Kinda how I feel about Travis Bedard’s reaction over at his very cool Austin, Texas, blog Midnight Honesty at Noon (great name!) to the lovely discourse being bandied about between myself, Steven Leigh Morris and Rob Kendt.

Sorry about that last sentence.

But can’t quite figure out what Travis is trying to say here. Or who he’s criticizing. Me? Steven? Seems to be kinda circling the branch, if you will. Is he going in for the big dis when he says this:

Maybe it’s something I’m picking up from my wife, or maybe it’s the 8 years of being called unMurkin, but I grow ever more tired of people deciding what everyone else should do.

First of all, I don’t know what “unMirkin” is, but it doesn’t sound pleasant. I’m not the hippest cat in the world so it’s probably something really cool and important and I’m just way behind, but either way, where did either I or Steven represent that we were “deciding what everyone else should do.”

I’ll just speak for myself from here on out. Travis may have missed the overall premise of my post (s). Although I agreed with most of Steven’s analysis, I still felt and feel that there is a place for the aggregate consumer review. Which is why I’m still doing it. But it comes with dangers. And not to notice them, or even worse, to ignore them is just lazy and in the big picture, could be detrimental to quality – which in the end is my overall motivation for this site. A guardian for quality theatre. What problem could Travis possibly have with that? I’m guessing none.

Then Travis comes in with this shot to the jowl:

But everyone needs to stop bitching about what everyone else should be doing, especially if it’s not touching your work.

Well, first off, I don’t bitch. Secondly, poorly written reviews most definitely DO touch mine and everyone’s work here in Los Angeles. If a critic tells me a play is a “must see” and then goes on to write a review that in no way convinces me of such a thing, that touches my work and my theatre-going sensibilities. It also touches those who do go see the show and then get very, very angry when they are disappointed. Here in LA, they don’t come back. The audience here is a different breed.

Besides, one of the reasons – which I’ve argued here before – why LA Theatre is not taken as seriously in more established theatre towns – yours included Travis (damn Austin for it’s higher Travel + Leisure rating!) – is because WE as a theatre community don’t take ourselves seriously. I have done theatre in New York, Seattle, San Francisco, Boston and I can say hands down that some of the best American Theatre going on is going on right here. But if our critics are lacking, then those reviews aren’t going to carry any weight when we try to take a show from LA to Chicago or NY, or even, down to that rising star Austin.

Also mentioned in Travis’ post is this Chicago website which one of the commenters claimed to be an aggregate theatre review site that’s been around a while and similar to Critic O’Meter and Bitter Lemons. True. Kinda. The Chicago site simply gathers reviews, offering no aggregate percentage, grade, or final analysis of the gathered reviews. Fine, unto itself, but not exactly a “one-stop-shop” for the theatre lover who wants a quick fix and just doesn’t have the time to dig any deeper. We love those people – the deep digger’s – but some of us are trying to cater to the skimmers as well.

The key, in my opinion, is growing a new, YOUTHFUL, audience for American Theatre. Why they get there? Who cares! Once you have them in the seats, then you can do your stuff. Wow ‘em and bring ‘em back next time with friends. Does nothing to degrade the quality of your theatre. It’s the marketing that needs a generational leap.

Catch the wave now, before it catches you. And drags you under.

Thanks for joining in, Travis. And thanks for the mentions. Just for that I’m gonna add you to my blog roll. A fate worse than death. Don’t hesitate to pull punches from here on out. Cuz I certainly won’t. Land on that branch with both feet, baby! Talons all razor sharp and ready for rending!