Report Abuse Links opinion thread — Page 17

"That's not what he's doing ghostlight. He called for the boards to come down. Is that what you want? "

I don't know what would make you think I want that. In any case, Rob has made it crystal clear that he has no intention of closing down the boards, so the point is moot. I do want more civility here amongst the posters. I don't think that's too much to ask. I'm not too worried about the actors. They'll live with the criticism and bad reviews. That's part and parcel of the business.

"[Pasquale] can feel that. But I think his tweet is remarkably smug and petty, as is his subsequent blocking of ACL"

Pettiness has been on display by both sides of this situation. It isn't a good look on either side.

But we're not the ones MAKING ALL THE THEATER, so, honestly, who cares what we think?

Those comments by Steven are disgusting. I'm a hiptix gold member but I won't even waste 25 bucks on supporting his show. What a disgrace.

ghostlight2 said:

I don't know what would make you think I want that. In any case, Rob has made it crystal clear that he has no intention of closing down the boards, so the point is moot. I do want more civility here amongst the posters. I don't think that's too much to ask. I'm not too worried about the actors. They'll live with the criticism and bad reviews. That's part and parcel of the business.

I thought that because you were defending him while the only statement he had made was asking to bring the boards down. But I get wanting more civility. That's just not what this select group of bway actors called for. I know its not gonna happen thanks to Rob's measured but pretty great response but I for one am not quite ready to let actors like Pasquale off the hook yet for their statements. At least it merits the discussion we're having.

I have been following this unfortunate situation since the beginning, but have finally been compelled to comment after reading that Patti's original straw-man argument has gained so much momentum with other actors, including Steven Pasquale, who I have so much enjoyed on stage and admired.

I am hard pressed to think of another community, whether online or not, that is so passionate and celebratory about theater and so intellectually stimulating. I am hard pressed to think of someone more dedicated to theatergoing than Whizzer, who does his best to attend the first preview of every new Broadway show, sight unseen, and then writing an articulate and, above all else, fair review of the show and how they can best improve it over the course of previews. Whizzer is an embodiment of many, if not all, of us on these boards, true patrons of the arts who support shows with their time, their hard-earned dollars, and their word of mouth. Shows like Pasquale's own Bridges of Madison County, a beautiful piece of theater that failed to capture the mainstream or tourist attention, were embraced by the theater community and sent off at closing by a truly rapturous crowd, of which I bet a significant portion actually write and read these forums regularly.

I am hard pressed to think of a community with so much knowledge of theatrical history and respect for what has come before and championing of what is to come. I am forever grateful for users like PalJoey, whose memories of the original production of Follies became an integral part of my experiencing of the incredible 2011 revival. Users like him make BroadwayWorld much more than a message board, but a historical monument, and they should be interviewed (and respected) for their wealth of knowledge for its posterity.

I am also hard pressed to think of a community who showed more kindness or fair-mindedness to this season's China Doll. Although there was much harsh criticism of the show as an overall work on these boards, there was nothing here that was as vitriolic as Michael Riedel's fabricated and blasphemous articles in the New York Post, which gleefully derided David Mamet, Al Pacino, and Pam MacKinnon. On BroadwayWorld, there were fair reviews of the show from people who went to the production, despite what had been said about it before opening, with open eyes, and gave their opinions of the show. What the New York Post wrote about China Doll (and Misery and Hughie, for that matter) was much more injurious to the shows and their actors than anything that we've written about those productions here.

Yet we are targets of this misdirected ire because we do not wield the authority of the press and cannot impact a show as much as an official reviewer? How sadly misinformed that notion is, considering we represent the most frequent and passionate theatergoers, who support the theater with more than our words, but with our dollars. And it amounts to a significant amount of dollars, too, as we see the shows we love over and over and over again (I saw the aforementioned revival of Follies six times, for example). And it amounts to a significant amount of dollars in charitable donations to Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS at the seasonal collections at the theaters and the annual Flea Market.

I promise to continue to support theater, because it is my favorite and most cherished medium of art, and I promise to continue to support the wonderful works of charities like BC/EFA. I also promise that those who do not see the value of my money or the value of my articulate feedback, such as Patti, will no longer receive it. Because although I do not write for the Post or the Times, I can still influence a show with my dollars, and my dollars will be spent on other ventures.

I love BroadwayWorld, I love our forum posters, and I love our support of theater. Patti or Steven might not see the value of what we contribute here, but I do and I will continue to do so in the future.

"I thought that because you were defending him while the only statement he had made was asking to bring the boards down. But I get wanting more civility. That's just not what this select group of bway actors called for."

I wasn't defending him, I simply said that he has a right to have his feelings - as you do yours. I really don't care what these actors are saying. They may be calling for this board to be shut down, but that ain't gonna happen.

And his first tweet back to you was fine and not rude. At all. You proceeded to tweet him six MORE times until he finally said that final tweet.

The first exchange:

You: As a longtime fan, I'm saddened by your view that BWW posters are all jerks with nothing better to do than swap snark.

Him: Absolutely no one said "all jerks". We are talking about the snark. Please pay attention.

Your construction of "the first exchange" is entirely a fiction. Tweets are time-stamped. All one needs to do is look. You're engaging in the very behavior you're accusing me of.

Updated On: 3/12/16 at 08:21 PM

Steven is a sweetheart who has always been good to fans that show him respect. Of course he hates people that text when he is performing, or talks sh*t on message boards. Yep. Im pretty sure the entire theater community hates those kinds of things. You are making him look like a rude person on here, and it's entirely not true. He could NOT be a nicer person. You tweeted him SIX times (harassment much?) until he finally gave you the snark you gave him. He did nothing wrong. You came at him. Not the other way around.

I didn't "come at him." I asked questions. He chose to respond how he chose to respond. Of course it's his right to block me. But it's also my right to state my feelings that what he did was arrogant.

You continue to peddle the false narrative that he and I had a mutual exchange. We did not. I tweeted at him this morning. Hours later, he responded, then immediately blocked me. For someone who is trying to paint me as dishonest, you seem to have no trouble constructing a false narrative to serve your purposes.

Very interesting that everything has been civil in this thread except for the 1 person, whose screen name is unfamiliar to me, who sees the need to tell people what they are doing is "wrong" when it isn't. And also add in a suck up post about people.

Marianne2 said: "Very interesting that everything has been civil in this thread except for the 1 person, whose screen name is unfamiliar to me, who sees the need to tell people what they are doing is "wrong" when it isn't. And also add in a suck up post about people.

" Margo319 is acting like Murin. Murin only cherry-picked what she wanted to see and doesn't understand how discussion boards work, while Margo319 has no idea how Twitter works. Chain-tweeting isn't "harassment" and to think it is takes the concept of "thin-skinned" to new levels.

The whole suck up part is funny.

AC126748 said: "Should I take advantage of the "report abuse" function? I feel really attacked by Margo here.

You definitely should. They seem very pleased with the outcome of all this and yet they're engaging in the exact activity the new function is meant to stop.