What is the state of Broadwayworld now in 2025?

[binau]

Posted: 8/29/25 at 6:23am

So many trolls. So many fake accounts popping up time and time again. Thoughtlessness. People getting a kick out of being rude for the sake of it. Stubborn ideological people on one side telling us Trump is Jesus reincarnate on another side telling us we’re all racist. 

Are there good alternatives to this place? What is the state of reddit and ATC these days? Why are we here anymore? 

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 8/29/25 at 6:33am

Well let’s add fuel to this fire. You have Sutton who for years has gotten away with some vile things and the mods just let her do her little dance. So of course with out moderation things have just become worse. The mods are just a fancy word for missing.  

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 8/29/25 at 6:39am

It’s just a microcosm of what’s going on on the street. It makes perfect sense. 

[SteveSanders]

Posted: 8/29/25 at 7:18am

I don't understand why about a dozen posters seem to consistently choose the most incendiary tone and language in their responses. 

Think it?  Sure.  Even believe it?  OK.  Type it out?  Go.  Get it off your chest.

That doesn't mean it has to be posted though. 

Dialing it back would make for far more civil and productive discussions.

But without that happening, spending much time here is increasingly unrewarding and has been for some time.

[Wick3]

Posted: 8/29/25 at 7:46am

It's not the same as BWW but I've been on reddit (Broadway sub) more and more lately. I noticed some posters on here also go to reddit. Check it out and see if you like it. It's different and certainly has its pros/cons.

[Lot666]

Posted: 8/29/25 at 7:51am

I participate in a variety of forums about different topics, and this one has by far the most deliberately rude and obnoxious members. I agree that this behavior is generally limited to a relatively small slice of the larger population, but that slice comprises a nasty lot of know-it-alls who dominate the threads with posts that reek of condescension and gleeful malice for no apparent reason. It seems they just enjoy it. While not a solution, the only thing that helps at all is generous use of the "Block" feature.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 8/29/25 at 9:11am

I find the Broadway subreddit to be a much younger and less savvy crowd, and by nature of the platform it’s got a bunch of people who just pop in to ask a Q about seeing a show. Which is fine but not what I’m looking for.

The interface of Reddit is also such that threads don’t pop back up when they get a new comment. Here, it’s really interesting to see the response to a show largely confined to one thread; it becomes more fragmented on Reddit.

I would say there is also a base knowledge about the industry here that feels less present on the Reddit page. 

Updated On: 8/29/25 at 09:11 AM

[dramamama611]

Posted: 8/29/25 at 9:25am

I'm on with musical and Broadway sub Reddit. Ernengarde's summation is spot on: much younger, lots of repeats, and no sense of community. The backbitong is still there, but you are less likely to see it unless I you are a part of it. Once you read a thread, you only know of additional comments if the have responded directly to you.

 

One thing I love here is the sense of community. I feel I "know" many of us (good and bad). There it's more random and removed.

 

 

[Kad]

Posted: 8/29/25 at 9:29am

Reddit’s major upside is the community-based moderation. The downvote system effectively hides posts seen as troublesome and the moderators can be hands-on and involved. It’s certainly not a perfect system, but it’s better than here. I don’t use Reddit for much but when I do, the boards I use are markedly less plagued by trolls and seem orderly. 

BWW’s moderation has only somehow gotten worse over time. We don’t know who’s doing it, they’re never consistent in enforcement, they let obvious problems fester, and the only rule they seem to regularly enforce with speed and consistency is discussion about certain offstage allegations or behavior. 
 

The fact that the board has known regular trolls who have been returning time and time again over the course of years is a sign of a deteriorating message board. The fact that things like the insane, 30+ page argument in the MHE thread that has been raging for over a month between a small handful of people all determined to have the last word are allowed to continue with little moderation is also a sign of deterioration. 
 

Things like those make actual engagement and discussion harder. They make the board less useful. They repel newcomers and established members alike. 

[Idiot]

Posted: 8/29/25 at 9:30am

Things ain't great.

As with many anonymized forums, people seem to come here specifically to be as vile as possible.  I was scrolling a post yesterday that immediately became a platform to trade barbs rather than discuss the topic.... it was so severe and nonsensical that it was almost comical.  Though I loathe the incessant injection of politics into every gahddamn thing, I can't say I don't struggle with making that mistake myself because of our national circumstances.  'Digital Humans' have not learned how to also be decent humans.  I'll wait.

To those who post with interesting bits of tid, insights and come to exercise their love of theatre - THANK YOU.  You're the reason I still come here. 

