Friday, May 18, 2012

19 comments:

  1. very sharp review!

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  2. This article has me appalled at the fact that I was once a member of this staff. How dare you aim right at all the negative and put some of the good in this paper. Who are you to make judgement calls. If I remember correctly, Trant's always saying "never be bias..., only look for the good". There are MANY strong and violent words I COULD use right now, but I'd like this comment to actually be read to the class so I will not use them. Those performances were amazing, hands down. And even WITH all the mistakes on the 2nd night (that were NOT the cast's fault) they all stayed in character and did the show from start to finish. Maybe you only went to the 2nd night, but if you take a look at ANY of the past musical articles you'd get a sense of what you SHOULD have written. Once again I'm embarrassed to say I was a part of the Crow's Nest when I was in HS. Not only that, but so was Chris Scott & Samantha Rodriguez and when I spoke to them about this they didn't have a kind word to say. This student should really educate them self before writing about a topic that is misunderstood. That's all I had to share. It's upsetting that more effort and love was put into an article about the Avengers than something actually close to the heart (not in any way shape or form hating on that article, was an amazing movie and a great review). Wow, just wow.

    2011 PRHS Alumnus Juan Carlos Nieves (JC)

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  3. Vinnie Medugno - DIRECTORMay 21, 2012 at 10:07 AM

    I am always a proud supporter of the Crows Nest and everyone who writes for it. Being a graduate from college in Media and Communications, I was always very impressed with the intelligence of such articles in the past pertaining to the hard work of MY kids. However this one seems to be from the point of view from a student who came on assignment that didn't want to be there, and while being there didn't pay attention to the show, but to the technical things in which we had no control over.

    Smoke and fog did not cause the fire alarms to go off. Mr. Gannon and the school safety staff assured me it was an issue with something on the schools roof due to a reaction of rain water (it did rain that night).

    As far as the microphones go, sometimes a technical interference happens, but performers are separate from students when they are trained to act like professionals and continue to do their thing. Would Broadway performers make notice to an accident or situation beyond the control of whoever is operating the system?

    And as for the lights going on, someone was leaning on the back wall of the auditorium and accidentally pressed the button. Whatever the case may be, why would any decent reporter focus on these things versus a plot of a show, the performance of the cast, and the stellar vocals of kids who performed like no other.

    Reporters who write reviews of a show usually write about the show, not about the conditions of the actual theatre or auditorium. Also in the article there was mention of irrelevance... did anyone notice that this issue of protest and peace movement is more prevalent today in society with Occupy Wall Street and perhaps the issue of our country in a war overseas? Did the reporter pay attention in American history class when their teacher taught about Vietnam? There is much relevance today with this show... and even if there wasn't relevance, do you ask that question when you see a show on Broadway or in any theatre. For example, if you went to see Guys and Dolls, would you ask how the show is relevant to today just because of the time period and actors on stage...?

    All in all, I am usually very satisifed with the Crows Nest and its decent reports pertaining to our shows, however, this time around, a reporter came who didn't review the show, she reviewed everything else, and opinions are always welcome, and yes everyone is entitled to them, but I almost feel insulted as this being the ONLY existing documentation and report of the show by a newspaper that is for the school!

    This is what was allowed to represent the school when other students and parents surf the net... so the opinion they will receive will be Port Richmond's Musical Theatre Department is a joke (all because of one reporter who had really no clue what was going on). Furthermore, I'll send a script and maybe you can get the plot that way.

    Overall, this to me contributes to the always negative energy that is in our school, in typical fashion it focused on the negative versus the positive that the students did, as well as hard work and months of preparation. Thank you for insulting them. You don't have to deal with the emails and texts of upset cast members, I do.

    Vinnie Medugno
    DIRECTOR

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  4. HAIR has always been known to be contraversial and I must say your review has generated many strong feelings with the cast and myself. The 60's may seem irrelevent, but many of the civil liberties you enjoy today are thanks to people who questioned authority then. There are still people young and old today fighting for what they feel is right, protesting our current wars and the Occupy movement are just 2 examples. You should learn more about the draft because Claude did not have a choice, he did not shave his own head the US Army did. Like many people who have difficulty seeing the deeper meaning in this production you choose to focus on the drug use(which I addressed in our program, did you read it?) and the possibility of nudity. HAIR has been performed around the world almost non stop for the last 44 years so I guess many people do find it and the 60's tremendously significant. PEACE, Ms. Delaney

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  5. For those of you who are complaining that her article is insulting and negative, you seem to have a lot of horrible, insulting and inconsiderate comments about her extremely well written review. You may not agree with her opinion, but that gives you no right whatsoever to treat her like a terrible person for insulting your show. She never insulted a single member of the cast. She praised the cast and crew throughout the entire review. She simply stated her OPINION that a more recent show would have been more relevant. You should feel terrible for attacking someone for having their own opinion.

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  6. "never be bias... Only look for the good". A good review focuses on the positive and negative aspects of a performance. The author remains unbiased throughout her entire article by focusing on the great parts of the show (the cast performance) and the bad parts of the show (the technical difficulties which is a major part of every show)

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  7. hmmmmm, maybe certain people shouldn't be in "show business" if they can't handle criticism...

