Audience members leaving their seats before curtain call- Page 4

[whatever2]

Posted: 4/23/10 at 6:50pm

> People who have such contempt for the people performing onstage that they take the attitude of 'I paid for my ticket and can damn well do what I please,' even when it disrupts the actors and fellow audience members (who ALSO paid for their ticket) should stay the f*ck home. Honestly...what's the point of going?

get over yourself.

your hypothesis (people who leave early have contempt) is both false and narcissistic.

whenever i can, i stay for the curtain call. it is not a sign of "contempt" to have to bolt when the curtain goes down. on our side of the fourth wall, the lowering of the curtain usually significes that -- hel-lo-o-o! -- THE PERFORMANCE IS OVER!!! you're done ... so, if circumstances dictate, we can be, too.

but your comments make it clear that you have lost sight of who is there for whom -- utterly. if you can't keep it clear in your mind that WE are paying YOU to entertain (provoke, amuse, outrage, charm, thrill, awe ... any and all of the above) US, then you seriously are in the wrong line of work.

and one more thing: if everyone you just challenged to "stay the f*ck home" actually did so, you'd be out of that line of work in no time. this board is full of theater queens; we're a non-representative sample of your actual audience. and *our* opinion is divided. the masses who in fact fill the seats in your theater would have no problem leaving before the curtain call if they needed to. Dare all of them to 'stay the f*ck home' and see how quickly you're back waiting tables ...

you need to recalibrate your expectations at a fundamental level -- instead of having a hissy fit over the few people who leave, why not focus on the majority who are still standing there expressing appreciation? seriously: you've got 500 to 1000 people clapping for you, and all you can see are the dozen or two who have to jet???

[Here I Am]

Posted: 4/23/10 at 8:09pm

I think it's rude too. You know what else I think is rude? I was at 'Everyday Rapture' the other night and maybe 20 people stood up for Sherie when she took her bow. Now, I understand only giving a standing ovation when it's warranted. And I understand not being able to stand (even if you want to) if you have a medical condition. But the entire audience was there to see HER show! And she obviously gave a standing ovation worthy performance (in my opinion at least), but most of the audience just sat there and politely applauded. I just didn't understand it. She took several bows and was milking the crowd and they just sat there. It's HER show. Why would you be there if you didn't love her?

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 4/23/10 at 8:10pm

Really? Matinees? Most people have a thing during the day called "work."

Really? You work 7 days a week? Most people have off on the weekends, that's why they have matinees Saturday and Sunday.

[Marianne2]

Posted: 4/23/10 at 8:29pm

Some of us actually do work on all three days where there would be matinees. So no, not everyone can go to them.

[whatever2]

Posted: 4/23/10 at 8:36pm

and possibly train schedules are less frequent on weekends ... and possibly the commuting distance for some people is so great that an evening performance after work is the only viable option ... and possibly the paying customer has custody of the kids on the weekend and can't get back into the city ... and possibly ... and possibly ... and possibly ...

you're totaly right, marianne, but again (AGAIN!) it's not the patron's (i believe that's what we're called) job to arrange her schedule to suit the cast!!!

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 4/23/10 at 8:45pm

That's a lot of excuses to avoid the extra two minute toll the curtain call takes on your life.

[Marianne2]

Posted: 4/23/10 at 9:10pm

I was just pointing out that not everyone is privileged to have weekends off. I have no issues staying for entire shows. As long as I make it to the last train, I'm fine. But, it never occurs because the last one leaves at 1:30am, and the chances for a show to get out that late are very slim.

[Piper3500]

Posted: 4/23/10 at 9:26pm

"Really? You work 7 days a week? Most people have off on the weekends, that's why they have matinees Saturday and Sunday"

long gone are those days of a 5 day work weeks for everyone. i still say after a show and wanting to catch a train home without having to wait an extra 2 and a half hours should not be punished by those who can take a cab ride home or who have the time to wait.

PRS:
many a curtain call are way longer than 2 minutes. the coreographed dance number and bows, come on.

[whatever2]

Posted: 4/23/10 at 10:07pm

PRS: if you think those are "excuses", please don't ever cheat on your husband/wife/partner!

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 4/23/10 at 10:21pm

That's a lot of excuses to avoid the extra two minute toll the curtain call takes on your life.

Word.


I think if someone is cutting it so close that they have to routinely leave shows early to catch a last train home to the kids and the babysitter and the dog in the crate, perhaps they should stick to one act shows.

For god's sake, I live in DC and have to take a 4 hour bus ride to New York. Should I decide I'm going to show up an hour late to every show so that I can take the first bus after work? I have to rearrange my schedule to accommodate theatre; why can't Long Islanders?

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 4/23/10 at 10:36pm

Right. I mean, sure there are some shows that make you suffer through interminable megamixes and whatnot, but I still think two minutes is a good median call.


All of these arguments are ridiculous. To split hairs and say that no, the whole shebang is over with the end of the play and not with the end of the curtain call is just silly. But saying you pay an actor's salary in the same entitled way people rail at people in bureaucratic jobs is just silly, too.

Even if I feel "meh" about a show, I stick it through till the curtain call is over, and not out some sort of obligation to the performers or whatever or respect to the collective consciousness of audience and actor or any BS. It just doesn't occur to me NOT to, just like it doesn't occur to me duck out two minutes before the end.

I'm frankly just sort of flabbergasted by all the people contorting themselves into the reasons why they can't just make it through the curtain call. I think it's perhaps because deep down everyone knows there's no good reason for you to NOT stick it out, except for the fact that you're an entitled a-hole.

