Talk:Brooklyn Theatre fire

Latest comment: 6 years ago by Piledhigheranddeeper in topic Purple prose, etc.

Current work

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1. In the initial version, much text based on Brooklyn Daily Eagle reporting, has not been referenced.

This has been mainly addressed through Aftermath, though I am sure a fresh pair of eyes can readily find unsupported statements throughout; reviewers welcome. Gosgood (talk) 16:07, 13 January 2009 (UTC)Reply

2. Late twentieth century/twenty first century perspective is not developed.

I've observed that most popular references in the current century, especially web-based references, trade the same memes back and forth: building was old, exits were narrow – none of these ideas are supported by nineteenth century references originating from sources who actually saw the building. I'm still seeking professional references by authorities in fire and disaster management practices for current day observations on this disaster. Gosgood (talk) 16:07, 13 January 2009 (UTC)Reply

3. Article is too long at various points. I always over-write, then aim for terseness. Gosgood (talk) 04:49, 4 January 2009 (UTC)Reply

Still too long. Looking for a good copy editor. Pay: As good as it gets in Wikipedia ;) Gosgood (talk) 16:07, 13 January 2009 (UTC)Reply

Removed reference to Wakey!Wakey! Tribute Song

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Having listened to the lyrics and read them, I cannot fathom any particular connection at all between the historical account of the Brooklyn Theater Fire and Mike Grubbs' lyrics. The realization that intimates have the cunning to see through one's own pretences and self-illusions of grandeur is a sobering one and I'm sure the world would be a better place if such realizations humble more of us, but — to the point now — what does such have to do with the Brooklyn Theater Fire? Perhaps the tryst was the intensity of a four alarm fire — a veritable 'Brooklyn Theater Fire'? Perhaps because Wakey!Wakey! is a Brooklyn-based indie band? Alas, I find such poetic connections tenuous at best. And insofar as connections with the event itself? The key moment in time in the song's lyrics is 4:00 AM; the fire of historical record began sometime shortly after 11:15 PM, so in one respect, at least, the lyrics to the song mislead those with interest in the events of the namesake.

If it were my choice to illustrate the aftermath of this tragedy by bringing to the reader's attention pertinent songs or poetry, the work of June Lazare Folk Songs of New York City, Vol. 2. Folkway Records would be further up my list than the work of Michael Grubbs; both are talented artists, but that is not the ranking's basis: pertinent is that June Lazare recorded a song popular in the nineteenth century that was explicitly inspired by, and specifically alludes to, the Brooklyn Theater Fire and thereby amplifies the historical record. However, I would likely mention Ms. Lazare only in passing, and not in the BIG LETTERS of a level two heading. As the liner notes of Lazare's own album point out, from sheet music published shortly after the tragedy, period songs were orally transmitted — and transmuted — over the ensuing sixty or seventy years so that by the time versions were being collected by Alan Lomax and ethnomusicologists of the Federal Writer's Project, there was a mid-20th century cloud of different versions, of which June Lazare recorded but one dust mote and [Lester Coffee] recalled another, one in which the two orphans seemed responsible for the conflagration instead of being a subject of the play. With respect to this cloud, Michael Grubbs lyrics seems a distant mote, an extreme outlier, connected in respect only by way of title, and not by way of any sort of meaningful content.

I believe additions to the article along the lines of the above discussion would furnish a far more pertinent amplification of the Brooklyn Theater Fire article than the late edit, one which — to me, at any rate — has a slight whiff of self promotion about it, drawing traffic toward a commercially available piece of music, that, though having much artistic merit, furnishes little to Wikipedia readers who are seeking deeper insights into what was a terrible urban tragedy. Gosgood (talk) 16:47, 2 July 2011 (UTC)Reply

Spelling

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I don't want to make such a radical change while this article is on the Main Page, but the spelling of "theatre" vs "theater" is inconsistent within the article, and for a playhouse, like this, the usual US spelling is "theatre". The spelling should be made consistent (except in any quotations that use the other spelling) and I think the "tehatre" spelling should be used and the article moved. Yngvadottir (talk) 18:44, 5 December 2014 (UTC)Reply

'Tehatre'? I trust you meant 'theatre'. Please check. I think Beyond My Ken has addressed this inconsistency fully, and I could find no instance of the old spelling. Thank you. Gosgood (talk) 14:09, 19 February 2015 (UTC)Reply
Except where the name of an institution or a direct quote used "theater", I believe I changed all instances to "theatre", the preferred spelling in NYC. BMK (talk) 02:11, 20 February 2015 (UTC)Reply
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Purple prose, etc.

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This article, while generally well-written, contains a number of instances of dated Victorianisms, including heavy pathos, which are not in quotation marks: "debouched", "far away from those stairs", etc. These should be updated to straight-facts, 21st-century English or placed in quotation marks, as they're really not encyclopedic. In addition, the infobox's time of the fire is simply too precise, and lacking in support from the text. Other than that, nice job. --Piledhigheranddeeper (talk) 19:33, 5 December 2017 (UTC)Reply