Adam Pascal sounds off on the haters!

From his facebook:

Adam Pascal
So, I need to get this off my chest. I have said before how I hate these Broadwayworld chat boards, but yet I occasionally take a look, only to get burned every time by some hater. Well, last night I went up on my lines during one of my #'s in Chicago. It happens... Well, wouldn't you know it, one of these chatroom bullies happened to be in the audience and was obviously frothing at the mouth to get home and blast away at me. "I cant remember lines", I'm not professional", "they feel bad for me"..blah blah blah.
Now, I am aware that because of what I do, I am a target for all sorts of judgment and criticism. I accept that. But for all the people who sit at home and use their words anonymously as tools to make others feel bad, so they can feel good, you will never feel good. Real happiness comes from within. As I learn this myself, I can tell you that with every drop of vitriol that comes from your lips, you are poisoning your own soul. I will sit here for an hour, be annoyed at what you said, do some deep breathing and then let it go. You, will undoubtedly stew in your own unhappiness and dissatisfaction with life, pick your next target, sit in the dark in the balcony, as you did with me and wait for them to make a mistake so you can once again, hide anonymously in front of your computer screen and say "Ha! see everyone..see, they're no good, they're not deserving of success, they're phonies".
The truth is, you could never in a million years do what it is we do 8 times a week. You would step out on stage and piss your pants. So Please hater, don't feel bad for me as you said you do. You need to feel bad for yourself for being the kind of person who gets off on trying hurt others.
Finally, to all my fans who will read this, please don't comment with defending me. I'm not looking for compliments or "yeah you tell em Adam". Just try and remember the sentiment, next time you want to use your computer as an outlet for bullying..
Like · · Share · 58210043 · 31 minutes ago ·

Link: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10151483124965875&id=6585825874
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I agree with Adam. You all should be ashamed. It's not like you have the talent or stamina to do his job.

[finebydesign]

"You all should be ashamed. It's not like you have the talent or stamina to do his job."

LOL

[MusicalTheatreGeek2]

Wow, it's like some people don't even know that being on broadway in in the top 5 most demanding jobs!

[broadway guy]

It's true.

[LizzieCurry]

Link: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10151483124965875&id=6585825874

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Mr. Pascal does have a point.

[Kad]

The comments in the thread in question were hardly bullying- I wouldn't even consider them necessarily bitchy.

For someone who claims he is letting the criticism "go," he certainly didn't really seem to let it go.

[GilmoreGirlO2]

I respect that he had his feelings hurt and, while I agree that the comments in question were barely bullying, I can understand how one might have a similar reaction to reading about how you made a mistake at your job.

However, I think it is wrong of him to assume that that poster is someone who is just waiting for performers to make a mistake so they can start their online bullying. In fact, Pascal’s slip was barely what that post was about (and was more about how often “Chicago” has clean-up rehearsals).

I think it is also a bit pretentious and thoughtless to assume that people who post comments like that are not as talented or hard-working as he is. I know many on this board are professionals in the theatre.

Honestly, for someone who is condemning online bullying, I found Adam’s post to be a lot more bullying than the post he is commenting on.

[LizzieCurry]

Also, I tore a muscle rolling my eyes as soon as he broke out with the "Well, YOU try doing it 8 times a week!" argument.

That's not the audience member's job. That's YOUR job. It's not my job to perform knee surgery either, but if my surgeon messes up, I'm not going to be silent just because I personally don't have the ability to perform the surgery.

[eperkins]

I agree with Kad here. The comments were not bitchy at all. The original comment was from a ticket buying patron who saw the show, and saw a performance (not just of Mr. Pascal) that they thought was sloppy. Sure, everyone has an off day, but in this case, he flubbed in front of 1,000 or so people that were paying a goodly sum of money to be there, and it reflected poorly on the show as a whole.