[Piper3500]

Posted: 4/23/10 at 11:32pm

yikes!

i don't feel like an entitled a-hole and i stay. but those who don't...holy sh&t! re arrange a bus trip to D.C to stay for a curtain call? sorry, if i were an actor and knew someone was doing such a thing, i would tell them to leave myself. either that or get a hotel room.

things and times have changed.

i get it. theatre is different. i agree. but it has evolved as well.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 4/23/10 at 11:58pm

Or devolved.

Seriously, I just don't understand how much time people think they are gaining.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 4/24/10 at 12:38am

holy sh&t! re arrange a bus trip to D.C to stay for a curtain call? sorry, if i were an actor and knew someone was doing such a thing, i would tell them to leave myself. either that or get a hotel room.

Er, that's not what I said at all. Please re-read.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 4/24/10 at 8:48am

I was at four shows this week. I did not see ANY mass exodus OR mini exodus before the curtain calls were complete. (I wasn't particularly LOOKING for any, either.)

Posted: 4/24/10 at 8:50am

Not just a tourist thing.
I am a New Yorker, and I simply do it to avoid the stupidity of tourists who don't know how to exit a theatre in a timely and proper manner through the aisles. I especially do it if I am sitting towards the back, or up in the balconies. I will not do it if I am sitting towards the front orchestra. I also see shows repeatedly and regularly, so at some point I will rise during the obligatory standing O... not to give it a standing O,... but to look at actor's faces and expressions.
It is rude,...but...then again... everyone needs to take theatre etiquette lessons.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 4/24/10 at 11:34am

No, I don't think everyone does.

[Jane2]

Posted: 4/24/10 at 11:54am

This whole thing boils down to your priorities.

For some, it's more important to complete the experience by giving the cast their due respect, especially if you loved the show and are moved to give an enthusiastic ovation.

To say that you have paid these people to entertain you makes you sound like a slave owner.

For others, it's more important to put themselves first - to be the first one out of the theater, to be the first to get their coat, to be the first at the stagedoor, the first to get a taxi, or to avoid having to move slowly out of the theater.

BTW, the crowd moves slowly whether or not they are tourists. It isn't a fire drill.

I care more about showing my appreciation and in turn, helping to make the night for some fellow human beings.

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 4/24/10 at 12:47pm

"To say that you have paid these people to entertain you makes you sound like a slave owner."

It does have a slight 'Dance, n*gger, dance!' feeling to it, right?

And whatever2 (could a name ever be more apt?), you clearly haven't read or understood what I wrote. I do not believe people have contemp if they leave early. I believe some of the people IN THIS THREAD have contempt for actors. And the idea that you think actors are there for you...to entertain you...is simply full of contempt.

I'm not there for you. You're not there for me. We're there for the play. And if you don't think so, then you are the one in need of getting over one's self.

[Marianne2]

Posted: 4/24/10 at 2:48pm

The funny thing about stagedooring is that unless it is a show with ridiculously popular actors, I've never had issues staying through curtain call and getting a spot. I've even made it down there from balconies. The only one that comes to mind was Spamalot with Clay Aiken, but everyone who was only out there for him left as soon as they found out he wasn't coming out. I stayed because he wasn't the reason I saw the show and everyone else was great.

[Piper3500]

Posted: 4/24/10 at 3:45pm

orange skittles- i apologize i read that wrong.

Phyllis RS - i see your point.

Jane- it is about priority and i guess some other people's priorities lie elsewhere when they feel a show is complete. i have never sat anywhere other than orchestra other than in the west end and even then can not imagine "wanting" to leave, but i never had issues to make me need to either.

[Jane2]

Posted: 4/24/10 at 4:05pm

Quite frankly, I think everyone knows it's rude. You'd have to be a complete automaton to turn your back on the people who just performed for you and walk out on them while they watch and think it's not rude. However, those who choose to run out early figure that it's rude but so what.

That is my opinion.

[Piper3500]

Posted: 4/24/10 at 4:10pm

for sure they know it's rude. if i "had" to go (and it would have to be an emergency) i would be going out very sheepishly.

[whatever2]

Posted: 4/24/10 at 5:52pm

> i think if someone is cutting it so close that they routinely ...

(1) who said anything about routinely?

(2) what place do any of us have to judge how other people arrange their schedules? when someone leaves before the curtain call, the rest of the audience -- and the performers, for that matter -- have no idea who they are, why they're leaving, or how regularly they bail on the curtain calls. everything you think about that person and that situation is pure scpeculation ... and judging from some of the comments on this thread that speculation says a lot more about the speculator than it does about the speculatee.

speaking of which ...

SonofRobbieJ: nor have you read or understood much of what i wrote. first, you layer assumption upon assumption (who leaves, why they leave, how often they leave), reach a conclusion that has only a slim (and random) chance of being correct, and then have the gall to use my screnname to cast aspersions on *my* point of view???? bite me.

next, you endorse the insane logic that analogizes my opinion to the perspective of slave-owners. seriously? um ... possibly i slept through part of fifth-grade history, but i'm pretty sure that SLAVES WEREN'T PAID!!!

and, finally, in what parallel reality is it contemptuous to think that "actors are there to entertain me"??? that's precisely why they're there. they have something they want to say ... something presumably i want to hear. and something i've agreed to pay to listen to. if you see contempt in that arrangement, going to work must be hell for you.

Updated On: 4/24/10 at 05:52 PM

[Jane2]

Posted: 4/24/10 at 7:20pm

Um, I'm the one who used the slave analogy, and I"m sure you got my drift.