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  8. I saw the show the 2nd night also, and I'm going to choose to remain anonymous because I don't want to be attacked personally too after reading these comments here. I heard about the comments from a friend of mine on the paper and chose to check it out, and I just wanted to say that although her review was not given through rosy glasses, she is entitled to an opinion. She did to mention the negatives, but she also did say that she thought it was good; she even went as far as to commend certain performers individually and gave a glowing review of the backdrop. She was being unbiased. I guess what the school musical crew was expecting was an an "everything was magnificent" review because it is the school paper, but to say that her opinion is wrong because it is unbiased is unfair. She's a 16-year-old writer, the same way that your performers are 16-year-old performers, and how would you like it is someone attacked their work like you are doing to her? To critique her writing would be one thing, but to have grown adults personally attacking a teenage girl should be a bigger embarrassment to your theater reputation than anything she could have ever written.

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    Replies
    1. I personally have no issue here, I was just stating MY opinion. She's allowed to state her opinion, but after 4 years of being in Trant's class I thought that he would have said something about this article.....but I guess that they had no one else to write the article so he really didn't care to much.

      And at the same time, don't come out of your face and say that the cast was expecting an amazing review. WE know that things went wrong, WE were the ones backstage saying "why the hell did the go wrong"

      And FYI, if the cast did something wrong, Vinnie, Delaney, Eugiene, etc.. would automatically stop what they were doing so that it would be fixed. Everyone was treated the same way. If Marcenia messed up, it was known and fixed. Same with Julian, Louis, Helene, etc.. So if someone was "attacking someone's work" they'd take the comments and better perfect them self.

      JCN

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  9. As both a performer and a member of the audience, I think the article was very well written. As she'd stated, HAIR is a controversial show, which can receive controversial reviews. It was an honest review and it was very well-written, and she should not be penalized for not basing it off of prior write-ups of your musicals. Defending your show is acceptable and understood. Attacking the writer's character and opinion (which she is very much entitled to) is immature and unacceptable.

    Unfortunately, there are flaws in everyone's performances every once in a while and there are also flaws in one's writings. You cannot attack a sixteen year old girl for her honest opinion.

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  10. bias: a particular tendency or inclination, especially one that prevents unprejudiced consideration of a question; prejudice

    ...that's the definition of the word bias- not this article!

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  11. My only thing to say to this is: stop fighting. The musical was amazing, hands down. The article did look one-sided, but she wrote the review.

    I do agree with JC about the quotes, but that's all that's wrong with this paper.

    Whatever, people have opinions. It's normal.

    The big thing that got me was the fact that people like JC, Vinnie & Delaney had no issue giving their opinion and being open to comments (unlike others). If you have something so important to say then why are you anonymous.

    All in all, HAIR was fantastic, can't wait to see it done at Westerleigh park. Summer's coming soon :) yeah.....

    2012 Port Richmond High School Senior

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  12. Here's my thing-

    The reporter who wrote this article definitely stated her opinion. The musical was, all in all, great. However, is a student supposed to hold back her opinions when writing a review just so cast members don't get upset?

    Everyone is forgetting to look at the part of the article where she praises the cast members for handling the technical mishaps - and I quote - "professionally." She also pointed out specific examples of the cast that did a fantastic job. So what's everyone's problem? If you aren't able to hear the good and bad criticism, then you shouldn't be performing. It's a part of life.

    I just think everyone is making a huge deal out of NOTHING - this student reporter did exactly what she was told, and did a fantastic job - just as everyone in the show did a fantastic job. So everyone please calm down and leave this girl alone.

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  13. Peace and love, guys; peace and love.

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  14. This was a great Article, it was well written and covered all aspects of this play. As i went over all the comments I've noticed how cruel and biased you guys were being towards her and her article, although she gave her honest opinion on the play she was being truthful. She still gave good comments and all her good comments went towards the great,acting singing and all. She did not say anything wrong nor hurtful about any individual in this play. SO EVERY ONE WRITING HURTFUL COMMENTS ON THIS ARTICLE BACK OFF AND GROW UP.

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  15. As a writer for the crows nest myself I take great offense to the way you all are bashing my fellow colleague. First off the review was beautifully written , the review was a review, simple as that . She stated the pros and the cons of the show. She noted all of the key actors and actresses and praised them well as well as including the names of all the backstage and artist of the show. The technical issues are apart of the show all though you have no control over it. It's a review it covers alheld the aspects of the show from the backdrops , cast , the lights , the set and all of the things that make the show possible she gave her honest opinion and I'm pretty sure everyone else who went on this day could agree with her. She chose the topic because she wanted to go , not because she was forced. Take this review and make it useful for next year, to make the play better not saying that it was bad, but it's always good to reflect. Oh and if you do wanna get into show biz , your gonna have to take criticism , whether it's in your favor or not. If you can't well maybe that's not your chosen path. Stay blessed and whatever doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. Nija Howard (reporter for the crows nest)

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  16. Great article Jaclyn ! Some people obviously can't handle constructive criticism.

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  17. #TEAMJACLYN #TEAMJACLYN #TEAMJACLYN


    We will prevail.
    Join the movement.

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