The Critics Decide

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Fantod
#1The Critics Decide
Posted: 2/10/16 at 12:50am

http://thecriticsdecide.blogspot.com

Trying out a new blog that makes it easy to get a sense of the critical reaction to New York shows. I was hoping for a tool like this ever since a certain website shut down, but I figured I'd be proactive and make one myself. My interpretation of a review is subjective, but I figured it might be helpful for anyone out there. Obviously, I'm just starting so (constructive) feedback would be appreciated!

Updated On: 2/10/16 at 12:50 AM

ChiTheaterFan
#2The Critics Decide
Posted: 2/10/16 at 1:04am

I love the idea of having one quick place to get a summary of reviews. One idea:  Locally here I love the "quick reviews" on the theatreinchicago.com website which tells whether each review can be summarized as highly recommended, recommended, somewhat recommended, or not recommended. Of course it's an interpretation that's somewhat subjective, but it helps me whittle down my options in seconds and if I want more details, there's an option to read more. Sometimes I don't have time to read even the excerpts/summaries of reviews and a one/two word starting point is fabulous. You might consider adding something like that to your numerical categorizations at the end. (Personally I find it easier with words than numbers.  By the way I assume you assigned those numbers?  Might be helpful to add an "about" posting explaining your methodology.)

 

Just my layman theater goer's minor suggestions. I'll be sure to check this out going forward!  I hope you link the blog posts here. 

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Fantod
#3The Critics Decide
Posted: 2/10/16 at 1:14am

The numerical values are indeed assigned by me unless a critic gives out stars at which point the score is based on how many stars are given (on a 5 star system, 5 stars = 100, 4 stars = 80, etc.). What I do for each review is that I break it into components on what they liked and didn't like and how strongly they felt about each element. For a review that basically says everything is great but never goes over the top, I give an 87 and a review that says everything is bad, but never gets mean I give a 10. I understand wanting to break it into categories of recommendation level, but I personally decided to do it myself because I like the specificity of the numbers. I do have a little guide to the number averages on the right side of the website that should help you determine just how much they liked it based on the numbers. Thanks for the suggestions though!