The title of this post is taken from two pages on TVTropes, a site I've mentioned here before and probably will bring up many more times in the future. XD This is intended as a response to the most common criticisms of dissenters in general, which have been used quite a bit recently by fans (and even the creative team) of a certain new POTO-related stage show. This seems especially pertinent now given the tactics being employed by the show's composer who, along with his company, has sunk to new lows in order to paint everyone who opposes the musical as a loony whose opinion doesn't deserve to be taken seriously.
The show in question is, of course. Andrew Lloyd Webber's sequel Love Never Dies. Many fans of the sequel say that dissenters such as myself have no right to criticize a show we haven't seen in person even if we've listened to the cast recording, read the plot summary and libretto, and seen the officially (or otherwise) released video clips and photos from the musical.
Let's back up a bit here. Many (and in fact, I would say most) of the self-proclaimed fans of LND haven't seen the show either. For some, it's because they lack the time or money to trek over to London, but there could also be any number of other reasons. Does that mean that their opinions are also invalid?
As for me personally... well, I didn't get to see POTO on stage until nearly five years after I first fell in love with the music and story. In that time, I had listened to many different cast albums, watched the movie, and seen many "less-than-legal" videos from the show that people had posted on YouTube. In addition, my love of the show inspired me to seek out the original novel and many of the other adaptations, as well as join online discussion boards to talk about it with other Phans. But would those LND supporters argue that I couldn't have an opinion on the show until I finally saw it live? In addition, there are many other musicals I adore despite not having been able to see them yet -- I don't get many chances to leave Hawaii, and touring productions only seldom come here. (Community theater and school productions can be a welcome reprieve, though, if they're done well.) I love the musical adaptations of POTO by Ken Hill, Yeston and Kopit, and Tom Alonso (respectively) despite not having the opportunity to see any of them live so far... Does that make me "not a true Phan" of those versions?
One thing LND supporters seem to forget when they say people have to see the show before they can have an opinion is that everyone does that sort of thing all the time. How often do you decide whether or not to go see a movie based on the preview trailers, reviews from professional critics or those of your friends who've seen it, plot summaries you look up online, or even simply info you find about who the director and stars of the film are? Odds are that for every movie you've seen in the theater, bought, rented, or seen in other ways since you were old enough to choose movies for yourself, you decided based on one or more of those factors. And the opposite is true as well -- if you didn't like the trailers or plot summary, if you're not a fan of the director or lead actors, or if the critics and friends whose opinions you respect and tend to agree with didn't like the film, you're probably not going to see it, certainly not in the theater with a $10 ticket price. It's the same for books, TV shows, music, video games, and a whole host of other things in popular culture. Why should live theater be any different, especially when tickets are generally much more expensive than seeing a movie or buying a book, or in cases where you'd have to take a few days off from work/school and get a plane ticket and hotel accommodations to be able to see the show at all?
The way I see it, a cast album should (and usually does) function as a good representation of the show, lacking only in the visuals and the "little things" that make each evening's performance unique. For better or worse, it gives the musical's plot, introduces listeners to the music, and provides a showcase for the original cast to prove their mettle. Lots of shows have made hundreds if not thousands of fans purely because of their cast recordings. In the case of POTO itself, the original London cast recording remains the best-selling OCR of all time. Indeed, for many Phans, the cast recordings remain their only exposure to the stage show (aside from perhaps YouTube clips) because they haven't had a chance to see it live yet.
So here are my two cents on Phans using the cast album of Love Never Dies in order to critique the show itself: Andrew Lloyd Webber and the others in charge of LND and its promotion clearly thought the album was a good representation of the final show; in fact, they probably recorded and put it out too early, considering that they went back and made several changes to the show after negative responses from Phans and critics alike. The recording gave us everything they believed would draw Phans in, and really, very little has actually been changed in terms of the show's plot since then. ALW meant for Phans and others to critique it as if it was the show itself, and so I don't think he and his supporters have any ground to stand on when they complain that that's exactly what ended up happening.
Many LND supporters say it's a totally different experience when one sees the show live because of the visuals and acting performances... but since the non-fans, myself included, object to the music and story so strongly, I doubt those ultimately superficial things would go very far in changing our minds. It's the same thing as a bad summer action movie; although Michael Bay's 1998 flick Armageddon, for example, had great special effects and some fairly good actors, even those positive elements couldn't save the ridiculous script. Thus, anti-LND Phans are, in my view, perfectly justified in complaining about shows they don't watch because the vast majority of them made the effort to get as much accurate information as possible about what the plot and music were like. It's not our fault if we've been "tainted by the preview" because it can be assumed that ALW intended the cast album and other promotional material to be judged as the actual show. (And given ALW's own pre-release bashing of the musical Les Misérables back in the '80s, he just ends up sounding like a hypocrite when he complains about people doing it to his show, particularly when he brings up LM as an example of a musical that succeeded despite bad press and conveniently forgets that he himself provided a good chunk of that bad press.)
Now on to the idea of complaining about shows we don't like. Some supporters of LND have said to the show's detractors that if they don't like it, they should just stop talking about it. Even if that were true, wouldn't it also make the opposite argument (that people who like it should stop talking about it as well) equally valid? I'm not talking here about people being "nattering nabobs of negativity," as the late political commentator William Safire put it, and bringing up LND for the sole purpose of whining about the aspects they dislike. Instead, I'm advocating constructive discussion and debate about the show.
