When Did Theater Become a Competition?

Lately I've been feeling like theater is partly for enjoyment, but now it has also become a competition. A competition for who can see shows the most amount of times. A competition for who can get a shoutout or recognition from a performer on social media. A competition for who knows casting, when a show is coming in before everyone else.

Has this always been a thing? Why is it a thing? Why can't we just be happy to be surprised by things instead of claiming to know everything before the public? It's silly. Why can't we just enjoy theater?

Kad said: "Perhaps people enjoy things in different ways than you."

I want to know things too, but I don't scrounge around looking for any scrap of information about casting and other things. I don't tell people I know about things but I can't reveal them yet.

Can you explain why you perhaps need to have the upper hand and know before the general public? Do you need to feel superior by doing so?

I think there’s always been a subset of super fans who enjoy obsessively making predictions, revealing ‘insider’ info, tracking rumors and gossip, etc. It’s just a lot more visible and prevalent with social media and the rise of influencer culture. Not just in theatre, but in a lot of pop culture fandoms - a great zeitgeist example right now is the Stranger Things fandom and all the ConfirmityGate drama.

Updated On: 1/15/26 at 11:09 AM

BrodyFosse123 said: "

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This kind of helps my annoyance/feeling of being left out. Brody thank you

Some people (cough, cough) follow their favorite shows much like those individuals who follow players of their preferred sports teams. Others see their fave shows repeatedly over the years (cough). It gives them great joy, much like fans of their favorite pro hockey drama on cable. Broadway shows appreciate their fandom because they fill seats. Theatre is definitely a business....sometimes a cut throat business....(i.e. the recent firings / non renewals at Chicago).

I mean everything you're describing is kind of the social media effect. It's not a big deal on social media if you've seen the show once, so people brag about seeing it multiple times. Many of those people genuinely enjoy the show and that's fantastic! It shouldn't have any bearing on how you feel about a show, like you aren't "less" of a fan just because you haven't seen the show as many times. The attention economy is about bigger and louder but there are plenty of people who are perfectly fine enjoying theater on their own terms as well.

Also: influencer events are not very fun. They're marketing. Whenever an influencer is invited to something, they are there with the understanding they will be making content and plugging the show on social media in exchange for perks or payment. Influencers are shills and it's a full-time job.

Reading the title, I thought this post was about which show got a theatre on Broadway and what could happen behind closed doors (I’m actually interested in this) LOL

I recommend logging off and enjoying theatre because you love theatre, not because you want to keep up with influencers or even friends who obsessively see shows. It’s actually super easy to ignore the exact things you’re frustrated by.

I mean truly mean it when I say thank you, all of you, for your inputs on this.

witchoftheeast2 said: "Kad said: "Also: influencer events are not very fun. They're marketing. Whenever an influencer is invited to something, they are there with the understanding they will be making content and plugging the show on social media in exchange for perks or payment. Influencers are shills and it's a full-time job.

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While I admit I'd love to do something like that, this is putting it in perspective for me. Thank you Kad. Truly."

I apologize for being curt about this with you earlier. But yeah, as others have said, you can fully ignore all this stuff- influencers especially, who are annoying and also never living as much of a glamorous or fun life as they present it on social media. As for the inside knowledge, it can be fun- people want to know and folks with legitimate industry knowledge are happy to oblige.