One of the biggest parts of blogging, is reading other people's blogs. Since you all are so enthusiastically interested in my blog, I thought I would share with you another blogger who writes some pretty good stuff about theatre. In this blog called “Everything I Know I Learned From Musicals,” you would think the author would be a sassy gay man in his mid-thirties cracking jokes on every line about how good the lead Spiderman actor looked in his tight super hero costume. Instead, this blogger takes on a more distinguished tone, more informed if you will. The blogger who writes this blog is definitely a teacher, a serious academic who prides himself in knowing more about the Broadway scene than any other person in America. And while he is very knowledgeable and offers some pretty good insight into shows on the Great White Way, sometimes his tone is a little condescending towards theatre. Don't get me wrong, he has some interesting things to say; but hey, I love theatre so when anyone bashes it, I get a little hurt. Hooked yet? Keep on reading to see what I mean.
I think his condescension towards theatre comes from his great experience in the theatre industry. For instance, in is post titled “The Worst Musicals of 2010,” he repeatedly mentions how he is in numerous elite Theatre crowds. Example number one: “As a newly appointed member of the Outer Critics Circle,” and example number two: “This year, I’m a reader for the O’Neill’s Annual National Music Theatre Conference.” So obviously he knows a lot about Broadway and what is going on in the theatre community, and that means we should take him seriously right? I'm not really sure, but it does get a little harsh on some of the shows that are on the Great White Way right now.
Maybe I’m not being fair, maybe I am now being a little too harsh, after all he is talking about the worst shows on Broadway in this post. But I just think that there are ways to review and critique musicals without being so negative about it. Am I right?
One of his most recent posts, a review of Baby it's You on Broadway, starts out so negatively, I didn't even want to continue reading; but of course I did, because I am feeling a little masochistic today. In this post about the musical, which is about the all-women soul group The Shirelles, He starts this post out with: "I can't be bothered to write a lead for this review. Perhaps if the authors had bothered to write a show, I might be so inclined." Ouch. Now to be fair, I have not seen this show, but according to Brian it "is a lazy, amateurish embarrassment of a production disguising itself as yet another cynical dose of jukebox." Double ouch. He calls it "Jersey Boys without estrogen. And without balls." Which I have to admit, is pretty freaking funny, but it's a little mean. As I kept reading, I kept hoping for a small light of good, but I found nothing. It honestly good be that this show was complete crap, and maybe I'm a little bit of an optimist, but there had to be SOMETHING that was worth applauding at least a little; I mean Brian did stay to watch the entire show so there had to be something that was keeping him in the seat.
If there was something, I don't know what it was, because he says that "the story doesn't build," "I got so bored with the second act, that I had to keep checking the Playbill to see how many songs were left," "the dialogue is of the uninspired sitcom variety," and "[the producers] should be sued for defamation of character." Wow, what a jolly good time that show must be. Now I don't know about you, maybe it's reverse psychology, but I kind of want to go see the show just to prove Brian wrong, just to find something about this show that is awesome. Who's with me?!
One of his most recent posts, a review of Baby it's You on Broadway, starts out so negatively, I didn't even want to continue reading; but of course I did, because I am feeling a little masochistic today. In this post about the musical, which is about the all-women soul group The Shirelles, He starts this post out with: "I can't be bothered to write a lead for this review. Perhaps if the authors had bothered to write a show, I might be so inclined." Ouch. Now to be fair, I have not seen this show, but according to Brian it "is a lazy, amateurish embarrassment of a production disguising itself as yet another cynical dose of jukebox." Double ouch. He calls it "Jersey Boys without estrogen. And without balls." Which I have to admit, is pretty freaking funny, but it's a little mean. As I kept reading, I kept hoping for a small light of good, but I found nothing. It honestly good be that this show was complete crap, and maybe I'm a little bit of an optimist, but there had to be SOMETHING that was worth applauding at least a little; I mean Brian did stay to watch the entire show so there had to be something that was keeping him in the seat.
If there was something, I don't know what it was, because he says that "the story doesn't build," "I got so bored with the second act, that I had to keep checking the Playbill to see how many songs were left," "the dialogue is of the uninspired sitcom variety," and "[the producers] should be sued for defamation of character." Wow, what a jolly good time that show must be. Now I don't know about you, maybe it's reverse psychology, but I kind of want to go see the show just to prove Brian wrong, just to find something about this show that is awesome. Who's with me?!
However his negativity continues from his post about Baby it's You and “The Worst Musicals of 2010,” and spreads over to some of his other posts as well, go figure. In his post titled “Review: Fela “Live” From the National Theatre,” (a show which was nominated for Tony award for Best Musical as well as 10 others), he repeatedly talks about how bad he thinks it was and how he was so surprised that he actually got into it. He even recalls an annoyance he usually feels when attending shows with a rowdy crowd: “I started to get caught up in the proceedings, partly due to an African American woman behind me who regularly vocalized her opinions and approval. Normally that sort of thing would irk me to no end, but somehow the jubilant nature of her participation became infectious.” This guy seems like someone who needs to be infected with jubilation a little more often if you ask me. 
He constantly uses words that show the reader how educated he is and how well versed he is in the vocabulary of the theatre world. Phrases like, “to help acclimate intrepid theatergoers,” “Musicals don’t get an ‘A’ for effort,” "it was just a 90-minute morass of undifferentiated people and meaningless dance,” and “admittedly ambitious but ultimately frustrating attempt at exploring and illumination the dynamic of art and war.” As I do agree with some of the comments he makes about the “bad” theatre shows happening on Broadway, there is no reason to completely demean the art of theatre. At the end of the day, the theatre-lover community is small, and we have got to stick together. I kind of wish that he would offer a few suggestions on how these shows could have been better, or what he would have changed. After all, what good is complaining if you don't have a resolution? You want your readers to love you and to keep coming back to your blog over and over again. That's why you're all here right, because you love my wit and charm. I fear that his dialogue and demeanor may be pushing some people away, and hey, I'm just trying to help the guy out!
With all of this being said, I am still going to continue reading his blog, maybe just because I want to inflict torture on myself by listening to the theatre genre be bullied by his writing or just see what sort of cynical quote will come out of his typing next. If you’re at all interested, I suggest you check him out, at the very least it will make you want to go be nice to a homeless person or something. Until next time, go eat a cupcake, they're quite yummy nowadays.
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