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 8/29/25 at 9:33am

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "I would say there is also a base knowledge about the industry here that feels less present on the Reddit page."

Ideological disputes aside, I do really appreciate the minds and insight regarding the craft and the business here on BWW, and the fact that you can be guaranteed that someone will “get your point” and know what you’re talking about pretty much instantly. 

[ACL2006]

Posted: 8/29/25 at 9:52am

I'm over at the Broadway Reddit page more and more. This site is becoming unbearable with all of the trolls and endless, annoying pop-up ads and videos. No pop-up ads over at Reddit. The lone issue with Reddit is your thread gets pushed downward the longer it's there and they're hard to dig up again.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 8/29/25 at 10:02am

I will say, the worst forums may be the Facebook groups about Broadway history. Sure, there are some people who are insightful, and trolling is limited. But there are also tons of people who seemingly don’t know that Google or IBDB exist, and it becomes a hotbed of misinformation, misremembering, and uninformed opinions.

That crowd is older — a lot of people in their 60s/70s+ — and with that also comes this MAGA-like belief that Broadway was better back then and that originals are superior to revivals. (There’s also a lot more griping about ticket prices.)

Updated On: 8/29/25 at 10:02 AM

[kdogg36]

Posted: 8/29/25 at 11:28am

I thought I'd respond to binau's question about ATC, since I check it every few days (though I don't participate to any significant extent). The big attraction there is the presence of several posters (a few of whom post here as well) who are very knowledgeable about Broadway history and the nuances of the business. I go there specifically to listen in on some rather detailed and high-minded conversations on these topics, something which is now pretty rare on BWW.

It's clear that the users there skew older, and although the tone is generally more polite than it is here, ATC has its share of grumpiness and long-standing animosity.

The big downside is the very stunted state of technological advancement (even compared to BWW). The format is very old-fashioned, basically just a Craigslist-style list of links; every conversation passes off the first page after a few days and is basically dead after that. (One advantage of the format is that I can immediately see which posts I've read and which ones I haven't.) They've also had some internal technical issues recently that have made it difficult to use the site at times, though they're working to fix that.

[Kad]

Posted: 8/29/25 at 11:30am

I have never been able to get past ATC's archaic interface. If BWW is an antique in terms of internet message boards, ATC is a relic. 

[TheQuibbler]

Posted: 8/29/25 at 11:46am

I just want to know why I can’t watch more than 30 seconds of a BWW video without an ad playing. The ads are necessary, I understand that, but the integration is terrible and I usually give up after the second or third ad, having only seen about 60 seconds of the video I wanted to watch. 

[macbeth]

Posted: 8/29/25 at 11:57am

I love this place, and any time I've delved into Reddit I've quickly regretted it. Way too much junk and the knowledge of the posters makes everyone here look like Frank Rich. 

That said, I'd also like less social discussions and have had the same video ad annoyances, though going into the actual article versions they always play properly. I think I close that unit now when I sign on without even looking. 

Also, I love the new personalization options and 'My Shows' 

[Huss417]

Posted: 8/29/25 at 11:59am

BorisTomashevsky said: "It’s just a microcosm of what’s going on on the street. It makes perfect sense."

No it doesn't. But I guess if you like to disrupt or talk negative about things you would say that.

[Huss417]

Posted: 8/29/25 at 12:13pm

Kad said: " The fact that things like the insane, 30+ page argument in the MHE thread that has been raging for over a month between a small handful of people all determined to have the last word are allowed to continue with little moderation is also a sign of deterioration.


Things like those make actual engagement and discussion harder. They make the board less useful. They repel newcomers and established members alike."

I never went back to the MHE thread because of that. The sad thing is they also seem to be taking over other posts as well. 

Also the amount of harassing and disparaging PMs I have received over the past year is a first. The only time this has happened with being on the board for 22 years has been this last year. But that is also allowed to continue.

You forward the messages to the Mods and they never respond back but the behavior still continues. So I have even stopped forwarding the messages to them. 

 

[darquegk]

Posted: 8/29/25 at 1:22pm

In my experience, the best discussion forum for the theatre arts right now is going on in the more specialized Facebook groups like Professional Music Directors, Musical Theatre Orchestrators, etc. Unfortunately those aren't actually PUBLIC (or at least are picky about who they let in), so for now BWW forum is the best place that anyone can read or jump into, for better or worse.

[Angel of Harlem]

Posted: 8/29/25 at 1:31pm

Let’s have some positivity- there seems to be a massive trend (mainly Reddit admittedly) for attacking talent and sniping.

lets celebrate rather than denigrate!

