Comments on: Chicago theatre vs. Broadway

By: Bob [CTA]

Bob [CTA] — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:49:15 +0000

Hi Leah. Thanks for commenting. I’m excited to see Cirque, too. However, your comment above seems rather “shill”y to me. I hope I’m wrong. But if I’m right, please stop.

By: Leah Johnson

Leah Johnson — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:03:18 +0000

Chicago has one of the most diverse theater scenes in the nation. Cirque is coming to Chicago. Sounds great!!!

By: ChicagoNow Fail « Confessions of a Chicago Theatre Addict

ChicagoNow Fail « Confessions of a Chicago Theatre Addict — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 17:51:08 +0000

[...] it’s not the first time this “bulletin board for the theater community in Chicago” has [...]

By: No sleep till Brooklyn… | Backstage at BackstageJobs.com | Life behind the scenes…

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 19:25:43 +0000

[...] have been some great discussions going on lately about Chicago vs Broadway, as well as commercial vs storefront. But much of the media, and the general public, continue [...]

By: Off Broadway or off-Broadway? « Fragments

Off Broadway or off-Broadway? « Fragments — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 03:48:10 +0000

[...] season with a lot of shows transferring from Chicago. I think that Robert has hit the nail on this pretty well on his blog and Rob Kozlowski went and said what I was thinking but wasn’t quick enough to [...]

By: Monica

Monica — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 02:44:32 +0000

I hadn’t looked at it under “Our Blogs” until a few moments ago. I had just been going to the link you had and I had seen on Twitter when someone pointed out “Hey look, another connection between the Tribune and Broadway.” But it is very odd that it’s not under Our Blogs anymore.

By: Robert

Robert — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 02:20:52 +0000

Monica: this “Off Broadway in Chicago” blog WAS listed under ChicagoNow’s “Our Blogs” earlier today — and now, it’s not. Very strange….

By: Monica

Monica — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 02:16:20 +0000

First of all, it really irks me that the “Broadway” in the header looks a hell of a lot like the Broadway in the BiC logo. Isn’t that copyright infringement?

Second of all, I can put up with BiC and every once in a while I do want to see a Broadway show. (I can name off the ones coming to Chicago I am looking forward to). It is a nice thing to have. But the fact that it is “Off Broadway in Chicago” does irk me because it almost makes it sound like Chicago is just an extension of New York’s theater scene. Which it’s not. There are about 200 theaters in the League and I think it’s safe to say that most shows that premiere there don’t get a New York transfer.

Third of all, this blog is not showing up under ChicagoNow’s Our Blogs page. Which I find very peculiar.

And I do agree that Broadway is not synonymous with theater. If you have a blog entitled “Off Broadway in Chicago,” can’t you have a blog that’s “Off Broadway in” any city that has a Broadway series?

By: robertian

robertian — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 23:12:55 +0000

Bravo, Andrew!

The more I think about it, the less sense the title “Off Broadway in Chicago” makes.

By: Andrew Hobgood

Andrew Hobgood — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 22:44:45 +0000

Well – it’s pretty obvious what they were trying to do. But honestly, it just doesn’t make sense.

“Off Broadway” is a reference to theater produced in a specific radius of New York City. Period. Their implication is that pretty much ANY theater that is not ON Broadway is OFF Broadway.

I highly doubt that there will ever be a blog in NYC called “Chicago Storefront in New York.” And if there is – well, it had better be a blog dedicated to Chicago storefront shows that have transferred to NYC.

To piggy-back on Robert’s point that Chicago theater is the “it thing” on Broadway right now – it just seems silly for anyone to be trying to tuck our scene under the moniker of “Off Broadway” when Broadway itself is sending a fairly clear message: NYC wants CHICAGO theater.

So let a blog about Chicago’s theater scene actually call itself what it is rather than follow the obvious tactic of naming itself after something they think will get more hits on a Google search.