Personally, I am sure that I could not get up on that stage and do what they do. Nor do I present myself as someone who can. He does. That's his job. So when he is not doing it well (regardless of whether an audience member could do it any better), he can expect people to call him out on it. Skin not thick enough? You're in the wrong profession, my boy.

[broadway guy]

Here is the twist everyone: I am Adam Pascal HAHAAH :p

[Kad]

Of course having an unflattering, almost certainly embarrassing moment pointed out will hurt your feelings. But having it merely mentioned isn't bullying.

Pascal comes off in his little rant as being a vain performer who can't stand that a screw up was noticed and commented upon. Whether or not I, or anyone else on this board, can perform 8 times a week on Broadway is irrelevant to whether or not we can critique performances (and Winston's post wasn't even a critique! It was a report of events!)

Meanwhile, Pascal is the one who jumps onto a high horse and thinks that's the same as taking the high road.

[kieranbec]

I haven't read the thread that soaked this, but performers have a legitimate right to defend themselves. He made a mistake. Everyone does. It's not as if it is happening consistently.

[Wynbish]

Yes, performers can defend themselves, if there's something that warrants defensive behavior. A markedly non-judgemental report of what happened followed by a segue into an unrelated question/discussion does not warrant it.

I'm a broken record on this topic, but "bullying" is a strong word now that should be used respectfully and correctly.

[kieranbec]

Found the thread.
https://www.broadwayworld.com/board/readmessage.php?thread=1060757&dt=10

[ljay889]

Wow, what a baby.

[tazber]

I HATE when someone prefaces an insult with a disclaimer, such as:

Now, I am aware that because of what I do, I am a target for all sorts of judgment and criticism. I accept that. But for all the people who sit at home and use their words anonymously as tools to make others feel bad, so they can feel good, you will never feel good.

No Adam, you obviously aren't aware that you're a target because if you truly understood that then you wouldn't have continued to be a bully yourself.

I've always liked him too. Shame he's such a baby.

[Someone in a Tree2]

Yeah, but who among us would want some message board viewed by tens of thousands of folks a day weighing in on how well WE were doing OUR jobs? This is not a revisit of the how-hard-do-broadway-actors-work discussion. I am saying that the very presence of a message board like this is an open invitation for ridicule and undue scrutiny. Is that bullying? Well, in the hands of many posters on here.... yeah.

[LizzieCurry]

Tell me when there's a copy editing message board and we'll talk.

(OK, so there are blogs dedicated to funny typos, but you know what I mean. Some jobs have a mass audience and some don't. It's not like one goes into the entertainment industry imagining they can perform in a vacuum.)

[ljay889]

^ Oh, give me a break. Talk to Bernadette Peters, Laura Benanti, Donna Murphy, Sara Ramirez, Karen Oilvo, and many others who have dealt with much worse on these boards. I don't recall any of them writing up a big facebook rant like that and crying about bullying. Sure, some of them did discuss the situations in interviews, but they didn't use the bullying card.

A paying audience member has a right to their opinion.

[Kad]

For most people on here, our jobs don't involve performing for an audience of 1000+ nightly for months at a time- audiences paying top dollar to be there.

They've already exposed themselves and opened themselves up for critique. This board is an extension of the discussion that goes on in bars and at dinner tables blocks from the theater.

[Wynbish]

Winston didn't say "He's a bad Billy Flynn". That would have been closer to bullying.

Seriously, how are you a bigger person if you judge Winston as being a nobody or a loser deriving joy from the experience of catching a Broadway star in a flub? This does more damage for him than what Winston said.

[ljay889]

how are you a bigger person if you judge Winston as being a nobody or a loser deriving joy from the experience of catching a Broadway star in a flub? This does more damage for him than what Winston said.

EXACTLY

[Someone in a Tree2]

Sorry, guys. Right now a lot of you sound like the mean girl clique defending the bullies who knocked the glasses off the face of the whimpering kid, and then point fingers at the kid for whimpering.

[Wynbish]

Then, show us where Winston bullied. By saying that he should have covered better? I'm sure even he knows that.