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 8/29/25 at 2:00pm

I think Reddit has more useful information at times, like things about discounts or ways to get tickets, the daily rush report, and now a new weekly understudy thread.  What bothers me is that sometimes it can turn into an echo chamber.  The voting paradigm means that if there's an opinion a lot of people agree with it gets upvoted, and other opinions get downvoted so unless you read through an entire thread, you'd only really see people agreeing with each other.  There are a few times when I've seen actually interesting discussion happening, but a lot of it is more surface level.

I recently found that ATC has a "flat mode", which is way to see all the replies on the same page instead of needing to click into them.  I haven't used the site overall that much but that alone makes it MUCH more appealing to me so I might give it more of a shot.  But there also doesn't seem to be as much engagement as on here.  A lot of posts have 0 replies and are basically just the press release.

Some of the Facebook groups can have pretty interesting discussions as well (two in particular that come to mind are Finishing the Chat, for Sondheim specifically, and Broadway Remembered).  I do think it's more of a mixed bag, as some people really have a wealth of knowledge and some people really don't, and it's also not organized into threads like this where all reviews pertaining to a specific show would be under the same thread, so you often see repeated questions or posts made by people who didn't realize a prior post already existed.

[MrsSallyAdams]

Posted: 8/29/25 at 2:48pm

I still enjoy the Show threads that analyze the books and scores of new works. Reddit will tell me whether a show is popular. But Broadwayworld will tell me what works and why. I also appreciate the folks who report the way a show changes in tryouts and previews.

 

[James885]

Posted: 8/29/25 at 3:58pm

Overall, the Broadway Reddit seems a lot more fanboy / fangirl-y to me. Every time I go there (which admittedly, isn't a lot) the top threads seem to be about who stage doors, how amazing [insert actor] was last night, things that actors posted on IG, etc. 

What I appreciate about here is that there are number of users with industry knowledge and historical knowledge that are willing to share insights. The preview / review threads are extremely useful to me as someone who only visits NYC a couple times a year. 

The moderation is definitely better on Reddit, as evidenced by the MHE thread that has gone completely off the rails, but overall I find the content here a lot more useful, entertaining and insightful. I just wish the boards here were better moderated cause we all know, it only takes one or two people to hijack a thread!

[Seb28]

Posted: 8/29/25 at 4:56pm

James885 said: "What I appreciate about here is that there are number of users with industry knowledge and historical knowledge that are willing to share insights. The preview / review threads are extremely useful to me as someone who only visits NYC a couple times a year.

The moderation is definitely better on Reddit, as evidenced by the MHE thread that hasgone completely off the rails, but overall I find the content here a lot more useful, entertaining and insightful."

I totally agree with your first point, there is a lot of knowledge and understanding of the industry here. This is an amazing board and there are always people who understand your questions or to have a nice discussion with if they have different opinions. I totally disagree with your second point, the MHE thread was a wonderful discussion, fully about the current situation and current talk about the show. I love it when people are able to discuss with strong, well-substantiated arguments and life experience. You can like the subject or not, but it was about the show. I also think the moderators are doing a good job, like removing the unnecessary and depraved swearing of some users yesterday. That adds nothing to the discussion. In general, I Iove to see more discussions like the one about MHE, the casting, the roles, equality, the goal, the interpretation, etc, because it gets to the core of things and it really makes people think about the "often inadequate, unfair and ever-changing overton window", versus just posting superficial, snarky and supposedly funny one-liners all the time. It's nice to have a combination of both. The fact that there are some people on here who fail to see and recognize the wonderful arguments made on both sides in that discussion is worrying. It seems that some people are not able to cope with subjects or discussions they don't like or can not win. That's ok, but there is no need for all these dramatic terms and their screams for their discussion partners to be erased. There are hundreds of other threads you can take part in.

It also seems like there are a lot of silent lurkers on the board, thanks for all the private support. It would be nice if you participate in the discussions too.

I always saw (and still see) this board as a nice place to come home to, where I can share my theatre related thoughts and experiences and read about those from other people. A place where honesty is still allowed. Where people don't hyperventilate over a little sass when making a point. Hopefully it stays that way. And where I can read about all the theatre news. There is no other place like this online. I also think that the whole Broadway community and many, many people who are in shows or work on them are here every day. I think you would be amazed to find out who are behind all these nicknames.

Let's be less dramatic about it and more grateful.

Updated On: 8/29/25 at 04:56 PM