In the wake of our review of Annie Get Your Gun, the Irving Berlin musical recently staged by Pennsylvania Playhouse, the popular community theater company in Bethlehem, PA, we received an email informing us that their Board would no longer offer us reviewer tickets to their shows because of fears that our reviewers were involved with another production company in the region.
That review, by the way, can be read at http://lvstage.org/musical-reviews/338-pieper-bohun-a-crack-shot-at-pa-playhouse.html
We are particularly concerned not only because the letter is misleading, but also because it suggests a certain discomfort with the kinds of objective and constructive criticism that can stimulate greater audience attendance and increased interest in the performing arts. (As of the moment, we have not received permission from PA Playhouse to reproduce that email here.)
At present, readership of our reviews of plays and musicals stands at 19,462, according to measurements available to us through Joomla CMS administration.
We presently have 15 volunteers who have contributed to Lehigh Valley Stage News.
Our reviewers and volunteers have served on the Boards of Pennsylvania Playhouse (three), Theater Outlet (three), Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (one), Mauch Chunk Opera House (three), Crowded Kitchen Players (four), Best Effort Players (One), Munopco (two), Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Performing Arts (one), and were asked, but unable, to join the board of Touchstone Theatre (one).
They have performed or volunteered on numerous occasions in shows variously produced by PA Playhouse, Civic Theatre, Crowded Kitchen Players, Allentown Public Theatre, PA Shakespeare Festival, Touchstone Theatre, Global Impactors, Theatre Outlet, Cedar Crest College, Munopco, 1st Presbyterian (Allentown), Pennsylvania State University, and DeSales University, etc.
Of particular interest, perhaps, is that of our fifteen, one is presently Volunteer of the Year at¦ Pennsylvania Playhouse!
Another of our volunteers is arts editor of a regional print newspaper.
Still another is a widely-respected attorney well versed in the challenges facing regional theater companies.
Suffice it to say that all are deeply invested in the health and welfare of the regional theater community.
Our mission is simply to support regional theater companies to the best of our abilities; that includes publishing both boilerplate marketing materials and constructive criticisms of any shows we can attend.
The reviews are by far the most popular of our posts. (In contrast, weve had twenty-three video interviews, including one with Tony-award winning playwright Christopher Durang, that received only a fraction of the interest of our reviews.)
Reviews that list every cast member, regardless of merit, are naturally our most popular and most widely shared.
Reviews that mention nary a misgiving are also very popular, averaging almost twice the readership of reviews that express concerns or discuss problems.
However, even our most critical reviews have been read widely, as evidenced by our numbers. And no other company has indicated in any way that it felt ill-used by our press coverage of its productions.
So, as stunning as the email was, it has in many ways validated our presence and made us all the more determined to improve, to grow, and to try to help keep the spirit of regional theater alive in the greater Lehigh Valley.
Oh, and one more thing!
Our slowly but steadily mounting readership encourages us to continue reviewing shows throughout the territory, whether or not we receive complimentary tickets.