Broadway's Toughest Critics Fight It Out With Anonymous Stars, Directors Online

from the such-power dept

Over the summer we had a post about the power internet message boards hold over the making of movies. Folks working on movies often read what the message boards are saying (or even float trial balloons to get reactions) and adjust accordingly. However, when it comes to the stage, it appears that online message boards may have even more of an impact. The various Broadway stars and directors apparently all hang out online (under pseudonyms, of course) and try to talk up their own work, and shoot down their critics. Meanwhile, no one will admit to changing any of their works to suit online critics, but some have little doubt that the immediate (and often quite harsh) reviews have an impact. Thanks to the internet, it's no longer about waiting for the papers to come out with all the reviews - but to catch everything that's being said online. There's even a bit of a competition among posters to get their reviews up faster - leading one reviewer to supposedly run up Broadway to an internet cafe during intermission of one show and post his review of the first act, before rushing back to catch Act II (which was reviewed later).