RUDE PEOPLE AT THE THEATER!- Page 3

[wonderwaiter]

Posted: 2/25/07 at 2:09am

Um... what brand of soap/deodorant are you using?

[Mistress_Spouzic]

Posted: 2/25/07 at 2:15am

i cant remember if bg2 or I ever shared this story. we saw Spring Awakening about 2 months ago and there was a large woman there in a pink track suit who was using one of those rascal type things to get around. She ended up sitting across the aisle from us and about two rows down. First, she seemed very confused by the idea of sitting on her coat and folding it over the back because she was asked to move her jacket twice- she had it on the seat in front of her and then hanging off the back of her seat. Then she thrust this walker thing into the air at an usher and asked them to take it, and they said no (she couldve hit them with it!). She was guilty of a number of typical bad behavior habits like talking to her friend but more notably she spent a good part of the show grunting. Its difficult to explain because it wasnt during times where it was appropriate to laugh so I doubt she was snorting from laughing. I dont know if she had hiccups or what it could have been but it got so bad that people started giggling at her. I dont even think she realized it, she seemed blissfully unaware of her own odd behavior.

That same night there was an older nicely dressed gentlemen who seemed shocked at both the fact that this was indeed a musical and that there would be cursing in the show. He left at intermission. I was not surprised.

[Kringas]

Posted: 2/25/07 at 2:15am

Some lady tried to take my scarf at the Follies concert. Just started pulling it right off my chair while I was sitting there.

[HarryPotter01]

Posted: 2/25/07 at 2:21am

'Twas a particularly rainy saturday, a 4 show day of THE GRINCH. The audience was simply saturated and miserable. As the lights went down, a woman sitting the balcony took off her socks and hung them over the railing to dry. Four ushers descended upon her to tell her the obvious: The brass bar is not for your laundry...

[AC126748]

Posted: 2/25/07 at 8:13am

Three weeks ago, I went to see SUMMER AND SMOKE at the Paper Mill Playhouse. It was quite possibly the rudest audience I've ever encountered. The median age was around 89, so there was a lot of hard candy being unwrapped, a lot of hearing aid feedback and a lot of very loud whispering. The couple sitting behind me (in the second row of the orchestra) commented loudly throughout the performance about how much they were hating it. At intermission, I told them if they were hating it so much, they should leave and save themselves (and others) any further agony. They didn't leave.

Act Two started, and an older man about ten rows back in the orchestra was still talking on his cell phone, even as the action was going on on-stage. The man sitting directly behind him finally yelled, very loudly, "Turn that damn thing off!" I happened to be sitting next to that man on the train back to NYC, and he said that he felt bad about yelling at an old man, but that he wanted to make an impression so that the man would never do it again.

Still, up by me, the old couple chorus was going on full swing, no matter how many times I told them to shut up. At the curtain call, when Amanda Plummer and Kevin Anderson came forward for their second bow, the old woman said something like, "They were awful! Why the hell do they get a second bow?" As she was in the second row, Plummer and Anderson definitely heard her.

The performance was wonderful, but the audience decorum makes me seriously not want to see another show there ever again.

[D2]

Posted: 2/25/07 at 8:14am

HarryPotter's story is becoming frightfully common in the winter. I've seen the same thing at the New York Philharmonic, at the NYCO and at a performance of NINE a few years back. I've already related that story in a similar thread, but it's worth repeating. The woman at NINE not only hung her stockings over the balcony rail, she then proceeded to clip her toenails.

Mistress Spouzic - most of these offenders seem blissfully unaware of their behaviour. It boggles the mind.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 2/25/07 at 8:36am

AC126748, that Paper Mill matinee audience is THE WORST! They come into the theatre miserable with no interest in seeing the show, and they proceed to converse throughout the performance about what they like, what/who they do not like, and most commonly repeat what the actors say to their friends because they didn't hear or were not paying attention. There's only so many times you can tell those folks to shut the heck up. I'd say the ushers need to take more action, but this is the Paper Mill and all of these people are the subscribers that pay for the shows to be put on in the first place, and if they don't get treated well then there won't be any resources with which to put on shows at all.

Updated On: 2/25/07 at 08:36 AM

[alliez92092]

Posted: 2/25/07 at 10:06am

Another story. My family and I were seeing Wicked at the Opera House. In the middle of Dancing Through Life a girl in our row got up and went out of the theatre. We were sitting on the aisle so this was quite a bother. She came back and caused more commotion. Then she got up and left again right before For Good started and she runs back in when it ended. She ran up and down the aisle until she found our row and then we had to all get up and let her in. It totally killed the moment. Plus, she fell on my mom's hand (my mom has problems with her hand) and stepped on my grandmother's toe. I mean, the show was almost over, you couldn't wait?

Oh and I went to see The Lion King at the Opera House with my mom and my two "friends" and their moms. All throughout the show one of friend's had her cellphone out and at one point she was even talking on it. We're not friends anymore. Not because of that, but her disrespect did add to the end of our friendship.

