Yet Another Scary Case of Fan Foolery — Page 3

What I'd like to say (and I hope/assume the mods are aware) is that if you read what others say about this board online, we can sometimes be the laughing stock of bad behaviour, BUT people still come here including industry people because they want to know what people here say.

Unlike reddit or TikTok we have a lot of people that are a little bit older, who have been seeing shows and posting detailed reviews for years, who are willing to have interesting discussions. This is what we offer - if we don't offer this why would people come here over reddit or ATC (I suppose our biggest competition is ATC but people will often read both boards). 

It's also certainly one of the reasons I come here - I often don't care to read what shallow comments people on reddit have about theatre, and outside the NYTimes and maybe a one or two others I don't really care what critics these days have to say either. But I am interested to know what people here think. 

I think the board is still decent quality but I think there are at least 2-3 relentless posters who seem to misbehave AND don't seem to be contributing to the entire reason why we actually exist and what we're known for. Why do we put up with this? 

I know I am sometimes in the middle of the some of controversies here but I always make an effort to try and stick to the discussion at hand in good faith,  I try to avoid being personal AND - for better or worse I KNOW that I am a net contributor to the actual theatre-related content of this forum. I choose this place to be my vehicle for talking about what is likely a slightly unhealthy obsession, but I don't have to. 

I think it's ok if you tighten up the moderation of those who continue to engage in discussions in childish and unpleasant ways - ESPECIALLY if it doesn't feel they are a net contributor. 

We need to recognise who actually provides value here and who is dragging everyone else down, and use this to help inform moderation and other decisions. 

The more you can't control this, the more noise and unpleasantry, the less content, the more contributors lose interest and go elsewhere......you will distort the value that this forum brings and the long-term outcome in my opinion is the forum will be in decline and have no real reason for existing anymore. 

If a poster seems like they could be on The Jerry Springer Show or would be turned away from a bar that's probably too far..

Updated On: 8/18/25 at 02:57 PM

"I think she's definitely a real person. I just get big "theatre kid who was/is the favorite child in high school" vibes from her, and that it carried into adulthood. And I think, to an extent, the mods also allow that space for her. It's a trope that all adults must lose at some point."

In another post, I mentioned PM she sent me a little over a year ago. She lied and said another poster threatened to kill her. I verified this was a lie with moderators because if true I did not want to deal with the poster who supposedly made that threat. Let me add something else for you and others. In that PM, she called me a "horrifying f****** monster" and she came off IMO as "unhinged" in that PM. Yet here she is today posting away. 

So, we all know she is a liar. We have seen examples of her being mean and condescending to posters. She went off on a few posters a while ago because they committed the unforgiveable sin of making punctuation errors.

Well, enough about her. Sad, that she derailed thread which was well intentioned. I admit a played a part by responding to her posts, hope I refrain and don't do it again in the future.

I would also point out that, as someone who has done the stage door quite a bit (not as much since the pandemic, though), the vast majority of people at the stage door are respectful, and enjoy a mutually gracious exchange with the actors.

It's the ones who aren't respectful, and who view it as an expectation (along with insane people like this dude), who ruin the experience for everyone else, including the actors. And who will eventually, I still think, cause stage dooring to become a thing of the past. Which would be unfortunate for the actors who do enjoy doing it, but safety comes first.

Updated On: 8/18/25 at 05:58 PM

Zeppie2022 said: "In that PM, she called me a "horrifying f****** monster" and she came off IMO as "unhinged" in that PM. Yet here she is today posting away."

Seems tame tbh

I had the honor of being called "a special kind of Dexter/Trump/Sociopath character that refuses to be wrong (you're wrong daily FYI) and spends their entire life on here. It's pathetic and everyone sees it. Get a job. Go to college. Get some friends. Get a family. Maybe then you won't be the living worst who can't put their phone down and obsess over a Broadway message board."

I’ve never seen posts with so many likes on this board.

DanS3 said: "This thread is nuts."

Don’t worry. As soon as America’s Sweetheart wakes up from her beauty nap and sees all these posts, she’ll have the entire thread scrubbed and ultimately deleted. And anyone who has dared to speak against her will get a warning from the mods. 

Also, it’s delicious knowing how frequently Mutton Sauce is refreshing this thread, reading every single word and gnashing her teeth at being exposed (again) for being a bully and a liar.