Bitter Queens

[Horsey]

Posted: 11/2/03 at 2:00am

After reading the posts on this website over the past week, I'm wondering if a more appropriate name for BroadwayWorld.com might be BitterQueens.com? Just a thought. Updated On: 11/2/03 at 02:00 AM

[sharon1]

Posted: 11/2/03 at 12:48pm

Me thinx your saddle is cinched to tight

[Sally]

Posted: 11/2/03 at 12:56pm

--and hast a burr under his/her blanket?

[Albin]

Posted: 11/2/03 at 1:00pm

Updated On: 11/3/03 at 01:00 PM

[Dollypop]

Posted: 11/2/03 at 4:31pm

Oh, Albin! That was rather harsh, wasn't it? Especially since you've named your website NoAccountingForTaste.com

I wonder if the Fab Five do make-overs for queers?

[DofB5]

Posted: 11/2/03 at 4:58pm

I took a little break and haven't been paying as close attention to the board as I used to. What I gather is that shrill season has started and it's like Tally ho! The thrill of the hunt. The baying of the hounds. The excitement of the kill. Yawn.

No new person to the board is safe–at least until they make Featured Actor status at least. God forbid they say they LIKE a show. That's a dead give away that your a shrill.

This just sounds like getting off on the wrong foot and in case no one said it, Welcome to the board, Horsey.

Gotta run, I've got some chickens to pluck and some tar to boil--you never know when a shrill is gonna show up. I do so hate to be caught unprepared.

D

[Albin]

Posted: 11/2/03 at 5:06pm

Updated On: 11/3/03 at 05:06 PM

[Starlight]

Posted: 11/2/03 at 6:11pm

Except not EVERYONE on this board is either a)bitter or b)a queen. If the name changed quite a few of us would be having some serious identity issues...

[Al Dente]

Posted: 11/2/03 at 7:01pm

First of all DOF, it "SHILL" not Sh(R)ill. Other than that, Horsey, I think you've got this board confused with "All that Chat". That's the actual bitter queen/has-been/never where's/know it all/we have enough power to close a show in previews, board.

[DofB5]

Posted: 11/2/03 at 7:16pm

I don't know about that, Al. I think shrill makes more sense than shill. Who came up with that word anyway?

D

[Sunfish]

Posted: 11/2/03 at 7:27pm

"Shill" is a word that has been around for a very long time, at least from Vaudeville days. They were also used by circus and travelling shows. So whoever "came up with it" is long gone.

In those days, it was a sort of con....an associate of the performer or show would pretend absolute unfamilairity with the show, but over-react with enthusiasm to get others to pay their money and go in. Think of street performers, or the free bits that vaudeville or circus performers would offer outside the tent to get you to go in....the shill would be there making it seem like it was the funniest or most amazing thing s/he'd ever seen.

Although it is entirely possible that some producation assistants are sent to the internet message boards to talk up a show, the accusation of "shill" is much broader on these boards. A fan of a particular performer (note I said fan, not friend) may really like a show that performer is in, and say so, and is then accused of being a shill, even though s/he has no relation to the show at all. Ultimately the accusation just stops discussion of the show. A devoted fan may not be the most objective, but is not a shill.

[DofB5]

Posted: 11/2/03 at 7:50pm

Thanks for explanation, Sunfish.

D

[Auggie27]

Posted: 11/2/03 at 8:03pm

Can't tell you how much I appreciate this statement: "ultimately, the accusation stops the discussion..." I've seen wildly interesting, heated debates turn into semi-personal attacks the minute somebody's told he/she is too enthusiastic. The two extremes -- the impassioned con vs. the impassioned pro -- often creates the livliest talk, since everybody in the middle weighs in. And sometimes, when a gushy "Shill" waxes poetic about something, it sometimes makes you want to rethink your own reaction. Just my POV.

[DofB5]

Posted: 11/2/03 at 8:11pm

Well, I'm afraid I mostly accept people at face value. If they are new to the board I'd rather say hello then start a witch hunt after them. Everyone has a favorite show/actor/actress and I think we all tend to gush a bit about them. Isn't that what the boards are for?

D

[alterego]

Posted: 11/2/03 at 8:41pm

Bitter Queens? Is there any other kind?

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 11/2/03 at 9:03pm

"Pushy Queen" is another variation I'm familiar with as is "social-climbing queen" and "evil queen".

Somehow the phrase "Gracious Queen" or "noble Queen" doe not get used often enough, unless one is a female monarch.

Speaking of those, some years ago during the anniversary of Elisabeth II's asencion to the throne, a very popular souvenir T-shirt was made (but was withdrawn rather suddenly, as it seemed to be only worn by gay men). It featured a portrait of Her Majesty with the phrase "40 YEARS A QUEEN". When I couldn't find one ANYWHERE for sale, I was a very bitter queen indeed!

[alterego]

Posted: 11/2/03 at 9:07pm

Well said MasterLcz! I'd forgotten all those other variations!

[sheekala]

Posted: 11/3/03 at 7:31am

If I can't be a bitter queen in here where in the name of Nathan Lane can I? Ya know something HORSEY, as long as they keep putting "craptaculars" on Broadway, I'll be both bitter and vocal about them. And while I might work in the theater I don't blindly worship it, when a turkey like TABLOW comes along I'll be happy to shoot a few harpoons into it's bloated creative carcas.

[LouW95]

Posted: 11/3/03 at 8:13am

Bravo Horsey! I think there are five or six bitter people of all orientations on this site who are on-going negative attack artists. Their replies say it all. They simply have too much time on their hands. Most here have something to say, block the name callers.

[sheekala]

Posted: 11/3/03 at 8:24am

Lou make up your mind, are we "bitter queens" or "on-going negative attack artists"? Or are we both?!

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 11/3/03 at 9:20pm

And can Negative Attack Artists apply for NEA grants?

[sheekala]

Posted: 11/4/03 at 8:34am

Next up the On-Going Negative Attack Artist Players in their smash Off-Broadway hit, "BITTER QUEENS"..the feel good hit of Chelsea!

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 11/4/03 at 8:43am

Better to be a bitter queen than a quitter bean!

[sheekala]

Posted: 11/4/03 at 8:51am

OGNAA has become my stage name!

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 11/4/03 at 11:06am

It's a good one! "Ognaa Sheekala!" VERY exotic former Soviet Union. And a song, too:

"Ognaa Sheekala, Ognaa Sheekala, Ognaa Sheekala,

Ve'nismekha

U'ru akhim b'lev same'akh..."