Someone emailed me that they used Givenik. Yay!
On another note, we were supposed to have a guest-blogger tonight but I am actually here. Why? Because something annoyed me so much this week I felt the need to address it.
I love gossip--as a child I actually wanted to be a gossip columnist when I grew up. And at some point I was close... So I don't mean to attack gossiping, but at some point, individual rumors should be stopped. And with that in mind I really need to address one rumor that upsets me--Ken Mandelbaum did not leave that website I don't like to name because he got caught videotaping a show. This week I got 3 calls asking me about Ken because this week that rumor was AGAIN on the message boards. It is a renaissance of a rumor I was hoping had died. It is 100% not true. You can believe but you want, but I was there when he stopped working at said website. I know this rumor isn't true. It's not my place to say what happened (it's not my story to tell), but I can promise you the split did not have anything to do with videotaping a show. (Has anyone noticed the change in editorial content there?) I don't know how that rumor got started--it's not based in reality. Ken Mandelbaum is also not a total recluse. That is ridiculous!!!! I was talking to him last month at the Hilton Theatre. Who is saying these things? I mean, come on. I know some people don't know any better.... And I know that some people genuinely miss Ken and are concerned. I appreciate that. I'm not accusing you folks of anything. Hopefully you'll be happy to know that the rumors are not true! But to the people who do know better and are saying this crap or letting it be said, I ask you to remember that this is about a member of the theater community. This man really cares about the history of theater--that's very rare. I know a lot of times when I have a question I think "Ken Mandelbaum is so the only one who would know this..." (And I ask and sometimes he answers and sometimes he doesn't--just the same as when people email me, sometimes I know the answer and answer right away and sometimes I tell myself I'm going to think about it and then fail to respond by accident.) So whether you personally like him or not, you have to respect that. And these kinds of rumors don't show respect to him and his level of dedication.
Ok, that's it. Though another thing that annoys me--as long as I'm on a roll, is this ongoing Charles Isherwood drama. I mean it even inspired a magazine cover... And people are still talking to me about it. And I just don't get it. Honestly.... I'd like someone to explain. I mean, if it was just about that one story, I get that, but, of course it's not. It's more "he should be fired/he sucks." What makes him worse than any other critic? I would understand if he didn't support anything, but he does. I mean, not only does he support some obvious critical darlings, but, look at his Xanadu review. Is it that when he doesn't like something he's mean and some other critics are more wishy-washy (some people call this "understanding" but I'm more blunt)? Is it that these people just don't agree with his opinions? Because, overall, I rarely agree with him, but, then again, I rarely agree with any critic consistently. So I don't get why he is being attacked more than anyone. Is he anymore responsible for the fall of Rome than anyone else? I mean, I guess you could argue that that story triggered it all.... but... eh. I mean, again, our tastes aren't similar, and I'd like if every critic had my tastes (that way my shows would get more play), but that is never going to be the case...
Last thing that annoys me--"???? star ?????" when the person has hardly been in the show/was barely in the movie. For example, Playbill recently wrote ""Lost" and "One Tree Hill" star Blake Bashoff will make his Broadway debut later this month as the ill-fated Moritz in the Tony Award-winning musical Spring Awakening..." I watch One Tree Hill (because of my love of absolute crap) and I don't remember ever seeing him on it. I looked it up, he was on it twice, but, my point is taken. (Note, I do remember him from Judging Amy, totally. There he had a big role.) I mean, as a writer, I'm sure I've done this sort of thing myself. But that doesn't make it cool.
Guest blog on Sunday/Wednesday! Huge! Wait for it! Lose sleep!
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It's not really Isherwood who's to blame. It's his editors; the ones who let through such abstruse and uninformative reviews (like "Essential Self-Defense," for which I agreed with the opinion, but not the presentation of it), or more recently (and this is what got the ire of so many theatergoers), Isherwood's column about how he was dealing with the strike, a column in which he recommended Broadway shows that he had already bashed (because there was nothing else open) and suggested that for drama, one head to the 14th Street Trader Joe's. OK, we know the Times dislikes off-Broadway, but do they have to be so blatant about it? (Incidentally, during the strike, Brantley was sent on vacation, or something. Heavens forbid he or Isherwood should see something below 14th Street *NOT* written by Will Eno.)
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