What is happening lately? — Page 2

I agree - I am finding less real information on this board (or even good discussion/disagreement) and more mundane posts. It does feel like people post for the sake of posting, not providing real insight, or asking questions which would.



PS - Although, I was surprised to see the Takei comment - it did come from a knowledgeable long time poster

My biggest issue is the complete lack of moderation on these boards. After Murin-Gate and the adding the report to moderators feature, it has made no difference. Has anyone reported a post or a thread and heard back from anyone? Say something about Patti Murin and your post disappears in the middle of the night. See another member post something horrible, report it and watch as nothing happens.

Updated On: 3/7/17 at 08:37 AM

I feel like a big difference between 8-10 years and now is that outside of a few big shows there is little discussion (thoughtful or otherwise) about new Broadway shows and next to nothing about off-Broadway offerings. I remember that within the first 3-4 previews of a new show there would be 20 or more responses in the preview thread and the discussion, although more snarky and heated, was at least interesting and informative.

Of course there are still people who do offer up interesting analyses of shows, but the now an interesting post won't translate into discussion/debate. I love reading henrik's thoughts, and he offered up something particularly interesting a while back; I watched the thread plummet down the page and thought, "This board is done!"

I don't begrudge someone starting a thread asking about good restaurants around CSC or the Vineyard. Maybe someone's from out of town and are can be a fast and reliable resource for questions like that. But, and it's a big but, where are the threads discussing the actual productions at these theaters? (I know Kid Victory generated some talk, but many non-musicals at the Vineyard barely get a mention around here these days.)

The problem with that idea, of course, is that people now join the board and make a thread immediately, or multiple threads, without even reading down the first page.

WhizzerMarvin said: "I feel like a big difference between 8-10 years and now is that outside of a few big shows there is little discussion (thoughtful or otherwise) about new Broadway shows and next to nothing about off-Broadway offerings. I remember that within the first 3-4 previews of a new show there would be 20 or more responses in the preview thread and the discussion."

I've noticed this as well!! Not much happens in the previews threads now. Its not the same anymore. First preview posts used to be something to look forward to, now the responses are minimal. Like someone else said, maybe message boards are a dying breed now?

Updated On: 3/7/17 at 09:54 AM

Funny thing is, I feel like we have this same discussion every 2-3 years. Yeah, the Patti Murin thing shook things up around here, but there have always been good times and slow times. I do think we don't have as many musical theatre academics and historians around that would occasionally pontificate on topics educational or nostalgic, but with the good comes the bad and a few of them also proved to be the bad apples longing to spoil the barrel. Honestly, I don't think Hamilton has anything to do with it. As with any popular new show, there will be a wave of fans and followers that will generate a lot of the same discussions on the one show and lots of superficial topics and immature responses and once the show hits the mainstream, something new comes along and then it's trendy to reject it and we start over with the hot new Broadway product all over again. Those of us who were around when Wicked premiered know that Hamilton was practically a walk in the park by comparison. And while Hamilton may have broken through to popular culture, it's not this site's sole source of change. Other shows have done similarly (like the aforementioned Wicked) and the site itself has grown and changed to a massive degree since the days when you really had to be something of a hardcore Broadway fan to even know of its existence.

The good old days also contained several bad old eggs, some of which are unfortunately still around either under their original name or creating a new name every few weeks in order to...what? I've never understood that mentality. And believe me, there were far more people years ago that really enjoyed the anonymity of the board to the point of unbelievable cruelty. Some real psychopathic and sociopathic behavior. Far worse than what we see from the political antagonists now.

This place has always undergone shifts in social dynamic and evolution of discussion topics. I think what I miss most is what Whizzer pointed out in the fact that fewer productions are being discussed or the discussion die quickly. I recently commented on Gloria from seeing a Chicago production and noted how odd I found it that so little was said about the show on this site. Hopefully, we'll get more people who attend other productions or at least, more people willing to post something about them.

It may help to clear up the board a little to make one recommendations thread, where anyone needing a recommendation, or who has a question about age appropriateness, or something like that could post instead of creating an entire new thread.

The problem is, if it's not commented on consistently every day, the thread drops off the main page and people either forget about it or don't bother to search for it and start the new threads all over again. It probably wouldn't last more than a week.

I do think for those asking about rushes and lotteries, just point them to this page and leave it alone. I think the site would benefit greatly if a direct link to that page were listed in the "Sections" menu or somehow more prominently. There's really no clear indication from the menus that the information is contained in the site at all. And the home page has become so overstuffed with categories, headlines and photos, I never look at it. I wish it were more streamlined and consolidated with fewer headlines and photos per category.

ljay889 said: "WhizzerMarvin said: "I feel like a big difference between 8-10 years and now is that outside of a few big shows there is little discussion (thoughtful or otherwise) about new Broadway shows and next to nothing about off-Broadway offerings. I remember that within the first 3-4 previews of a new show there would be 20 or more responses in the preview thread and the discussion."

