The bane of Broadway is now fast becoming the bane of the West End, too: the kind of idle, unmediated “chatter” of bulletin boards that casts a pall over a previewing production and creates a climate of unease around a show. Of course, one of the joys of the internet is that it creates a democracy of opinion and free speech; but it can be dangerous to follow it too closely. I know that a lot of producers are unnerved by internet chatter, and indeed from time to time have been known to go onto these boards and correct misapprehensions. (Only last week, James Dreyfus – star of the new production of Cabaret – put the record straight on his own health record during the run of The Producers on one of them. Of course, since the board concerned doesn’t require pre-registration, there is no guarantee that it was indeed him, but the posting had the ring of authentic truth. And that’s the trouble, too: you can never be sure what’s genuine and what’s sheer mischievousness).
But the chatboards, though valuable for the public to have their say, are probably far from representative of the public at large – only the dedicated sector of fans (and foes) who traffic them. So it’s best to take them with a pinch of salt. And it certainly proved to be the case with last night’s opening of Cabaret, that advance internet word was spelling doom for, but has today wowed almost all the critics. Of course, too, a lot of work has no doubt happened during the preview process to sharpen the production up to the point it was seen at last night; which again makes the instant judgements of bulletin boards so harsh.
But if anyone ever thinks the critics are too harsh, they only need to read the bulletin board chatter on a show like this; though who’s to say that the critics are right and the posters wrong? There’s one key difference, though: at least the world knows who the critics are and can write and engage with them if they disagree. Bulletin boards, where posters hide under the cloak of anonymity and pseudonyms, offer no such integrity checks.
From reading the comments posted around various boards it seems that Cabaret in particular has changed beyond all recognition during the preview process according to people that have seen both the early and late previews.
However it is worth noting that even before anyone set foot on stage the show had a hill to climb with regards to internet chatter because the production has a few easy targets. Bill Kenwright rightly or wrongly has a reputation for delivering shows with little in the way of sets or budget. James Dreyfus seems to always immediately attract a lot of very negative buzz (then again perhaps it wasn't his wisest move to admit to the Evening Standard the he was back stage drinking during his run in The Producers because he "didn't care about the show"). Anna Maxwell Martin does not have a musical theatre background so why cast her people cried. Rufus Norris the director was boldly proclaiming that this would be a radical departure from previous versions (how dare he be so bold !) and although this later turned out to be an error by the website concerned, he was quoted as saying that both Kander and the late Fred Ebb would see this production.
It does not matter whether any of this is fair or true it is fuel to the internet gossip machine that seems to be prejudging more and more on the basis of some prejudice to actor, director, producer or even country of origin of the original show like Wicked ! Personally I was thrilled with the positive Cabaret's reviews because it is a show I love and now particularly look forward to seeing it for myself very soon.
some of the comment on these boards is vicious and gratuitous, but much is informed comment by people who know and love the theatre - and which can be a valuable resource for producers looking to fine-tune their show -