Audience Behavior- Page 2

Posted: 1/4/11 at 1:56pm

My first trip to the Opera. I was in a very nice box- the box next to mine was a couple and their four children. The older kids read books. The younger kids colored. It was not at all disruptive but I couldn't help but wonder why they would spend over $1500 to attend the Opera and then ignore it.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 1/4/11 at 1:56pm

Appreciating something and their handicap have nothing to do with each other.

My sister has low muscle tone in her neck and bobs her head a lot simply because her muscles can't support the weight. She can be enjoying a show but that won't have her not bob her head because her muscle tone is still low no matter what. In fact, her bobbing becomes worse when she's excited/having fun. And it's fairly common for something to become more apparent when someone is thouroughly enjoying themselves.

[rjjn]

Posted: 1/4/11 at 2:21pm

It seems to me like this kind of thing happens more often for shows with the longer runs. Though I can imagine it being annoying (I've never had anything like this happen to me), shouldn't you all be expecting it at this point? If you go to Mamma Mia, Wicked, Phantom, etc. on Broadway, you'd have a better time expecting the worst, and being pleasantly surprised if you weren't disrupted.

Updated On: 1/4/11 at 02:21 PM

[Weez]

Posted: 1/4/11 at 2:48pm

Being from the UK, and my viewing of shows being in the West-End, and not Broadway, I find in the most part that disruptive audience members are American.

Being also from the UK, and my viewing of shows being in the West End and related theatres, and not Broadway, I find in the most part that disruptive audience members are British. And American. And European. And Asian. (Either Africans are very good at the theatre, or I've been cruelly mistaking them for other nationalities. Sorry, Africa.)

I don't know if it's the plays I see or what, but the most disruptive audience members I encounter tend to be young people who have not been taught how to behave in a theatre, or older people who think they can behave in a theatre however the hell they want. Most of the in-betweens are alright though. :)

Updated On: 1/4/11 at 02:48 PM

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 1/4/11 at 2:56pm

Head bobbing and being slow on the stairs are not the same as someone making disruptive noises throughout the show. Sorry, but whether it's chatty impatient children with short attention spans, the hard of hearing who ask "What did he say?!" after every punchline, or the disabled making coping noises, it's disruptive to the audience. They may not be able to control it, but you can by taking them out if they can't be quiet. Should someone with developmental disabilities get to enjoy the show at the expense of everyone around them?

[Eris0303]

Posted: 1/4/11 at 3:29pm

They may not be able to control it, but you can by taking them out if they can't be quiet. Should someone with developmental disabilities get to enjoy the show at the expense of everyone around them?

So, it's better that they just stay at home and have no experiences? As it is their lives are not as "full" as ours are. Imagine knowing that you'll never be able to live on your own, always having to rely on your family to take care of you, and knowing that you probably won't live as long as other people your age. To know that your parents can't even put you in their will other than to leave you to someone else like apiece of property. On top of that "regular" people don't want you in public because you might be disruptive.

What good is keeping them locked away? Thousands of handicapped adults are neglected and abused in our country. So if someone cares enough about their friend or family memberout to give them the fabulous experience of live theatre good for them. Handicapped Americans should not be kept away because they might bother you.

Sorry if the noise bothers you but they're a part of our community just as much as anyone else. They have every right to be there. Instead of being annoyed by their behavior you ought to be grateful that you have all of your facilities and have the life that you have.

And comparing people who willfully take out their cellphones or whatever to the handicapped is incredibly short-sighted.

[rmusic11322]

Posted: 1/4/11 at 3:44pm

During the second act of Tarzan, a little boy kept asking his mom, "Where's Tarzan, mommy?" whenever Josh Strickland was offstage. It happened about every 15 seconds. At first, she quietly "shhh-ed", but the more it happened many people did the same, including myself. He did finally stop... when Josh Strickland appeared again.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 1/4/11 at 4:48pm

Eris, you're putting words into people's mouths so it will fit with your own agenda. No one anywhere, least of all me, implied that those with developmental disabilities should be locked up and never allowed out of the house. I didn't compare the handicapped to people who pull out their cell phones, I compared them others who don't have full use of their facilities, like the hard of hearing and younger children, who are always targeted in threads like these.

I just don't think taking ANYONE to an expensive show on Broadway is a good idea if they can't sit quietly for two and a half hours. Take them to community theatre, or heck, even one of the Broadway shows full of kids and foreign tourists where there's so much noise no one will notice one more person in the cacophony. Anyone is within their full rights to get annoyed if they spent hundreds of dollars on a night at the theatre, as you calculated on the first page, just to listen to someone make noise and disrupt the show, no matter what their issue may be. They're a part of the community, but it doesn't revolve around them.

[quizking101]

Posted: 1/4/11 at 5:05pm

Sometimes the worst offenders can be your parents...

My father took an "Accidental" flash picture at 9 TO 5 and nearly got him and me thrown out...

Also, my mother is very chatty during shows, if she doesn't understand, she will ask me. And I most of the time a) ignore her or b) give a dirty look, shush her, and answer at a break in or the end of show.

[bundy5000]

Posted: 1/4/11 at 5:32pm

During Pal Joey at 54, there was an older woman who was eating cake. The plastic wrapping, the box, and the eating with the occasional groans made a very Bewitched Bothered and bewildering night.

