Tuesday, August 31, 2010

JK's TheatreScene Turns 1 Year Old!

I cannot believe it!  This blog is one year old already!  (Actually it turned one yesterday, but I thought a timely review of Chess was more important than this exercise in self-indulgence!)  Anyway...

I really had no idea of the extent of blogging there is out there, though of all the kinds I have seen, the theatre-related ones surprise me the least.  Why?  Because by and large, they are all intelligent and heart-felt.  There is no one group more passionate about their art than theatre fans.  Ok, maybe opera fans have us beat, but we are kinda related, right?

FIRST
I want to thank all of you have read any, many or all of my blogs.  I hope my thoughts and ramblings interest and entertain you.  It is so nice to have an outlet for all the excitement, passion and genuine love that I have for theatre, and to know that if you read it it is because you share that love, if not my opinion!

There are a few specific people I'd like to thank:
  • My buddy and frequent theatre companion Mike for being a faithful reader, a clear-minded critic, and wonderful friend - the kind of real friend that everyone deserves in their life.
  • My blogger friend, Esther, whose own blog inspires me and challenges me to improve my own.  Without her, this blog would literally not be what it is.  She taught me the fine art of linking, adding polls, getting a "Stat Counter" and got me on Twitter!  If you haven't tried her blog out, click on Gratuitous Violins down and to the right.  You won't be sorry.
  • My other blogger friend, Steve, of Steve on Broadway, who challenges my ideas, my point of view and is the closest person I know to me in terms for sheer love of all things staged.  I envy him everyday, as he globetrots and sees theatre everywhere!  And I love knowing that we have mutual respect even as we oppose each other in reviews and other opinions. And it is even fun to see if we agree!  Check out his blog, too!, down and to the right from here.
  • And I'd really like to thank my "Followers", some I've had since this blog was only a few days old!  Your allegience is something I keep in mind every single time I start typing entry.
  • Finally, I'd like to thank everyone who has left comments and asked questions both directly on here and via email.  That interaction is the most enjoyable part of this whole thing for me - especially when you don't agree with me.  How else do I grow and appreciate all of the possibilities of the theatrical experience? (Extra special thanks to: Londy, Infinity, Esther, Steve, Broadway Critic, Pun, tyrpentine and Lauren!)

SOME STATISTICS
That "Stat Counter" I've had since February has really been a great tool for seeing what people read and what doesn't work.  Prior to February, I only had the counter itself, and remember those first weeks when it was a thrill to see that 5 or 6 people besides me came to the site.  Whether they read anything or not wasn't my concern, really.

Then Esther turned me on to all of the possibilities that the "Stat Counter" service can provide.  Here are a few things I've learned:
  • I have had visits from every continent on Earth except Antarctica.
  • The biggest concentration of visits comes from New York state, followed by Ohio (?), and then Great Britain, Canada, California, Washington, DC and Australia.  My favorite came from a hotel in South Africa - they looked up Aaron Tveit, and read every blog that even mentioned him!
  • The three most popular days for visiting the site on average have been: Monday, Tuesday and Sunday, in that order.
  • The three least visited days on average was Saturday, by far and hands down.  12 of the 30 weeks that I have stats for, Saturday was the least visted day.
  • Prior to the week of April 25, I was averaging about 45 visits a day.  From that week on, I average about 160 a day.  See below for what caused that!
  • The biggest single week for vistors so far was the 2nd week in May, with almost 1,900.
  • The biggest single day for visits was the third week of June, on Monday.  382 people dowloaded the page and clicked on something.
  • Probably the most important statistic, to me, anyway, is the "Returning Visitors" stat:  47 is the average for each week's tally.  It sounds small, and maybe it is, but whoever you 47 faithful are, thank you!

