Laura Benanti: Stop reviewing previews — Page 3

" something may be an issue or annoyance now much moreso than it was 20 years ago."


To whom? Audiences seem fine with the internet. Producers seem fine with the internet (and in fact spend a fortune seeding social media). So far the only one with a problem here is an actor who is free to (in the immortal words of Book of Mormon) turn it off. Instead of scale, I think the operative word is perspective.

RaisedOnMusicals said: "Sunny11 said: "Expect that if the producers of, as an example,AmericanPsycho had read the preview thread here and had seriously considered it as an early barometer of critical consensus, theywould have been compleatly dumbfounded come opening night. The two groups had very different opinions.

Theather fans are adiverse group regarding interests and tastes. You can’t listen to to opinions of a tiny group and assume that the whole audience will agree with them."

Except that's not what I said. What I said that there are times where you see the same flaws being pointed out over and over, on a very consistent basis. Also, to call this a tiny group isn't quite accurate either, in the sense that major marketing decisions are often made based on focus groups consisting of a much smaller sampling.

"

What is called a flaw is very subjective. You are saying that the opinions raised on the internet should be regarded as fact by the producers and that they should change their work to appease haters and not stick to their vision and let the work attract the audience who appreciates it.

But, don't we know that a lot of producers do look at blogs, chat boards, etc....?

Anshel2 said: "I understand her point. However, to take this a step further, if the show isn't frozen and they need to find their way during previews, stop charging full price before opening night!"

In a perfect world!

hmph said: Also, the only place I see this being discussed at all is here. I doubt the comment (and the various interpretations I've seen here) will get much traction."

Well, because the only people who actually care about Benanti's comments, or Ilana Keller's spin on them, are the sort of folks who come to places like this to read and write amateur reviews of previews or out-of-town tryouts. Shoot, the big statement is a couple of lines at the end of the story.

I understand Benanti's basic point. She's bemoaning the fact that previews are sometimes treated as regular performances and 'reviewed' as such even though the show changes by the time it's frozen. (Once again, the fact that the producers are usually charging full price seems relevant.)

But even ignoring that, it just seems like a silly gripe. Yes, there's a thing called the internet. People who attend previews can write about what they thought about the play or musical they just saw for other people who are interested in such things. Same with people who attend out-of-town tryouts. I'm going to one tonight. I'll probably write something about what I thought. I wrote about a preview of Hamlet starring John Douglas Thompson in San Francisco, and liked it more than most of the professional critics. I wrote about the preview of Shuffle Along that I saw on Broadway last year. Shoot me.

But in the same story, Benanti talks about the importance of previews, to see how an audience reacts - or doesn't - to the actual play. How is that so different from message board comments? If anything, it seems more useful, depending on who's writing, because someone has gone to the trouble to piece together their thoughts. Producers, creatives and actors can ignore all that - audience reaction, internet comments - or not. That's their job.

A very small percentage of avid theatergoers reads, much less writes, anything about previews. Nobody else cares. But I appreciate the preview writers, at least the ones here. It gives me an idea, sitting in California, of what shows sound promising. And since I am familiar enough with the people on this board, I know their biases, the sorts of shows they have liked and disliked in the past.

It's life in the 21st century for people in theater. There's nothing new here.

Updated On: 11/4/17 at 06:30 PM