It's been the same way at All That Chat, too. Although that place is a little more authoritarian.

The excitement around a preview seems to be more muted around here than it used to be. Do we blame paranoia post-Murin?

WhizzerMarvin said: "I feel like a big difference between 8-10 years and now is that outside of a few big shows there is little discussion (thoughtful or otherwise) about new Broadway shows and next to nothing about off-Broadway offerings. I remember that within the first 3-4 previews of a new show there would be 20 or more responses in the preview thread and the discussion, although more snarky and heated, was at least interesting and informative.

Of course there are still people who do offer up interesting analyses of shows, but the now an interesting post won't translate into discussion/debate. I love reading henrik's thoughts, and he offered up something particularly interesting a while back; I watched the thread plummet down the page and thought, "This board is done!"

I don't begrudge someone starting a thread asking about good restaurants around CSC or the Vineyard. Maybe someone's from out of town and are can be a fast and reliable resource for questions like that. But, and it's a big but, where are the threads discussing the actual productions at these theaters? (I know Kid Victory generated some talk, but many non-musicals at the Vineyard barely get a mention around here these days.)





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I agree with this. I learned about a lot of off-Broadway theater companies from this board. While I don't end up seeing so many of those shows, I do keep these groups in my mind if I do decide to see some. But, the buzz here for many lately has been lacking. Like I remember starting a thread on Irish Repertory Theatre's production on Finian's Rainbow and being surprised to be the first to start it.

I've also noticed little discussion on annual things like Shakespeare in the Park. The shows have been announced, but it feels the last buzzy discussion was about Into the Woods in 2012. I get Shakespeare isn't for everyone, but I know people were going to these productions.

I also end up not adding too much to show discussion threads either because I usually am the last to see a lot of things, so I feel weird bringing back threads to discuss things people probably don't care about anymore. Or my opinions will be similar to those earlier comments.

I'll also add myself to the more busy list. I've been working for a company I absolutely love for the past couple of years. With no Internet access there, plus not carrying my phone around with me because I know I'll be too tempted, I don't get on here as much anymore.

I do think most threads here are welcome. I don't want to censor people from what they want to post. Obviously there are things that should not be discussed. I have no answers though for how to separate some of this though. I'm talking about preview or show threads turning into stage door discussions mostly.

WhizzerMarvin said: "But, and it's a big but, where are the threads discussing the actual productions at these theaters? (I know Kid Victory generated some talk, but many non-musicals at the Vineyard barely get a mention around here these days.)

At least personally I feel a bit awkward tearing into a show like Kid Victory or The View Upstairs that didn't offend or upset me but was just perhaps not as good as it could have been.

Marianne2 said: " I also end up not adding too much to show discussion threads either because I usually am the last to see a lot of things, so I feel weird bringing back threads to discuss things people probably don't care about anymore. Or my opinions will be similar to those earlier comments."

This is exactly why I don't post more frequently, unfortunately! Although reviews might have decreased in recent years, I think the previews threads of shows still contain the most excitement as BWW readers are anxious to hear about a show from posters who saw it, and read how it's changing over time. Whenever I go to a preview performance, I'm sure to post about it because I know there's an appetite, i.e. the Shuffle Along previews thread had fantastic conversation about the overstuffed book, what changes would most improve the show, and a running catalog of the changes made in each performance Conversely, I saw Jitney on Wednesday but didn't bother to share my thoughts because a) most on the board has already seen it and b) my opinion didn't differ much from what everyone else had already contributed.

I think Tony season will be an exciting time this year, though, with some many categories so intensely competitive. That'll be a time when everyone who has seen a show can contribute a (moderately) unique perspective as we debate who will be nominated and who will win based on the merits of the performance, buzz, etc.

Speaking purely for myself, I think some topics are absolute nonsense and some users are bizarrely obsessed with certain performers. I choose to take a laissez-faire attitude and follow the threads I'm interested in.

I do love getting firsthand answers to my (many) inquiries and having a laugh with those posts that are hilariously well-written. And I appreciate everyone's support with my creative projects/openness about having an ASD.

Onwards with courage and kindness, folks, as Cinderella might say...

One thing that can help this board is to update it with software being used on other message boards. Oftentimes you make a comment, and no one quotes it. It it hard to gauge if the post is simply being ignored or if people are finding it informative. On other message boards, people can like or agree with posts and it provides great feedback. I think that would make the board more interactive.

Updated On: 3/7/17 at 11:42 AM