intelligence.

I have never supported personal online attacking before, but I will in this case to GeorgeandDot since they threw the first stone at an innocent, harmless post and accused Oak2 of being immature and not knowing what they are talking about. GeorgeandDot deserves to know what it feels like to be called out like this if they choose to behave like such an ignorant, pompous windbag.

Good for Mean Girls getting so much audience support. GeorgeandDot seems to forget that this is show business and with this level of audience support (especially from teens whose parents have deep pockets that producers are going after) the show can survive and inspire other generations to keep creating other types of theatre that might even fit GeorgeandDot's precious standards. Without business, you ain't got no show. It's easy to dismiss this fact from your ivy tower, GeorgeandDot, as it must be nice to have the time and money to see every show. But now we can all definitively see that you are the one that has no clue what you are talking about.

Have yourself a beautiful bikini bottom day.

Elfuhbuh said: "Lot666 said: "Elfuhbuh said: "I know plenty of young adults who grew into liking more "mature" shows, but their gateways as kids were shows like Wicked, Phantom, etc."

So now Wicked, Phantom, etc., are "immature" shows?"

Way to put words in my mouth, especially since I clearly put "mature" in quotation marks. Phantom is my favorite show, but it's shows like Wicked and Phantom, which today have successors in the teen market like Dear Evan Hansen and Mean Girls, that this board has liked to dump on over the years because of their appeal to the younger demographic. My point is that teens grow up and start appreciating other shows along with the things they like now, so getting fussy about their current interests in the name of "preserving theatre" is just ridiculous. Variety in the theatre scene isn't dying just because teenage girls think Mean Girls is fun."

I agree with everything you said above, with the exception of the first line. I didn't put words in your mouth; in hindsight, it may not have been your intention to say that Phantom and Wicked are immature shows, but that's essentially what you did.

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