Does Broadway League Fear Blogs?
I'll stay out of the latest When Bloggers Attack Bloggers saga, thank you.
BUT something unrelated did catch my attention in the Comments under Mr. Cote's post.
Blogger has this to say on one of the ancillary topics:
[A]re theatre bloggers putting their careers at risk by being confrontational? I received a phone call from the president of the Broadway League, simply because she didn’t agree with an adjective I used in one of my blog entries for That’s Broadway. While I know I have the right to express myself on my own blog, I must admit it gave me pause before writing about the League again.While I could not get Christina to officially confirm whom she's referring to, I'm going to go ahead and assume that by "president of the Broadway League" she means none other than Charlotte St. Martin herself--being that the League has no "President" per se, but as "Executive Director," no one outranks her.
Now if you're Charlotte St. Martin, you might have a lot to focus on these days: one out of four of all Broadway houses dark; another big musical (9 to 5) closing in September; fighting off all the angry critics you just dropped from the Tony Voter rolls. So how much time do you really have to police the blogs every day?
Let alone blogs from...Dallas, TX! Which is where Christina's "That's Broadway" is hosted, by Dallas Morning News.
The issue at hand turned out to be a small one. Here's the "offending" post (of June 4), where Christina criticized the recent Tony Awards as the Informercial it is and referred in passing to, "The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing...tenuously shar[ing] the Tony Awards." It was the word "tenuous" she got called on by Mister/Madame "President," as Christine subsequently posted in her own Comments a week later:
In the entry above, I used the word "tenuously" when describing the Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing sharing the Tony Awards. Wednesday afternoon, I received a phone call from the Broadway League informing me that the relationship is stronger than ever. Glad to hear it.I suppose bloggers should be flattered, eh? Normally such B'way Bigshots reserve such finger-wagging calls for the likes of Michael Riedel and other "real" journalists (i.e. gossip columnists dignified by appearing in a print tabloid like the NY Post). So shall we take this as a sign we finally belong? Belong on their shit lists, that is.
And if so...hey Charlotte, I write about you all the time! Right here in New York City. I feel so passed over. You don't have to reach across cyberspace all the way across the country to find some blogger to "correct."
Posts
6 comments:
Garrett,
You said: "When Bloggers Attack Bloggers”
Yet Cote’s post is housed on a TONY web site as their product. So more apropos I think:
"When Print Editor Attacks Blogger"
George Hunka has definitely come into his own as a blogger if TimeOut is now sponsoring attacks on his writing.
I guess we no longer need to worry about Broadway if they're cracking down on the word choice of Bloggers. Great! I can use that worry time for something else...
Yes, it was me! Trini (Christina) was a former colleague and respected employee of the Tony Awards Productions office a few seasons back. When this article was sent to me by friends in Dallas (I am from Dallas), I contacted her to try to understand why she would represent our relationship as "tenuous" when those involved with the Tony's would say that the relationship between the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League has never been stronger. Apparently there was a time many years ago when the relationship had its challenging moments, but it has been a while since that was the case. I just wanted to assure her that her comments didn't represent the current truth as I knew it, based on the last 3 years since I've been Executive Director of the Broadway League. Clearly we have differing opinions and of course we are all entitled to our own opinions. As to reading blogs, boy do I wish I had the time to catch up with them all! Many do a great job of keeping people up-to-date with all that's exciting about Broadway. And speaking of Broadway, it's always a great time to see a show, and we have an amazing fall lineup of shows and stars with over 20 new shows scheduled to open before the end of the year!
Charlotte St. Martin
I once got an email from someone at The Public Theater informing me that their institution's name is spelled with an "er" and not an "re". This in response to a post where I called out their restrooms as junky and in need of a makeover.
Three weeks later there was a restroom attendant handing out towels in the john.
Power of the pen.
Well!
Thank you Ms. St. Martin for clarifying. Happy blog reading...
Oh, and Rocco--I envy your power with the Public. But having a mens room attendant just means they STILL have a disgusting bathroom AND you have to pay for it. Typical management solution...
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