Time Out New York has just published a multi-part feature called “Critiquing the Critics”
in which New York-based arts professionals (including publicists) were invited to grade the critics who cover them. The participants in the survey are identified by name, but their comments about specific critics are anonymous–with good reason, too, in more than a few cases.
This is, in theory, a nifty idea. I was going to comment on the methodology of the survey, which is (to put it mildly) problematic, but it seems that fellow blogger Apollinaire Scherr, the dance critic of Newsday, has already done it for me. As for the actual results, they’re both interesting and on occasion highly suggestive. If you’re curious, you can read what the panelists had to say about New York’s drama critics, myself included, by going here.
I should add, by the way, that I don’t quarrel with any of the specific comments that were made about me, which is–I suppose–a pleasant surprise.