Rude audience members. With a twist!- Page 4

[kasim]

Posted: 3/14/07 at 9:58am

no you weren't being rude THEY were.

They were having a good time ... their turf ... but u were within your right.

[fyffe]

Posted: 3/14/07 at 10:48pm

thanks wonderwaiter.. I actually dont really like that pic..but thanks...

[PARISinNYC]

Posted: 3/14/07 at 11:03pm

Wow, what a story! I'm sorry you had to endure that. If I ever see the show and she's going on for Little Edie...well, let's just say I wouldn't mind if I missed her at the stagedoor.

Edited for this:

"BrodyFosse just wanted people to know he has an assistant."

Kringas, you made my night. Updated On: 3/14/07 at 11:03 PM

[evadiva]

Posted: 3/14/07 at 11:57pm

Great thread.

I believe the story, support the name drop and think it serves her right!

If only we could call out every rude person by name.

This WILL get back to her, and when it does, she will think twice before she behaves like that again.

[collins]

Posted: 3/15/07 at 8:12am

Let me tell you what happened to me at the Aida tour. I was sitting beside this really nice guy, talking to him before the show. Turns out he was an actor, and had been in local plays and even a tv show. I even gave him my tickets to a show that I wasn't going to.

During the show, this man proceeded to take calls on his CELL PHONE and chat with his wife. I wanted to snatch the phone away from him as if he were a child, but as usual, I just sat there and tried to concentrate on the show.

[fyffe]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 5:23pm

I hope that they start making the "cell phone law" everywhere..not just NYC. I would actually like to see it enforced once or twice just to know they are indeed serious about it.


Kev

[[e-mail]]

Posted: 4/22/07 at 12:15pm

it's likely i'll regret this but here goes.
i'm megan lewis and this incident has been picked apart when only one side of the story was heard. the friday night that said patron attended grey gardens was a slow night. these are opportune shows for me to use my dictataphone or note taker to get really detailed notes. this is a necessity of show maintenance. i sat in a section that was relatively empty. had the patron said something to me immediately and not, as i'm guessing, sat and stewed for the entire first act i would have gladly relocated. as for patrons in front of me "glaring" at me , i don't know anything about that because i was working. it's quite possible i giggled at an odd moment as a result of being so familiar with the show i notice tiny mistakes or my fellow actors eccentricities. we were not getting up and down. at one point i had to wake my note taker so there was little movement going on. the patrons who joined us during intermission sat happily with me, chatting about visiting the city until the lights went down.
the stewing patron was not polite when he first spoke to me and proceeded to be snide. i informed him of my name and position as an explanation of why i was there and had been speaking.
furthermore, i urge posters to remember you're speaking about real people. those who are in the entertainment business do offer themselves up to scrutiny but i encourage you to generally limit it to our performances.
you do not know me. i was repeatedly called a bitch who should be fired based on one person's account. i'm actually a young woman living in astoria with my dog willie and my special needs puppy, luna. my favorite show is cabaret because it really affected me. i rarely get home to north carolina and i miss my little sister. i wanna lose 10 lbs. when i'm in a show, i'm usually the first to arrive and the last to leave. a comment was posted by someone who claims to know me saying that i was a nice person. why is that comment less credible than a nasty story?
ultimately, it's not a big deal. i love what i do and work very hard at it. every performer you'll ever see on a broadway stage feels the same way. we, and i mean everyone, are all good people so let's be good to eachother.
thanks and keep loving the stage!

Updated On: 4/22/07 at 12:15 PM

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 4/22/07 at 12:21pm

Whoah!!!!! That's messed up.

[GYPSY1527]

Posted: 4/22/07 at 2:05pm

Updated On: 4/22/07 at 02:05 PM

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 4/22/07 at 2:16pm

Go Megan Lewis! Thanks for posting your side of the story, it's always good to see it from both sides. The posters here are unnecessarily harsh, not knowing the person and/or realizing that people in question actually do read the message boards.

There was no real need for most of the comments on this thread, especially about getting someone fired for actually doing their job. I've sat next to, across from, rows behind countless members of different creative teams all of whom had similar methods. The crowds around them seemed to understand that by seeing someone with a pad, a tape recorder, computer, flash light, etc., was obviously doing their job and respected that. I consider "rudeness" to be when an audience member answers a telephone during the play.

Gypsy1527 - she posted "my favorite show is cabaret because it really affected me..." to show that she actually is a real person and not just another nameless face that people can talk poorly about.
Updated On: 4/22/07 at 02:16 PM

[junkyard]

Posted: 4/22/07 at 2:18pm

you certainly do have a right to post her name and mention her unprofessional conduct. If she was backstage and acted in this manner the stage manager would have every right to deal with her unprofessional conduct and take appropriate action if necessary. It sounds like you have come in contact with a "WANNABE DIVA", who is lost in the ensemble. Take some solace that these boards are closely monitored by production staff and there exists a stong liklihood that this will be brought to her attention.

[ahmelie]

Posted: 4/22/07 at 2:25pm

I don't even know what to think...

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 4/22/07 at 2:27pm

Professionals do read the boards, but they're hardly "closely monitored." They have other things to worry about than what people post on message boards....like the fact that they're, oh, PUTTING ON A SHOW.

[gymdudeva]

Posted: 4/22/07 at 3:27pm

I don't understand 99% of this thread.

