I know my vote probably doesn't count, but, having received a similar complaint this morning about why I covered one gossip story and not another, my opinion is this:

Eff it. See what you want to see, and write about what you want to write about. You cannot be held responsible for pleasing everyone. No bans are necessary.

Agreed - you can't cover everything - but as long as the word gets out that there are other theater options here in town besides GCP, ART, and whatnot - it opens people to the vast amount of talent and performances out there.

I'd suspect that being a critic in a widely published newspaper, that you must have a pretty thick skin, cuz there's gotta be people complaining or disagreeing with you constantly. That being said, this comment doesn't really bother you, right?

It may be helpful to remind the world occassionally that your time and energies (and salary) are finite and can only be stretched so far, but I land firmly in the 'no bans necessary, see what you wanna see, and write about what you think is best to write about' camp.

I agree with Heather, "Eff it". If one or a few individuals complain about their coverage, they can get their own publication and do whatever they want with it. This would be like the myriad of Fresno bands bitching at Mike Oz for not coming out to their every gig and writing about it. Keep up the good work, Donald! What you guys do should be considered a valuable (and optional) service to the performers, promoters and community.

P.S. - Damn you, Mike Oz, for not being at my last show :P

I agree with Heather! Eff it!!! You cant please everyone all the time.
I think if Clovis West wanted a review, they should've invited you and hoped for the best. If they did invite you and you were unable to attend, too bad, so sad.
Its pretty petty of that commenter to post that but unfortunately, you are dealing with high schoolers!

I personally think you do an amazing job going to as much theater as you do and getting the word out. Heaven forbid a High School theater company actually taking responsibility for their own PR with all the free networking sites there are on the internet. Just because you are the reviewer doesn't mean it is solely up to you to get the word out and provide "coverage" for an event. That's the job of everyone involved in the production.

Get up people and make it happen! It's YOUR responsibility to fill YOUR house!

I'm tired of the apathetic mentality!

I agree with Heather. You do the best you can, when you can. You can't cover everyone, but it would be a shame to cover no one. And maybe those who want coverage could go the extra mile somehow to help you get there!

It must be that anon from CW hates being in Buchanan's shadow again!! :D Buchanan drama rocks!

Forgive me for feeling slightly jilted - I know a few of the commenters are performers and would feel the same way if they did a show and it got over looked, regardless of it being a High School show or a Rogue show or anything.

I didn't mean to cause such controversy, I was just upset that it got covered, but at the same time it brings to light that there's a @$#^-ton of theater out there to see here in Fresno and that's really great that we have come so far from just GCP and Theater 3 (for those who remember them).

Kudos Donald, and my apologies for my snideness...

To Blake: Yeah, you're right, I'm thick-skinned (we're talking dinosaur-thick) about most stuff, but I admit that comments about fairness of coverage do impact me much more than complaints about my subjective thoughts about a particular show. (I love it when people disagree with me, in fact; I think theater should serve to provoke, agitate and stimulate discussion.)

I really would like to highlight more high school shows when I get a chance, but, honestly, the quick-to-snipe reaction that inevitably emerges when I do probably does have at least a subtle effect on my coverage decisions.

Sure, it frustrates me that high school theater (and music and speech/debate and lots of other activities) don't get as much coverage in The Bee as, say, high school sports, but those are the realities in this market and in terms of perceived reader appeal. I don't think high school plays should be "reviewed," per se, other than giving shout-outs to standout performers, but I'd love to see them get a little more exposure, at least on the Beehive. That said, if there's an absolutely terrific high school show in town or special event coming up (the "Rent" alumni show at Clovis West sounds exciting, by the way), the best thing to do is talk it up, both to me and on the blog. (We have lots of opportunities to sound off on weekend plans, etc.) People can't attend something if they don't know it's there!

"Eff it" ?

I agree with the Clovis West whiner, in a way. Hire more critics to provide more local coverage. As newspapers are shrinking, we should consider the cultural and societal costs. More Donald Munros means more news. More news means a more informed public.

McClatchey needs to buck the newspaper-shrinking trend and hire more writers... that is if Clovis West and others can handle honest coverage?