I find that if I just say "I like/dislike X" and leave it at that, it doesn't do myself or anyone else a lot of good. If I can say or write down what specific things I like or dislike and why I feel that way, though, then I can learn more about my own point of view and that of others who may feel differently, or who may share my general opinion but have different reasons behind it. Sometimes, talking about those things I liked or disliked and then hearing from people with different opinions has helped me to gain a greater insight into the thing itself, even going so far as to change my mind when I found out why things were done that way. It's certainly possible that my opinion on LND might be changed by an engaging discussion with somebody who liked it, or by seeing it live... but if I were betting money, I'd have to say no in this particular case. The redemptive ending of the original story and the approach the original ALW musical took to get that across remain my favorite aspects about that adaptation. LND's flagrant disregard of anything approaching continuity or keeping the characters true to their essence ruins that for me. And thanks to their tactics involving launching personal attacks against those who disagree with them, ALW and some of the show's supporters have pretty much obliterated any chance I can see of changing my mind on that.
Another favorite argument used by LND supporters is that by opposing the show and hoping for its closure, the anti-LND crowd is putting their biases above the careers of the people involved with the show -- they claim we're a selfish lot who would rather see all those talented people out of work than have the show succeed. First of all, everyone involved with musical theater knows that like any other area in show business, it's a career choice filled with uncertainty. Just like with film or TV, talented performers will sometimes remain unknown for years, sometimes just because more popular stars keep getting the leading roles. (Remind you of a certain "battle of the divas" in POTO?) And sometimes, actors will intentionally leave a relatively secure job in order to try something completely new -- for example, Hugh Panaro left the role of the Phantom in 2005 so he could star in the musical Lestat, having no idea whether or not the show would succeed. (Sadly, it didn't.) But Hugh continued working at community theatre productions and now he's back as the Phantom on Broadway. Perhaps not for long, however, as he's also going to participate in readings for the Broadway premiere of the popular European musical Rebecca (which, coincidentally, LND star Sierra Boggess will also be involved with).
So what we should all take away from this is that shows will succeed or fail, whether or not there are huge fan groups for and against them. Actors will be comfortably employed or otherwise, often due to luck of the draw... and for a few, being comfortably employed isn't really that attractive a prospect because they'd rather be pushing the envelope by doing new and different things. Some will do community theater for a few years during a long hiatus from Broadway or the West End, and contrary to popular belief, that's not a bad thing. The way some LND fans go on about it, though, you'd think it was every theatre fan's sacred duty to go see every show currently playing, as many times as they could, whether they liked it or not, because heaven forbid any actors should ever have to try out for something other than the show they're currently working at. As for myself, I prefer to let my money truly do the talking rather than go on some futile quest to put every show, good or bad, on equal footing. I don't like seeing favorite actors out of work any more than the next person, but if I'm going to blow $100 on a show, I want it to be worth every penny rather than just being an act of charity for the performers -- after all, how egotistical would I have to be to think that my ticket alone would mean the difference between super-stardom and the poor house for any one of them? If I like a show, I'll do my best to catch it multiple times. If I see it once and don't like it, that's that and I'll get on with my life. And if the very idea of the show offends my sensibilities, I'll avoid seeing it altogether unless someone can give me proof that it really is much better than the concept would seem. Whatever some may say to the contrary, being a discerning viewer is pretty worthwhile.
Okay, last one, I promise. The final popular talking point for LND fans that I'm going to bring up in this post is that by continuing to talk about the show, "Love Should Die" and anyone else who doesn't like the sequel just end up hurting their cause by bringing attention that the show wouldn't have had otherwise. This may be a somewhat valid point, but it ignores the purpose of the group. The reason "Love Should Die" was started was to counter the notion being put forth by ALW that every single POTO fan was eagerly awaiting his sequel. I don't know about any of you, but I'm not fond of people assuming my opinion on something will go a certain way when I haven't even seen what the damn thing is yet. Our group was started to show the press and the general theatregoing public that despite ALW's hubristic assumptions, there were many POTO fans who didn't see the need for a sequel.
"Okay," fans of the show may argue, "so you made your point. Everyone who cares now knows that there are POTO fans who are against LND. Why keep it going, since even you folks admit that a fan page on Facebook isn't going to get the show closed?" I'm not sure about anyone else, but the reason why I still follow "Love Should Die" is to counter ALW's more recent hubris -- his publicly expressed views that, in effect, his original show was a load of tripe and only a tiny group of insane people would prefer it to his brilliant sequel. With statements like that, he insulted all POTO fans, not merely those opposed to LND. Even if I wasn't against LND from the get-go, those kinds of statements would have still probably turned me against it. I have little respect for artists who don't don't show gratitude to the fans who put them where they are, no matter how brilliant their works have been. In any case, ALW's main complaint doesn't seem to be that the "Love Should Die" crowd hasn't given his show a fair shake. Instead, as a recent rageoffstage blog speculates, he seems merely annoyed that regular people would dare to make their dissenting opinions public, and that the Internet gives them the ability to do just that. If that's the case... can you say "sour grapes?"
Whatever our opinions on LND or any other show may be, they are just that -- our opinions. Not everyone's going to agree with them, or even get why we feel that way. As I see it, the best thing we can do is be as clear as possible about our views on different things, especially if they're really controversial or if it seems like most people assume that everyone has a certain opinion on them but you happen to feel differently. But as always, whatever side we're on, we need to remember to be respectful of those with differing views. Doing that will help a cause far more than even the most logically sound arguments, and will enable you to keep most of your friends even if their opinions differ, as well.
I remain your obedient servant,
I.A.E.
The Wizard Of Oz!
12 years ago
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