Andy Mientus Tweets

[seahag2]

Thoughts?

I see what he was trying to say but his wording is horrendous and borderline insulting in my opinion.

[haterobics]

We must never let good intent get in the way of looking for shade.

[E.Davis]

I too understand what he means, but yes, it was a poor choice of words on his part. 

[tazber]

Yikes

[boggess]

I unfollowed his Twitter after he was calling out people for making fun of Smash but had no qualms making fun of the live Sound of Music in which he had peers taking part. You can think what you want about the quality of either, but the hypocrisy was blatant. 

[suttonfoster]

I don't understand what's so insulting about it. Can someone explain?

[aaaaaa15]

suttonfoster said: "I don't understand what's so insulting about it. Can someone explain?"

He's basically dismissing musicals he isn't in whilst talking about how important the one he is in is. (It IS important but there are plenty of other important musicals, they're not a rarity). 

And yes, Andy seems to enjoy a bit of hypocrisy. He used to post Michael Arden bootlegs and we all know where he stands on that now that he's the one in the bootlegs...

I do like him but he can be irritating. 

[seahag2]

"I don't think musicals are truly important"

Of course, you are not required to love every type of art form out there, but if he doesn't find musicals 'important' then why is he in the musical theatre business? 

[seahag2]

Also from an artist perspective, I think it's important to at least respect the creation around you. You may not be a fan of traditional Chinese music or Impressionist paintings but that doesn't mean you can't respect the innovation, dedication, history, practice, and soul-pouring that went into the art form. 

I can imagine someone who hasn't dabbled in the fine arts to easily dismiss showtunes and musicals, but it's something else coming from a broadway actor.

[RW3]

It seems like both him and Michael have a problem in tweeting somewhat problematic tweets.

[Sunny11]

Well musicals are usually just for entertainment but sometimes they provide  wider social significance, in this case, Mientus argues, actively benefitting  the deaf community. 

[aaaaaa15]

Sunny11 said: "Well musicals are usually just for entertainment but sometimes they provide  wider social significance, in this case, Mientus argues, actively benefitting  the deaf community. 

Sure! But many musicals have wider social significance. This past year alone there's been Fun Home, Hamilton, Allegiance etc.

 

[indytallguy]

I think it is more harmless than others here do. I love musical theatre and spend a great deal of my time enjoying productions and supporting them in other ways, but it would be interesting to generate a list of shows that people consider to be "truly important."

Some certainly address issues or tell stories that cause audience members to go beyond merely being entertained, but a great many do not. That's what I took from the Tweet.

Example: I enjoyed and laughed at Something Rotten, but haven't given it a second thought after seeing the show. Whereas, I'm still thinking about seeing Spring Awakening last week, what it was like to be seated among deaf and hearing impaired audience members, and how much I struggled to effectively communicate with them because I only know the ASL alphabet. And I've thought about what it would take for more actors with differing levels of mobility to get cast.

[haterobics]

seahag2 said: "if he doesn't find musicals 'important' then why is he in the musical theatre business?"

 

I think the disconnect is you pulling only "important" and not "truly important." That is an important distinction.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

I think he was speaking hyperbolicly or metaphorically or whatever and attempting to turn this into anything is just unkind and silly. 

[seahag2]

The distinction between "important" and "truly important" is very insignificant to me, personally. I see how his tweet, his response later, and different people's reactions to it got very confusing and messy. All of this is subjective and that being said, I don't think a show needs to even have a profound social message or impact to be "truly important." The personal takeaway from a cast member, crew member, or audience member can make any show important for any reason. I was under the impression that the community of an art form would collectively agree that their shared interest is "truly important" one way or another. But of course, there is no correct way to consume, understand, and analyze theatre. It was interesting to see how other people interpreted his words! 

[haterobics]

So he replied online to further clarify his comments, and you didn't think that including any of that follow-up would help illuminate a discussion on his supposed "horrendous", "insulting" tweet that you did post?!

 

Sounds like understanding the point of an adverb isn't the only blindspot you have going on there.

[Kad]

I love musical theatre as much as the next queen, but, c'mon- the vast majority of shows are entertaining diversions. Expensive diversions, at that.

Saving the world, this ain't.

[massofmen]

Who cares what he thinks? He is a mediocre actor. 

[seahag2]

Haterobics, I wrote my latest reply (and this one) on my phone in an airport, I actually was going to post screenshots of his replies once I had laptop access and thought that my mentioning of his replies along with a less polarizing, revised response would suffice for now. Very sorry if it upset you! 

[haterobics]

It doesn't upset me. Just looks like you only posted the part that would lead people to share your opinion in the original post. And this was all posted a week and a half ago, including the replies, so it's not like this is some sort of "breaking news" that you are reporting in real time or anything...

[seahag2]

e if I remember correctly, he said something along the lines of 'if everything is important then nothing is important' and some more things about bootlegs (unsure why that was included?) and how this production made the art form into something tangible. So while I still am not a fan of the with the way he worded the tweet (if anything, it was just shocking to read at first glance--also the wording was horrendous, not the tweet itself), he did clarify and was able to justify his words. But I will post the thread word for word tomorrow morning for anyone interested in it!

[seahag2]

I wasn't claiming to report on "breaking news" and I realize the time stamp on the tweet is from the 20th. I only found the original tweet today and posted it here because I hadn't seen anything about it in the past week, despite it being a huge conversation piece on tumblr (though, I do realize, are very different crowds). I wouldn't say that my posting of a tweet and not even a reply is necessarily trying to be biased and had I seen the other replies at the same time I would have also posted them. Twitter doesn't put replies and convo threads in a user's feed for some reason, you have to dig to find it.

[imeldasturn]

I have always thought that Jason Robert Brown was the most annoying man on Broadway. And then Andy Mientus happened.. "threatre is the vinyl of acting", UGH.

[WinstonSalem]

Personally, I really like Andy Mientus. I thought he brought a youth, humor and impulsivity to Marius that you don't often see, and, as a result, I really enjoyed Marius for once. I also think he has a great voice. I found his character on Smash to be charming and endearing (though I didn't think much of his songs on the show). It's hard for me to say whether he's a great actor, as his material has been fairly limited so far. I don't follow him or Michael on Twitter, so I can't say how problematic they generally are. But I'm with Kad: the vast majority of musical theatre is entertainment. I think that's all he's implying; not that no other musical in the history of theatre has been socially important in some way.  #allmusicaltheatrematters

 

(In case it needs to be said, that's just parody from me and not social commentary.)