As a blogger on The Beehive, i think this is a good time to share some of the background of how we operate. This is the extra features on the DVD. The icing on the cake. The printed product tries its best to be all things to all people. The Beehive, along with The Bee's other blogs, doesn't have that same mission.

So, a lot of the content provided on this site is up to the whims of the regular bloggers. Now, that doesn't mean we should be shielded from criticisms. We still put ourselves in the public eye, and we are asking you to read the site (which in turn allows us to continue to blog). However, if I may defend Donald here, as a consumer of local arts with a platform to share his experiences, he is simply sharing his opinion of the event.

Everyone benefits from this. I don't think Clovis West should feel slighted because its production wasn't covered. But it can if it wants to. I think Renee is right. It would help if all local schools worked to send all local media some PR, if attention is what they want. Otherwise, it will be up to us individually (at least on The Beehive) to continue to share our experiences with our readers.

I think the bigger issue is not what got covered after the fact; but rather how word can get out beforehand.

Anyway, now back to regular-scheduled sniping and otherwise mediocre blogging.

Annonymous, yes, as a performer I can see how not getting any coverage for your show and seeing coverage for another show that's the same would cause ire... but remember if you are performing, it's YOUR job to get the word out to people. Don't rely on one person to get the word out, create a myspace/facebook page for the show specifically and add friends, post a flier on Mike Oz's Post No Bills, get on some of the amazing local arts forums like MindHub and get the word out.

Without an audience are YOU creating art?

No bans necessary. I appreciate that the original "sniper" has backed off some, showing some humility (refreshing from a CW person, I have to say). Donald is truly dedicated to covering as much ,many and varied arts as he can as just one person, and he does an excellent job in so doing. Clovis West folks might want to scale back on the narcissism--it's not all about YOUR teams and choirs and drama troupes, etc. Get over yourselves.

Thruston - was that really necessary? You make it sound as if all Clovis West people are extremely narcissistic, which is certainly not the case. Thanks for assuming the sterotype.

A ban isn't necessary. But neither is mandatory reporting on all high school shows.
I find all the name-dropping in the complaint comment suspect. You know, I've been in a few non-reviewed shows. Shall I comment every time that happens just to give a shout out at myself?
Grow up, little children.

Donald, I say ban it. If no one has anything nice to say about all that you do then just stop paying attention to them. I say put all the high school reviews on suspension until next year.

I am a product of Clovis West and I am COMPLETELY narcissistic!
And it makes me happy.

MS Joey just cracked me up. Excellent.

And I agree with Suzanne Grazyna, if I only comment with the hidden agenda to plug my show, like if I had written some new music for a local dance troupe for a new Rogue show called The Baba & Blake Show and commented just to see our show's name in print, that'd be...well, it just wouldn't drive the conversation in any constructive way.

I hope, when looked at with an honest eye, we would all conclude that banning coverage of high school theater coverage is absolutely not the answer.

Personally, I am amazed at how much Donald is able to cover in the span of a normal week. It was so nice to see a mention in the blog for Buchanan's ambitious project. I was at Buchanan's production (I am a proud CW grad) and agreed with Donald's post whole-heartedly. That post accomplished many things:
-Brought awareness to another great cultural event in our community
-Created a lively discussion about the arts such as this blog
-Gave some well deserved kudos to the staff and students of a local high school (Buchanan, in this case)
-Started dialogue that may lead to more coverage of all of the great visual and performing arts happenings around the valley at the high school level

The bottom line is: ANY coverage of high school arts is a positive thing. You can't please all of the people all of the time.

Keep doing what you do, Donald.

Honestly, Pepe McNasty ( yes, I know who you are! LOL) and Brent are understanding of the situation. These are two men who have both been part of productions or IN productions that were not reviewed, and well deserved the kudos. These are two amazing theater guys. It begs the question, if these two are comfortable enough to say "Hey, it happens, good for the guys who got a review, more power to them", then what's wrong with the other guys?
Please don't turn theater into sports, folks. Don't make it a competition. Theater, all theater, struggles enough without this back-biting BS. The men and women who are in theater for the love, support each other no matter what production the other is in. People who love theater, who truly love it, do it for that love.
I also like what Renee wrote... it's up to those of you, in the production, to get the word out and fill your house.