WHAT YOU ALL SEEM TO LIKE BY VIEWING OR WRITING ME ABOUT
  • I have gotten the most hits on the following types of articles, in this order: reviews, Broadway Boys (interesting...), articles about trips to the city, Broadway Games, my series on the theatres of Broadway, and Broadway Ladies.  But the most popular series by far has been my recent blogs about the first decade of the 21st Century.
  • Speaking of Broadway Boys, West Side Story's Riff, Wes Hart's aunt wrote to thank me for my re-review and for making him a Broadway Boy!  Isn't that sweet?
  • I have gotten the most emails about Broadway Games - usually complaints that they are too easy or too hard.  (I always thought no one did them...LOL).  And then I have gotten many emails about my dislike for Rock of Ages.  Sorry!  Can't like 'em all, but I'm very glad you love that show so much that you felt compelled to write to me!
  • Other interesting emails have included requests for lyrics, several that take me to task for spelling it "theatre" not "theater."  And not a few about why you think I ignore Wicked.  Out of sight, out of mind!  But not for long, Ozians!  I am going to see Wicked later this month after I attend the Broadway Flea Market!  And guess what else?  I have already started drafting 3 separate blogs about our two favorite witches!
 MOST INTERESTING...
At least 3 different college kids and 2 high schoolers have written for permission to use content from my blog!  I'm flattered, but always remind them that I am not an authority.  Did you know (despite the fact that theatre bloggers are vermin) that blogs are considered a viable Internet resource for research, provided that they are fact checked?  Who knew?  (Thanks to Dr. Blank at a local college in Maine - sorry the name escapes me - for answering when I seriously questioned whether one of her students really could quote me in a paper.)  Again, I am flattered, but there really are so many other more important sources out there!  A fact-checked blogger apparently trumps Wikipedia...

AND FINALLY...

This year has been so great!  Getting to "know" fellow theatre-lovers, seeing and sharing great and not-so-great theatre, and these key events in the past year:

1.  Being able to post a blog every single day for an entire year.  Sometimes it is a chore, and most of the time it takes a tremendous amount of time and effort.  But I never thought I'd have the discipline, and I do!!  Now, if I can only be as regular about going to the gym!


2.  Being called a vermin by theatre genius John Simon.  I am in grand company!

3.  Hearing from actual theatre people about my blog... Adam Halpin (Glory Days), Josh Lamon (Hair), and both Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice (The Addams Family).

THANK YOU, Ms. Chenoweth!

4.  The turning point for my blog thus far:  Being read and Tweeted by none other than Kristin Chenoweth!  She loved my review of Promises, Promises and told the world.  The volume of people to this site since then has been incredible.  It was especially nice to briefly say "hello and thank you" to her after a performance.  She actually stopped, looked me in the eye and thanked me "for getting what it is all about."  We shook hands, and I've been in awe ever since...  Graciousness is what separates true stars from mere celebrities.

Wasn't it nice of Bobby, Alice, Jason and Marin
to bring me me birthday cakes?

BEFORE I BLOW OUT THE CANDLES...
I have three wishes for this next year:
1.  That I can continue to work on making this the best blog I can make it be.
2.  That more of you will share experiences and thoughts about my blog entries and theatre in general.  PLEASE WRITE IN!
3.  That all of us have the priviledge and ability to see great theatre at any venue we are lucky enough to get to!
Thank you all, so much!
With love and respect,
Jeff

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6 comments:

  1. Congratulations on a great year of blogging! Give us more to read...

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  2. Congrats on your 1 year anniversary! I have learned so much reading your blog, and look forward to reading each entry, even when I don't agree with you (most recently on Chess, which I mostly enjoyed. I'm seeing the Addams Family this weekend, so I'll let you know how that goes.) Keep up the great work!
    londynNow

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  3. Awww, congratulations on your first blogoversary! Your posts are always so interesting and much more knowledgeable than anything I write. And you are so sweet. I'm blushing. ;-)

    I'm so happy I could help you out. Steve On Broadway was the first theatre blogger I read and his enthusiasm got me hooked. He's become a dear friend and he never stopped encouraging me to start my own blog until I finally took the plunge. I'm glad I could pay his kindness forward.

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  4. Congrats on a year of blogging! Looking forward to reading more!

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  5. Happy Birthday, JKSTheatreScene! Thanks for the good readin' and for the time and energy I know this all takes. I love how detailed you are and how you notice and appreciate every aspect that went into the production, including remembering names of understudies! Keep on sharing your passion and we'll keep sharing ours!

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  6. Congratulations! I wish you many blogging years ahead...

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