If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it?
These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.
Count me among those who loved this production. It seems like the plan/expectation always was that it would be a short run (although perhaps there were hopes for more Tony recognition and a not-quite-as-short run). Lenk probably knew all along that she was going to be moving on to another commitment with "The Band's Visit" and regional productions of "Indecent" were already being announced literally the day it opened on Broadway.
Not a surprise in the least, but a real shame. I don't think anyone involved expected Indecent to be a smash, but it got some fairly dismissive notices from critics which felt unwarranted. For my part, it was one of the best and most devaastaring plays of the year, and Taichman fully deserved that Tony.
I am a firm believer in serendipity- all the random pieces coming together in one wonderful moment, when suddenly you see what their purpose was all along.
A really remarkable piece. Does anyone know if it has been published yet?
If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it?
These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.
She's blaming Brantley and Jesse Green for praising the other plays (by or about straight white men presumably) and for not praising Indecent and Sweat, not directly blaming straight white men. Overall unnecessary IMO though.
Brantley's review of Indecent was not a pan, but it was mixed, and it was not a Critic's Pick.
But poor unfortunate Vogel blaming white men for the failure of her play is as sadly wooly-headed as Theresa Rebeck blaming misogyny for her numerous failures. Indecent has much to recommend; but, personally, I found it to be a triumph of wonderful staging and acting over rather shapeless and fuzzy writing. Nevertheless, it was clearly not the kind of crowd-pleaser that was going to be a hit with the masses needed for financial success (ditto the powerful but flawed Sweat).
Many artists believe that their work deserves something - adoration, popularity, bushels of money; it shows how comfortable and entitled we've grown as a culture. Art merely is; it deserves nothing.
If Vogel yearns for popular and commercial success, she should pay closer attention to the things that do make money - i.e., facile works that may appear profound on the surface, but are easily digested by the lowest common denominator.
Unfortunately, Broadway is indeed a white straight/gay man's game. Look up the ratio of how many plays by women are produced each year against plays written by men. The scale is incredibly tipped. Vogel and Nottage are both extremely talented playwrights who create worthy and interesting work. I personally feel both shows deserved better from critics and audiences alike. Vogel isn't wrong in speaking her thoughts. There always seems to be a sense on this board of "that's showbiz, kid!" but showbiz and commercial theatre are notoriously laced with racism and misogyny.
Straight white men aren't to blame for everything, it's just tiresome that their voices tend to prevail above the rest.
Eh, I think Vogel has something of a point. I think Brantley and Green were needlessly dismissive towards both plays, and I say that as someone who didn't love Sweat. As much as critics have an impact, these two have the most, and a woman or a person of color could have been hired in Green's place who might have had a different take on both plays. I think it's also a reaction to the Tonys, which gave Best Play to the only play not written by a woman and featuring few women, all of whom were underdeveloped. Sure, both critics are not fully to blame, but given that it took her and Nottage this long to get a play on Broadway at all, I understand her frustration.
I am a firm believer in serendipity- all the random pieces coming together in one wonderful moment, when suddenly you see what their purpose was all along.
"I personally feel both shows deserved better from critics and audiences alike."
Again, plays don't deserve anything - you write them, produce them, put them out there, and they find an audience or they don't. Blaming others for one's own failure(s) is excessively immature and ultimately self-destructive.