As the acting/coach director for Buchanan's Les Miserables, I would like to say that Buchanan Performing Arts department was so surprised and pleased that Donald Munro took the time to come see a high school production that was a fundraiser for the new Fine Arts Academy at BHS. His response to the production really gave a huge boost to our student performers following a great deal of hard work on this production. Elizabeth Fiester, the drama teacher at Clovis West, was the first person to put together a Benefit Concert last year. We talked about the production and how much time was involved as BHS contimplated a similar event. With the Fine Arts Academy starting its first year at BHS, we decided to include the Concert Choir and the Symphony Orchestra. It is always a great learning opportunity for musicians choral singers and musical theater students to work together on a live performance. KVPR, 89.3, chose to co-sponsor this event with the Buchanan Foundation which allowed us to start getting the word out. Publicity is a very important part of any art form, as one of the earlier bloggers mentioned, "Is it really art, if there is no audience?" Thank you for sharing all of the alternative ways to publicize events. We will certainly add this Blog to our publicity posting site.

Is there a list of publicity options, or is it simply, send out press releases randomly? I've been in theater for many years, but publicity has never been my strong area.

Thank you all for your interest in high school performing arts...that is where the future of the arts begins.

Julie L. Andrews

@claire: oh, i love it: "Please don't turn theater into sports, folks. Don't make it a competition."

i agree. even i noticed the oddity that was me and josh sitting at hero's sports bar today rewriting some of our rogue play.

and i was wearing a pink polo shirt. but thats not the point.

Go North...There's great high school theatre the other side of the river in Madera...and they can hold their own in all markets...
Just enjoy and support theatre at every level ....

Julie~ check out some of the local arts organization websites (Creative Fresno, FCASH, Live Update, etc.) and also look at the free on line community calanders... there's a lot you can do. Also, how many of your High School actors have Myspaces or Facebooks?? Have them post bulletins or change their profile pic to the show poster... if their friends know they are in a production, they might actually show up. :)

I think you are making way too big a deal out of one comment. Do whatever you want, it's your blog.

You have to remember, this is not a Clovis West comment, this is someone from Clovis West whining. It is a one day concert, so why all the fuss? The reason Donald should go see shows is to review them to get the word out, but what good is that with a one day concert except for him to enjoy himself? I am somewhat embarrassed that this was even a question for people to answer......and that people are. A critic should see what they want and not open it up for discussion. This article needs to rest. And so do the people commenting it.

I believe that only on specific occasions, High School productions should, at your discretion, be mentioned. I remember a few years back, I believe in 2006, Bullard High School did a production of "Flowers for Algernon." That was a performance and an undertaking that not only received a significant response, but was a unique and unprecedented event in Fresno High School theatre. Roosevelt's production of "Lucky Stiff" also should receive an honorable mention. Productions like that should be mentioned, not the overdone and beaten to death shows like "Grease", "Romeo and Juliet", "Death of a Salesman", "Guys and Dolls" and the such. Only productions that we've never seen or wouldnt expect in a High School are worth mentioning, not that the other productions dont or wouldnt have and showcase these for young talents. Just my two cents.

donald

you do a great job. see what you want to see and write about whatever interests you. high school theater shouldn't be reviewed in a newspaper because that forum is about learning, not self promotion. it's bad enough that third rate hack community theaters get reviewed, but that another story.

It's to be expected. As a person who is not from this area, but has worked with the drama department of some local high schools, I can say that the level of competition between programs definitely does help all the programs raise the bar. That being said, Donald's willingness to review high school productions at all is admirable. He will come under fire for such reviews, but nonetheless his valiant attempts at supporting our local arts scene should go not go unnoticed.

That being said, I encourage everyone to come out and support Clovis East's production of Titanic. It's fantastic ensemble show with an amazing live pit orchestra. Thanks for all you do for the arts in our valley my friend.