Slog - The Stranger's Blog

Line Out

The Music Blog

« WORST Dressed at the VMAs | The Future Man »

Friday, September 1, 2006

Hatin’ on the Critics

Posted by on September 1 at 12:50 PM

And to think, I used to flatter myself that theater people hated me. I ain’t got nothin’ on Toby Zinman (of the Philadelphia Inquirer). And Sam Chanderson? You ain’t got nothin’ on We Love Toby! the blog, “one long, public love letter from the Philadelphia theatre community to Toby Zinman.” It’s pretty entertaining.

More interesting than the Toby Zinman pile-on in Philadelphia, however, is the Hedy Weiss pile-on in Chicago, aptly summarized by the New York Times here. Basically, it’s a she-said, they-said, she-said, they-said.

According to Hedy Weiss, the new musicals presented at Stages2006 were “deeply flawed”.

According to Edward Albee, Christopher Durang, Tony Kushner, Marsha Norman, John Patrick Shanley, and many other members of the Dramatists Guild of America, Hedy Weiss’s decision to review workshop productions was “shocking and irresponsible.”

According to Hedy Weiss, she was never asked not to review the shows. In fact, she’s done so in previous years without incident (her remarks were more positive in those years), and she was given “tickets, elaborate press materials, and photos to accompany [her] review.”

According to the theater that provided those materials, um, oops.

What all of this made me think about, though, was how theaters can expect to shelter preview performances, workshops, etc. from public exposure in the days of instantaneous blog coverage. If you pay for a ticket, are you allowed to write about what you see? If not, says who? Is the Dramatists Guild coming down hard on Suzy Conn of Blogwaybaby.com, who gushes about Stages 2006 here and here?

There’s a decent discussion in the comments here.


CommentsRSS icon

I wonder how the Dramatist Guild will react to Stages2006? They sort of made the Dramatist Guild look like assholes. Although it offers and interesting defense against bad reviews: "you weren't suppose to tell anyone our show sucked!"

It's good to know that all theater folk (me included) are all babies. I think it should be the goal of Seattle Theater community to get some big national organization to send a refuting letter to The Stranger.

Would you all frame a letter from Equity or Dramatist or whoever saying something like "It is unethical to review a struggling fringe show while high on cookies"...actually could you just start reviewing shows while high on cookies?

It seems to me Weiss was invited to drum up enthusiasm for Stages 2006(why else would you invite a critic, while handing over publicity), and when they didn't like what she had to say they screamed 'foulplay'. Critics always come with risk. If they don't know that, they shouldn't be in the business.

I second that. If we can provide comps for reviewers we can sure as hell spring for the cookies.

you all bore me.

Comments Closed

In order to combat spam, we are no longer accepting comments on this post (or any post more than 45 days old).