ITW Controversy: Broadway Actress Disses Show

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 9:24pm

I came across this interesting article. I just became aware of this. Thoughts? from RC in Austin, Texas
ITW Twitter Controversy

[dramamama611]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 9:26pm

Other threads have been discussing si ce last night when it happened.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 9:26pm

There's like two hundred thread on the main page 'bout her.

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 10:44pm

I guess I must have missed the memo. I tried several pages in the ITW Main thread, but I didn't find it. Oh well. Link please? Thanks...RC

[adamgreer]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 10:49pm

Link? It's right on the main board.

Jesus.

[Wynbish]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 10:54pm

I think the confusion is that this article was mentioned in one of the threads instead of getting its own thread.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 10:54pm

https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.php?thread=1048715&dt=138


Not that far down the list.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 7/26/12 at 1:14pm

Questions (although some are leading, I'm not suggesting answers, only concerns).

If critics can diss shows, why not performers? Should performers be held to a speak no evil standard? Is this a social networking restriction? Should performers keep their unfavorable thoughts to themselves in all contexts or only when the public has access to them? Should performers patronize people backstage rather than speaking the truth (or does it depend on the relationship they have to the performer whose work they've just seen)? Is it ok for people, including people in the biz, to speak their minds anonymously and not for people to speak their minds identifying whom they are?

Is this a whole new world of etiquette to be resolved?

Finally, should a relatively young actor be forgiven should this be deemed an indiscretion? That one I'll answer. Yes.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 7/26/12 at 1:50pm

Speaking on this specific case, I think it all comes down to tact. Ms James' tweet didn't really say anything other than to be negative for the sake of being negative. Being a performer herself, she knows very well how difficult a first performance is, and how many things can go wrong.

I do think performers ought be more circumspect about their public criticism of their peers, but I think a reasoned critique would not have created the firestorm that this did. Of course, that can't be done on twitter - so maybe she should have waited for a better forum. I honestly don't think anyone, performer or otherwise, should simply spew every damn thing that comes into their head. Sometimes it's better to reflect a little on what you're going to say, and why you feel the need to say it.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 7/26/12 at 2:31pm

Thanks for the link to the exact tweet, dramamama. Wow, that was harsh! After a first preview! Out of doors. After a week of bad weather.

I agree it would be premature to ban Miss James from the American stage, but even at her age I would have known better than to pass public judgment on a show after the first preview.

In answer to Henrik's questions, if I know actors in a show, I try to keep my negative opinions to myself until after the run. I don't think it's fair to load them down with criticism when they have to go back on stage the following night. (Yes, I realize they read reviews, the internet, etc., and mine isn't a perfect system; but I try not to add to the burden.) I don't think I would critique an early preview without emphasizing that the show was still in an early stage of development.



Updated On: 7/26/12 at 02:31 PM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 7/26/12 at 2:33pm

Is this a social networking restriction?

Absolutely, YES! Of course it is. Don't be silly!

Any individual post on any social-networking site can be--and probably will be--seen by hundreds of times more people than even the largest newspaper or magazine review. It will also be heard by thousands of times more people than the number of people who would hear it in a personal conversation.

Therefore, anyone who posts anything critical online should be prepared for the consequences of saying that statement directly to the face of the person being criticized. No one should so naive as to think there is any anonymity online EVER.

What happens in Vegas may stay in Vegas, bu what happens online is broadcast EVERYWHERE...and it never expires.

should a relatively young actor be forgiven should this be deemed an indiscretion?

Sorry. Too late for that. There's no such thing on the Internet as a forgivable indiscretion.

Updated On: 7/26/12 at 02:33 PM

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 7/26/12 at 2:42pm

Good for us all to remember, joey. As I posted elsewhere, I admit I have a bad habit of treating internet posts as if they were semi-private conversation when they are not.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/26/12 at 2:43pm

Well Gaveston (just between you and I), I do the same thing.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 7/26/12 at 2:47pm

My lips are sealed, Jordan.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 7/26/12 at 3:19pm

"If critics can diss shows, why not performers?"

Even Ben Brantley doesn't attend the first preview and publically proclaim it the death of acting and musicianship.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 7/26/12 at 3:25pm

If you are sitting in room of your besties, say anything you want. (of course, you do run the risk of it being repeated)

In public? ONLINE? You are professional, 100% of the time.

Even a tweet saying: First preview was rough, and I don't think the interpretation is my cup of tea, but keep up the hard work! would NOT have met with the derision that Morgan's did.

How often do you hear Tom Hanks dis a movie? Never. How often do you hear DiCaprio speak ill of other actors? Never. When does Neil Patrick Harris speak poorly of the dozens of bway shows he sees? Never. Or Sutton Foster, or Gavin Creel, or Bernadette Peters, or ANYONE (other than Hunter Foster)........you don't. It's not their place PUBLICALLY to do so.

You want to be seen as a professional, then you act like a professional. Will she be forgiven? Only time will tell. Should she be forgiven? Of course. Is right away appropriate? Not for me to say.

[Kad]

Posted: 7/26/12 at 3:27pm

As dramamama implied, Twitter is not private. When you are a professional on Twitter, you are representing yourself as a professional. That means tactless tweets and messages like, "i was sooo drunk last night lol" are inappropriate.

[CAX]

Posted: 7/26/12 at 3:35pm

Tact, unfortunately, is not a given. This woman, as a performer involved in several shows that were far from groundbreaking or even in the vicinity artistic excellence, should really think of what glass house she chooses to pitch her bitchy stones at. I can only hope it follows her a little bit, at least long enough for the humble pie to digest. No one's promised a career in this industry. The theatre gods giveth and they taketh away.

