Yesterday, news broke in the New York Times that after 12 years on stage, Broadway's Rent would close. Except culture boy Campbell Robertson wasn't supposed to get the scoop. Rather, a forum member on BroadwayWorld.com, a news and community site for the theatre world, posted the news on the site on Tuesday evening, the night before the Times story ran.
Except it was promptly removed by a forum moderator, and, according to one source with knowledge of the situation, promptly sent the forum member an email about how "BroadwayWorld.com does not post gossip."
Or, for that matter, exclusive news. (The endless threads about Clay Aiken being gay, however, remain.)
To bring the matter full circle: Yesterday's article from Robertson ran the same day Caryn James trumpeted theatre websites like BroadwayWorld.com for forging a new online frontier. Silly, right?
Editorial Director
I'm not suprised at the stupidity of BroadwayWorld cause it's a site for teens who think "High School Musical" is the greatest. I can't believe someone gives them an exclusive and they crap all over it. I work in NYC theatre and heard about this from a producer. They're all laughing at BroadwayWorld!