If a theater employee is making noise and a patron indicates (whether 1 minute into the show, at intermission, or 5 minutes before the end) that they are bothered, said employee should profusely aplogize and relocate or fix the problem. Even if patron is less than polite, said employee should remain 100% professional and not get defensive or blame the patron in any way. Said employee should also see to it that patron gets replacement tix. Theater management, on being apprised of the situation, offers refund / new tix, along with an apology and pleas to come back and enjoy the show under better circumstances. CASE CLOSED.

I matters not a bit who is a nice person, who is a real person (as opposed to what?) who used what tone of voice, who takes care of sick puppies, etc.

I think both parties have approached the problem emotionally instead of professionally and/or objectively.

Has anything I have heard in any of this (including Ms. Lewis's odd post) made more likely to see this particular show? The answer is no.

[[e-mail]]

Posted: 4/22/07 at 4:24pm

megan again. it is not my obligation to allow someone to berate me as i'm trying to perform my job though the entire incident hardly matters to anyone except for myself and the patron because, and i say it once again, there are two sides to the story and we were the only ones there.
that aside, i'm more bothered by a group of people's willingness to create a bandwagon of judgement and hate based on a complete stranger's account. think before you assign the title "bitch" who "deserves to be fired" or any other cruel word to someone you don't know. in this age of myspace and texting i think we do , in fact, forget there are real people on the other end of our cyber-rants. i disclosed facts about my personal life in hopes of reminding those who dislike me without having met me of that. as far as my post being "odd", maybe the odd thing is that i'm an actor who read something hateful and instead of letting it slide, decided to stand up for myself.
if you still feel strongly that i am a "bitch", i'm at the walter kerr. don't hide behind a message board. come chat with me and stand up for what you believe. i did.
thanks

[uncageg]

Posted: 4/22/07 at 4:30pm

Well I have been reading this thread since it started. Here's my take on it....1st in response to Ms Lewis' response (If in fact that response was by Ms Lewis. And the only way we will know that is if 1. Someone here knows that it is her by her online name. 2. She publicly talks about it or 4. The people who run this site confirm that it is her)...Sometimes people do not realize that they are being disruptive in the theatre. I have experienced this on a few occasions. What may have been quietly talking to you/Ms. Lewis, may actually have been louder than you/Ms Lewis thought. If it was a slow night, was it not possible to move farther back away from patrons? Yes you are a human, but if you were evidently annoying a paying audience member, one would think that you would have moved after intermission. If in fact the initial poster had an attitude and the incident the poster spoke of when he was on the way to the restroom happened, then it is sad to hear that you did not take the high road and let it go instead of being rude back.

As far as posting Ms. Lewis' name here on the boards, I think fyffe had every right to do so. If Ms Lewis was rude and threw her name out as if it meant she could do what she did and not expect a complaint, then all's fair. This man paid his hard earned money to enjoy an evening at the theatre. Not to be bothered by the Dance Captain talking next to him. Or other patrons for that matter. She may not work for the theater, but she works for the show that is in that theater and represents that show. While a lot of us would not hold these actions toward the show itself, there are some that would. Just because of the bad experience. In my opinion, she threw her name out there to show some kind of clout. But I wasn't there, so she may have done it simply to explain why she was talking. Either way, I think she should have been polite and moved to a section that was less populated or empty and been done with it. JMHO

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 4/22/07 at 4:35pm

Thank you for your post Ms. Lewis. It's nice to hear the other side of the story.

[uncageg]

Posted: 4/22/07 at 4:37pm

Looking at the timestamp on Ms. Lewis' last post, not sure if a Standby/Dance Captain has to be at every performance. If so, it seems that post came in the middle of the Sunday Matinee.

[D2]

Posted: 4/22/07 at 4:43pm

Why did Ms. Lewis drag this thread back from obscurity? It had been buried since early April, and was only resurrected by her post. If she has been reading it and feels that it should have been handled better, why didn't she just PM Fy instead of calling more attention to herself and this thread? In the middle of the Sunday matinee?

[antonijan]

Posted: 4/22/07 at 4:50pm

let me put your sentiment in one sentence:

https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?thread=932920&dt=0

[D2]

Posted: 4/22/07 at 4:56pm

Yeah, Anton, why did you bother with that? Unnecessary. There's enough venom here.

[jg4892]

Posted: 4/22/07 at 5:11pm

Couldn't she be backstage on a laptop?

[ahmelie]

Posted: 4/22/07 at 5:31pm

This is all sooo bizarre...

[hannahshule]

Posted: 4/22/07 at 5:44pm

I have serious doubts that that's really Ms. Lewis who's been posting here.. If I were her, I would at least capitalize my words apporpriately, not to mention, I wouldn't write on about my puppies or my weight. Despite how rude she may be, I'd like to think that she is at least a sane, clear thinking human being.

EDIT: and if it is really Magan Lewis, than I'm sorry if the above sounds rude. You have every right to post here and express your opinion! I just don't find it completely plausible under the circumstances and what was said in your posts. my apologies either way.

Updated On: 4/22/07 at 05:44 PM

[jg4892]

Posted: 4/22/07 at 5:46pm

what's wrong with what she posted? she was posting those things to show she WAS human just like the rest of us. not everyone obsesses over capitalizing their words on the internet.