[morosco]

Posted: 7/26/12 at 3:39pm

Did Arthur Laurents ever tweet?

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 7/26/12 at 3:44pm

This woman, as a performer involved in several shows that were far from groundbreaking or even in the vicinity artistic excellence, should really think of what glass house she chooses to pitch her bitchy stones at.

I have to wonder if the failures of her shows didn't fuel the invective. "Death of musicianship and acting on Broadway" is pretty over the top.

[broadwayrob]

Posted: 7/27/12 at 6:58am

Kad.. I am NOT condoning her words or actions, but mentioning on your twitter that you got drunk last night? I think that's your business to discuss if you choose to. If someone tweeting about a wild and crazy night offends you, then you're in the wrong sort of world. Us theatre folks on the whole generally know how to have "a good time". It's ridiculous to assume that people who are professionals that use twitter shouldn't have the right to say whatever they feel as long as it doesn't directly, or indirectly hurt anyone. Which in this case. Miss James certainly screwed the pooch.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 7/27/12 at 7:22am

broadwayrob, I don't think anyone is assuming that you don't "have the right" to twitter anything you want, whether you're a professional or not. Don't you agree that twittering "I got so drunk last night" is really probably not wise, though? Sure, you have a right to, but why would you want to announce that? Of course it's your business, but do you really want that kind of information out there - and just curious, if so, why?

Updated On: 7/27/12 at 07:22 AM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 7/27/12 at 7:27am

It's ridiculous to assume that people who are professionals that use twitter shouldn't have the right to say whatever they feel as long as it doesn't directly, or indirectly hurt anyone.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

You're wrong. You're dead wrong. You've never been more wrong.

Stop saying that. It's dangerous. Learn this now or you will harm yourself, the way Morgan James has harmed herself:

Only say on Twitter or Facebook what you're willing to a million people including your next employer read.

Have you ever heard the old expression "People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones?

Twitter is the ultimate glass house.

[broadwayrob]

Posted: 7/27/12 at 7:38am

@ghostlight2 I will agree that it may not be the wisest thing in the world to do, but I also think that the hypersensitivity to what people do in their own personal webspace is just that. The fact that something like that would be made an "issue" lies more at the fault of the reader than it does the author. My reasoning behind what I said is strictly from a PERSONAL view of things. Now, if she were to post about that while representing herself professionally DIRECTLY, then yes, that's bad business. But these people do have lives outside their work. Just like everyone else does. Do they really give up this right more so than a business guy who works downtown tweeting about the very same thing just because they work in the business of show? I don't think so. ***Edit*** Considering that you work in the business, I realize how condescending some of that reply was. Apologies. But, I just feel that if people wish to share things about their personal life over social media they shouldn't be screamed at for it.

@PalJoey: how is what I say dangerous, either by thought or practice? Again, in the case where you might damage your reputation or your future business contacts or whatnot *as is the case that the OP and several other hundreds of threads around the world are talking about* then it is MOST CERTAINLY an AWFUL idea. Misguided at best, and cruel at the worst. All I'm saying at the end of the day, people say things like "wow..crazy night/vodka probably not the best idea out of a tub/I don't know where my clothes are and where am I?" all the time on Twitter. They have no more a responsibility to "act professionally" in their own personal time than you do.

Updated On: 7/27/12 at 07:38 AM

[My Oh My]

Posted: 7/27/12 at 8:09am

I agree with the comments about professionalism and tact. If there is one thing that I absolutely cannot stand, it's people I've worked with in the past that lack it.

But I am still having a hard time totally agreeing with the manner this was handled. And I feel the biggest lesson that came out of this (having tact) is one that wasn't worth singling out an individual and humiliating them publicly. Much less, making something we all regularly do here at BWW some sort of scandal. The up-in-arms reaction would feel more justified had she attacked another performer or hoped death on someone, or said something malicious in nature.

But get all high and mighty because this person said something a certain way? I don't buy it. This seems to be more a reaction of "how dare you say anything negative about a production of a Sondheim musical that I reeeeally want to like!"

Even if this absolutely is primarily about professionals having tact in the presence of their peers, then it's even worse because while those who responded to her showed tact, the implications made about her character can only lead to an unfavorable outcome for Morgan. As influential, public people, they knew that and still chose to press "send." I thought one of the most basic ethics practices is to go for the greater good? Something easily achievable by taking the matter offline.

Several years ago, when I was an aide in an elementary school, I made an error and my co-worker scolded me like one of the children in front of parents and other co-workers. Yes, I had made a mistake, and had I been more careful, it wouldn't have happened. I was sincerely apologetic, but also made sure to follow that with the assertion that I did NOT appreciate being scolded in front of parents and co-workers and that, next time, I expect a little professionalism. If she felt it was right scolding me in such a public manner, when any professional would have taken it privately, I at very least could point out her error. Of course, I did it tactfully and privately. In the end, I still had to deal with the humiliation the incident brought me and the mistake I had made wasn't worth that sort of punishment.

If we're going to call out someone for lacking professionalism, we need to make sure we apply it ourselves in doing so. Otherwise, it becomes a show. In this case, at the expense of a brutally honest person who tweeted something that reviews so far have only supported. I will never be so unfair as to say those who responded to have been grossly negligent and horrible, mindless people. Of course not. But if we're going to make a big song and dance over what was said, we've gotta look at all participants.

I'm a huge fan of Patti LuPone, as many of you are, and while I hate to use her personality as an example, I must if it illustrates how hypocritical people are being in blasting Morgan's scandalous lack of professionalism but celebrating the same style of response Patti regularly dishes out that is always said to be lacking in tact but rarely said to be unprofessional.