[Craig]

Posted: 2/25/07 at 10:56am

Corine-

Who are you protecting by not posting the name of the show? Is it because you got comps to a show and don't want to appear inconsiderate by having left early on someone else's dime? I can't fathom a reason why you couldn't answer SweetQ's question

[TWSFan4Ever]

Posted: 2/25/07 at 11:01am

Haha, Corine, I think we all want to know the show by now

[Londonskyguy]

Posted: 2/25/07 at 11:19am

Lion King (london) The family behind me , Mom and Dad and teenage son and daughter spent all of act one discussing where they should go for lunch the next day, where they were gonna go shopping, whether they should take a cab home. etc. etc. .......it finally stopped when I had it out with them at intermission.

Evita (london) the three rows behind me full of japanese tourists, literally talked through all of act one several people complained and several ushers dealt with it.

Aint Misbehavin(New York),, the six people sitting in front of me showed up about a half hour late and talked during the rest of act one. I was relieved when they didnt return after intermission,,, but I was shocked when they once again showed up about a half hour in to act 2,, and then proceeded to pass around buckets of Kentucky Fried Chicken and containers of Mashed Potatoes. Swear to God!

[Carl Magnum]

Posted: 2/25/07 at 11:50am

Ok this isn't a NY story but definitly one to share. I was at a local production of Tick Tick Boom in our city's theatre district. It's a lovely intimate space and some of John's monologues were presented on the steps leading up to the stage. It's kinda hard to explain but he was down off the stage in front of the front row. Now it's a smaller space with a high incline on the seats and a lower stage so he was totally visable. The theatre has two main exits. One at the front that requires you to cross in front of the stage and one at the back of the house which requires you to walk up an incline past your fellow audience members. Well the actor playing John was giving one of his monologues on the front steps of the stage. It was at this time a woman in the middle of the house decides she MUST go to the bathroom. So she stands up from her center of the row seat at the center of the house and goes into the middle aisle. Looks up and looks at the stage (both equal distance to an exit) and then procededs to walk towards the stage in the direction of the actor giving his monologue. She crosses directly in front of him and you could see that he was attempting to walk down the steps into the aisle at this point and had to visible stop and wait for this cow to pass by him so he could continue.

As Nathan Lane always says "This isn't just a big screen tv people"

[hushpuppy]

Posted: 2/25/07 at 11:50am

Several years ago, in London, at a production of THE KING & I, there was a noisy couple behind us, yakking throughout the whole first act. At intermission, I stood up, and very politely said " Could you two please speak up? I'm having a very difficult time listening to your stories because of those annoying people talking and singing down on the stage".

After a minute or two, they got up, gathered their coats, and left the theatre!!!

[fabala4077]

Posted: 2/25/07 at 11:57am

Let's just say I'm paranoid of ever being rude at a show. Last night at closing night for Fiddler on the Roof, I had to leave my seat right as the show started (my ride called me and I had to answer or be abandoned 30 miles from home). Anyways, the people I had to push past didn't look happy at all. So when I had to return to my seat, I opted instead to spend the 1st act in an empty seat by the door. It was actually a better seat then I'd been given, so I won in the long run!!

My biggest pet peeve is cell phones. Especially in really quiet scenes. At my advanced drama production (which played in a creepy basement; really intimate quarters), this guy's phone rang probably about 6 times. The same guy!!! We wanted to tell him to get a clue... argh.

[Corine2]

Posted: 2/25/07 at 12:07pm

I bought these tickets on a ticket club. I sometimes like to see shows many times to compare them. It does not matter what show it was. The show was not the reason I left. I left because of a rude audience member.
PS It was at Journey's End.

[DRSisLove]

Posted: 2/25/07 at 12:09pm

Took ya long enough...

[Craig]

Posted: 2/25/07 at 12:21pm

"Yes. I never leave. Even if I hate a show "

Well that's not exactly true - in the last year, you wrote about several shows you walked out of because you were bored, tired or whatever.

[MrsVampyre]

Posted: 2/25/07 at 12:36pm

For me the worst episode was when I went to see The Odd Couple. A woman, (who had been to the bar before the show) was pushing in line, and I almost fell over onto my escourt, and she was telling her friends.. very loudly, that The Producers was a historical play about Nazis!!!!. To my great misfortune, she ended up in the seats behind me. She talked non-stop explaining the show to her friends, and would lean forward to laugh. At intermission, she tried to move up her seats to the front row, and was escorted back to her seats by the ushers. I kept looking at her trying to get her to be quiet to no avail.

At end of the show, there she was right behind me again at the stagedoor. She was so drunk, that she fell into me, and when Matthew Broderick came out.. was screaming at the top of her lungs, that "Glory" was used as a training film at Westpoint!

I ended up going home... deaf in one ear, and bruised.

At Butley, I had a man behind me, that had his knees on the back of my seat and rocking. The people next to me brought doggie bags from home and were sucking, and smacking on cookies and licorish sticks. I won't even get into the 4 little old ladies in front of me..that were complaim the show wasn't funny enough,while looking at racy postcards, when then left at the intermission.

