What is happening lately? — Page 3

In defense of myself (a new member), I've made a serious attempt to discuss shows with people here without much response. It might just be that interest in serious theatre is waning as the musical theatre becomes ever more popular (which is really, really sad for me).

Dave13 said: "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."

I've also expressed disappointment in the technology behind this site. It's just clumsy and amateurish (from a coding perspective) and the tools provided are weak. The mobile version is all-but useless for my purposes.

BakerWilliams said: "It might just be that interest in serious theatre is waning as the musical theatre becomes ever more popular (which is really, really sad for me)."

Why is musical theatre not "serious"?

Speaking for myself, I can say that BWW began when the internet was in its nascent stages and there was a wonderful novelty about message boards and chat rooms. We're all a dozen years older and can only answer an "Are these good seats?" question so many times before it becomes tedious. The same is true about, "Help me find a show to see" threads.

In the good old days, we had lots of add-on threads, like the incredible BroadwayWorld Theme Park and the cyber funeral for Brandon Striker. Of course, the evening of Minnelli Madness could never be duplicated. It was zaniness at it's best.

Yeah, I still check in here once in a while but certainly not as often as I once did.

I joind this site 13 years ago. I found it while planning a trip to NYC. I would just sit and read threads for hours enjoying the wealth of information in them. Discussions covered every aspect of the theatre.

There now seems to be less talk aboug off-Broadway, which saddens me. I am constantly doing a serch for discussions about off-Broadway shows and not finding much. I don't start a thread as I assume there will be little or no discussion about the shows I want to discuss.

It also appears that people just don't read through threads. I see posters constantly asking questions a few pages in that have already been answered. And with the world at our fingertips I see so many qiestions that can be answered via a quick internet search. It kills me when I see someone post that they are being lazy when askimg a question they know they could find the answer to themselves. In the time it takes one to create a thread or post a question, one could have done a search and gotten the answer.

13 years ago I was careful about the things I posted because there were so many knowledgeable people on these boards. If you posted something incorrect you would be corrected. Not chastised. (For the most part). There was snarkimess but it was different. Not as full on nasty as it is now. There were times it could get nasty but not as constant as it has become. I have used the block feature a few times as I just don't want to read certain members' posts.

It has changed around here but I will still stick around.

That's me. While I've been interested in Broadway in a more abstracted business sense, I'm not stuck to it that much because I'm not local and can't visit NYC unless sent there on a business trip. I basically only stick around if I'm particularly interested in how a show is doing (for this season, it'll be Come From Away). But the "real" world being what it is now and where it's heading... ugh. As a tertiary interest of mine, Bway has basically fallen away from me as I spend more time trying to keep up with the What Terrible Clusterf*ck Is GOP/Trump Doing Now, though I'll still visit to check out chatter about CFA these days.

Another thing, but I often assume half the "newcomers" are the same person just creating hundreds of new sock puppet accounts. e.g. philly pinto. And yes, that disgusting Patti Murin debacle I'm sure had lasting "chilling" effects for all sorts of discussion.

(Has Whizzer seen CFA in previews yet? Did I miss that post?)

kdogg36 said: "Then I went to google, entered "site:broadwayworld.com manchester by the sea," and easily found the thread (subject line: We Need To Talk About MANCHESTER BY THE SEA).

So don't pin any hopes on newbies using the search function.

(Incidentally, Jordan Catalano started the Manchester thread. I truly hope that he returns to us soon.)"



This is exactly how I search for 90% of the content on the message board. I think someone experienced in using google for more advanced searches might find this fairly easy, but it's not an intuitive alternative.

I also sort of wish there were a "best of" board where we could look back on the longest and/or funniest threads from the past dozen or so years. Right now, unless someone has an obscure bookmark or knows what to look for, that stuff is just floating around, only to be found at random.

I've only been posting for a few years, but I have noticed a decrease in posts that were thoughtful, fact-laden conversations and an upswing in posts about stage dooring, if a seat location is good, and people asking for recommendations to show for a block of time 3 days later then the previous recommendation thread.

Perhaps people don't understand the site's search function, manually checking posts a page or two back, or doing an advanced google search. Maybe a sticky post with these directions would be helpful? As would a "recommend me a show!" sticky. It would keep those conversations contained and show past answers.

As for posting...I think life is simply happening for many posters--frequent and infrequent--right now. My love for theater is great and is a valued distraction from the world around us, but these days, there's more skimming of theater sites and more in depth focus on the things in news and the here and now. Add to that 3 job reassignments in 3 years and sometimes, I just can't keep up. My trips to the city from the Midwest have become more frequent, but they're now working trips where I research and collaborate with other educators, who, at the end if a long day are more interested in a nap then the latest Nottage play.

I think it's interesting that All That Chat had an interesting discussion a month or so ago about the declining traffic and interest on that board. I think we're seeing a drift away from the website chat board model as more and more people are using mobile apps. Also, it seems more and more online traffic is going to targeted apps and sites with less interest in open sites which "broadcast" to all, rather than discussions which require an invitation.

One positive result of the discussion is that posts are now editable for a limited amount of time after first posting. (Enough time to fix typos and some embarrassing brain farts)

...and on an unrelated subject - Why in the hell is my cursor turned into a paintbrush tonight?

Updated On: 3/8/17 at 06:46 AM

It's still there. I tripled-take when I saw the cursor

I tend to save my more candid thoughts on shows for friends in person or else I'll take the time to compose them into show-score reviews. I don't know if it's the aftermath of Murin-gate but I usually see smaller shows and I'm hesitant to say something that might hurt them. It's easier to post on stage door or rush or just general question threads because it's more... impersonal. I think perhaps the previews and reviews threads also seem to get too emotionally charged for me to feel like weighing in sometimes. I haven't seen the show, but the Sunset Boulevard thread is a good example of that.

ETA: Yes, I already hate the paintbrush and I just logged in a few minutes ago.

Updated On: 3/8/17 at 08:56 AM

Yes, but the paintbrush turned back into a cursor when you went over the ad, so... sort of pointless. That said, I doubt I would be swayed by any cursor change for marketing purposes.