New York and Cleveland are at war! Well, according to one theatre exec who recently said, when talking about New York theatre audiences, “We’re horrible snobs. We hate tourists from Cleveland." Clevelanders are angry!

Alls the New York Times was trying to do was write an article about how Broadway is struggling because all of money exploded recently. Nothing too controversial like! But then Nancy Coyne, who runs a big theatre advertising firm, had to say that nasty thing:

“The good news is that so many straight plays are now coming in the spring, and I think New Yorkers will come out for them once the tourists go away,” Ms. Coyne said. “We’re horrible snobs. We hate tourists from Cleveland."

The Cleveland Plain Dealer, which deals you the stuff you need plain and simple, picked up on the remark, calling Coyne a "big shot" and then holding their hat to their chest and saying "aw shucks, I suppose we just wanted to see your purty play shows, but now we're sad." Sadder still, the article awoke the sleeping giant that is the Cleveland commentariat. These are some of our favorites from the Plain Dealer's internet web page.


The war rages on over at the New York Times, too. Will you take up arms and defend the Mistake By the Lake (the part of Lake Erie by Cleveland horribly polluted Cuyahoga River once actually caught on fire), or pledge allegiance to Old Lady Apple?