The Critics Say...: 57 Theater Reviewers in New York and Beyond Discuss Their Craft and Its Future by Matt Windman Read Free Book Online Page A

That’s a whole lot of sensory overload to bring in, distill, and then pump out into words. With a CD, you can savor it once, twice, maybe even three times. A lot of film critics now have the ability to screen a film from home, so they have the same option.
    Scott Brown: Nothing compares to the intensity and immediacy of theater. Nothing compares to the incredible social stress of being trapped in a room with people who are performing for you. It’s different than sitting back in a chair in a screening room, watching something at home, or slapping on a pair of headphones. It’s different to go to a specific location where you’re locked into gladiatorial combat with each other in a weird sort of way. Actors talk about press nights that way. I don’t think there’s anything that compares to that. It’s really thrilling, and it can be very graphic. Theater criticism is more of a contact sport. It’s always going to be taken more to heart by the people who are involved with it.
    Chris Jones: There’s something about staring in person at an artist that creates a more intense relationship than being in a screening room and watching people in a movie.
    Robert Feldberg: Theater criticism is local. If you review a movie, it’s opening all over the country. If you review a play, it’s only of immediate interest to New Yorkers, other people living in the metropolitan area, or tourists who happen to be in New York. Someone might want to see it months later when they visit New York, but it’s happening locally.
    Ben Brantley: Because theater, either rightly or wrongly, is perceived as an art form in jeopardy, a certain amount of cheerleading is required. We also have to work a little harder at getting people to pay attention or be interested. You probably have to be a little clearer, a little less self-referential, than you might be in other disciplines. If you read art forums, they’re very academic and hermetically-sealed.
    Richard Zoglin: I really have to really justify why a show deserves space in Time magazine. I’m writing about something that most of my readers can’t see right away because they don’t live in New York. I can’t do a piece just because there’s a show opening this week.
    Linda Winer: Classical music critics don’t get to write about new work very often. On the other hand, the work they get to write about has stood the test of time. They spend more time bathing in real art—in masterpieces. What I’ve always loved about theater criticism is how often we get to bump up against new work. Of course, we’re currently getting more and more revivals. My husband has said that my job as turned into “comparing this Willy Loman to that Willy Loman.”
    Frank Scheck: Music is more subjective because there are musicians you like and ones that you don’t like. If you don’t like the music, you’re not going to like the concert, so you have to step back and just evaluate the music on its own terms, and whether or not it’s working for the people who appreciate that type of music. If I’m reviewing American Idol in concert or the Jonas Brothers, I’m not the target audience. You have the same scenario in the theater, too. There are some shows that are not geared to your sensibilities, so you have to evaluate them on their own terms. For example, is it working for the teenage girls?
    John Simon: The good thing about music criticism is that you really have to know a lot about music. Anyone can write drama criticism. Indeed, it often happens that way, where someone who’s been writing obituaries for years suddenly gets the drama critic job. It’s absurd, but there you have it. But with music criticism, you have to put in someone who, however peculiar or questionable his opinions may be, has a solid knowledge of music, and that requires discipline and learning and some kind of mental level that not every Tom, Dick, or Harry has.
    Terry Teachout: In the case of music or art, the difference lies in the