[stonewall2]

Posted: 2/25/07 at 1:19pm

Did someone get up on the wrong side of the bed or is it PMS or the phase of the moon? Geez, ease up and chill out-these boards are getting just plain bitchy and mean and not at all fun to read any more.
As for rude people (if they can get any worse than the ones on this space...OMG 3 dots, I'm going to hell for that one!), WHY can't people arrive on time? They KNOW when curtain is, yet there are always those who meander in 15 minutes late and then walk on you to get to their seats, ram into those around when taking their coats off, gripe loudly after they have rooted around in their purse for a little flashlite, or worse, one of those LED lights that are so bright you could perform brain surgery by them, and then complain when they see a substitution for a minor cast member that they didn't know anyway, and then comes the comentary-and God help us all if it's a revival or an older show- because we are all treated to a running discourse about how "Uncle Louie's daughter Selma made a MUCH better Chava, and she was only 14!!!" "You're right, what ever happened to Selma anyway?", "Oh, she's lives in Larchmont and has 3 of the cutest kids you;ve ever seen and a brand new Sienna Minivan",etc. We all know them, let's just hope they sit far away the next time, to worse,are forced to sit through endless loops of "High School Musical". Oh wait, I forgot about the two women shaing take-out containers of Thai food directly in back of me- as if the smell wasn't enough to gag a maggot, they had an order of duck feet and were crunching and giggling their way to the bottom of the container. UGH!

Updated On: 2/25/07 at 01:19 PM

[MrsVampyre]

Posted: 2/25/07 at 1:31pm

I agree with you, that it's sad that a thread like this exists. But the truth is, some people's behavior goes above and beyond an exceptable point.

Personally, when I pay to see a show, my expectation is to be able to hear, see, and enjoy what is happening on the stage, and to not be treated to an additional performance by the people next to me.

I will say that the upside to my The Odd Couple story, is that Matthew Broderick and I chatted while he signed my poster, and he complemented me, by saying that I was very nice. Which is a memory I'll always treasuer from my experience that day.

[CrazyMutha29]

Posted: 2/25/07 at 1:36pm

Carl, What city was the production you saw in. I recently saw a production of this Show in Rochester, NY and had something very similar happen at the performance I saw. The actor playing Jon was sitting on the front steps singing when this woman apparently couldn't hold it any longer so walked out, literally blocking everyone's view of the performer and pretty visibly annoying the actor. It's a shame he was mid-song, if he was just speaking he could have put her in her place. I would have! Maybe unprofessional as an actor, but it's simply incredible how rude audiences can be.

[folkyboy]

Posted: 2/25/07 at 1:40pm

i always loved when i saw "Doubt" in NY and Ron Eldard took the stage for the 2nd time in the locker room. he kept pointing at late comers and telling them to sit down. it's written in the script but it's fun to see and got a laugh out of the people in the audience :)

[ashbash1990]

Posted: 2/25/07 at 1:41pm

Last year, all the theatre and choir classes in my grade went to see Carmen at the lyric opera... And its not as if they were FORCED to go,, but everyone around me were talking, laughing, and being ovreall distracting while I was trying to enjoy it (it is one of my favorite operas) It was terrible...

[worrell4077]

Posted: 2/25/07 at 1:48pm

Does anyone else hear feel like they're a magnet for these kinds of people? Like for some reason, these people find their way to you. I don't feel like that with rude people, but more weird people.

My first time seeing All Shook Up, it was me and my mom. She had won tickets in a contest to go see it and we made a day out of it. We decided to do a two show day, we rushed The Producers for the matinee and we went to All Shook Up later at night. Nothing was bad at The Producers, but when we went to see All Shook Up, there was a couple sitting next to us that were clearly Elvis fans and during the show were singing along to basically all the songs. I so wanted to say something but I didn't.

There was a time at The Producers, it was my third time seeing it and this old guy sitting behind me asked me to take my hat off(this was before the show started) and I obliged and took it off like he said, then he went a little too far. He said after I took my hat off, "I want to see the show as much as you do." I held it in, if I didn't I would've F****** exploded on that guy for that. The same couple apparently said during Springtime For Hitler that it was inappropriate for my sister to be watching it, and this was also the period in my sister's life where she stood up at the end for everyone, and the couple were like when she gave the ensemble the standing ovation, "Could You Please Sit Down".

My first time at SpamAlot had some people who wouldn't stop shouting line from Holy Grail, which I can understand as a Python nut that it's exciting to see and hear those lines and that you want to say them, but not in a theatre.

This wasn't a show it was a Frankie Valli concert in New Brunswick, NJ last summer and there were these two women who were clearly drunk who went up the aisle to the stage during Can't Take My Eyes Off You and you know touched Frankie's hand and then security came and asked them to sit back down. At the stage door they were unbelievably rude to the door man, and I remember saying under my breath, if you're so hell bent on seeing Frankie afterwards, you shouldn't be treating the stage door guys like that.

[Bobo2]

Posted: 2/25/07 at 1:56pm

Corine2 you don't sound like you liked the show. Even if you didn't have rude people by you. You always seem to like everything. I thought it was suppose to be a good show. Why did you say Grrr.
I'll go with you.