Posted: 1/4/11 at 5:36pm

I was going to post a similar thread to this a while ago as I was becoming increasingly fed up with the appalling way some theatre patrons were behaving.

I recently had to ask a woman who had been playing on facebook for the first 45 minutes of a show to kindly put her phone away so that I was not blinded by her bright white screen any longer. May we all be preserved from the onslaught of Ipads as the theatres will be like being at an evening floodlit sporting event.

Whilst I was not fond of Priscilla (in any way)it was further ruined for me by the 'hen night' atmosphere of the audience who sang along with all the numbers and did that lovely out of time handclap thing so beloved of slightly merry groups. Also talking back to the actors or saying their next line for them seems, what, disrespectful? pointless? ignorant of your fellow theatre goers?

Certainly these things do not seem to happen so much say at The Donmar's Passion; so is it about the show you see and adjusting your expectations accordingly? I hope that doesn't sound too judgemental.... Although I recall the man sitting next to me at The Wild Party a few years back, tutting and rolling his eyes throughout the whole show. There was also heavy sighing and the shaking of the head. Why he didn't leave at intermission is beyond me.

My personal pet hate is the people who as soon as the performance ends, or they think it has, leap to their feet and charge for the exit, regardless of the other people sitting around them or the feelings of the performers they are so rudely slighting. I try to give them the look I saw on Lauren Bacall's face when some people did this in the front row as she came out for her bow; how they did not shrivel into dust instantly will always be a mystery to me!

[quizking101]

Posted: 1/4/11 at 5:58pm

An addendum to my prior post....

I always tell my parents to shut off their phones, but they never do. So finally I jazzed it up and told my mother at WOMEN ON THE VERGE on Sunday that if she didn't shut it off...Patti LuPone will get her.

...still didn't listen.

[Cape Twirl of Doom]

Posted: 1/4/11 at 5:58pm

How rude "foreign people" seeing live theatre. I mean really, the government should stop them at the border!

Apparently you missed the part about them translating the entire show. I wish there was some kind of "border patrol" outside of theatres that would prohibit the talkers from entering.

When I saw ELF last month, the family behind me let their brood of small boys run and jump over the seats. They were literally jumping over into the empty seats in front of them (to my right) and running back and forth. They'd then scream for their daddy, who gave them some kind of portable video game to play with.

[Drillin4Oil]

Posted: 1/4/11 at 6:13pm

My personal favorite was the overweight teenager who proceeded to bend over and expose to us his plumber's butt crack close to half a dozen times. Simply vile.

[2]

Posted: 1/4/11 at 6:41pm

When I saw Phantom on Sunday there were two points when the Asian person behind me was explaining something to her friend. They were brief periods of talking but they were pretty loud about it.

[EponineAmneris]

Posted: 1/4/11 at 7:06pm

I have seen PHANTOM many, many, many times... and every time I go, the audience is *terrible.* Talking, unwrapping things, pictures, recording, up and down from their seats... It's always a bad experience despite my love for the show.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 1/4/11 at 7:25pm

I have to say if I go to see a "kids" show, I try to check my attitude at the door. I remember being pissed at kids when I saw Beauty and the Beast and my boyfriend at the time checked me on it-and he was right.

If you are seeing something geared towards kids and families, I think you have to cut some slack and take off your serious theatre-goer persona somewhat. I'm not saying the kids should be jumping seats, but they might laugh, talk, oohh, ahh, ask questions. That is normal kid behavior.

Its when kids are at A Little Night Music that I get really irate.

[Tamerlano]

Posted: 1/4/11 at 7:52pm

I have say that my recent trip to NY was a joy. Audiences here in the UK are a nightmare. They have no problem with texting, talking, eating, getting up and leaving, making as much noise and disturbing as many people as they can.Front of House staff are useless though I have to say if you can find the FOH manager and complain you can always get your mony back.

[dragonlp86]

Posted: 1/4/11 at 7:58pm

I feel fortunate with the audiences I've had so far. The worst I've had was someone insisting on shoving their feet into the back of my seat, and once with someone unwrapping some sort of snack in the middle of the theatre (the Booth, no less, so EVERYONE could hear it). I've also heard a few cell phones go off quietly, but they were quickly silenced.

[HummingAlong]

Posted: 1/4/11 at 8:10pm

Did anyone else read in playbill the suggestion to turn your ringtone into the sound of a throat being cleared? I thought that was just perfect. That way, if for some crazy reason I forget to silence my phone in a meeting or show, no one will know.

[chewy5000]

Posted: 1/4/11 at 8:50pm

What is the audience like at Lombardi? Shows geared towards sports fans and the like can be horrendous.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 1/4/11 at 8:56pm

ROCK of AGES audiences are gross, but they are encouraged to be. The dudes behind me were SCREAMING at the female dancers and one voluptuous woman whipped her cans out and shook them. But you cant blame them, they are encouraged.

[trentsketch]

Posted: 1/4/11 at 9:55pm

I'm not naming the school, but I got a really great discount years ago to Avenue Q through a college. Unfortunately, I had to sit there the entire show as these students acted like they were at a frat party. They were screaming, laughing, talking, snapping gum, drinking liquor they snuck in, talking on their cellphones, and generally acting like fools. I was mortified to be anywhere near them. If I could have snuck down to a different seat after intermission, I would have.

[HummingAlong]

Posted: 1/4/11 at 9:56pm

chewy - lombardi was pretty mellow. not raucous or uncouth at all.

[dragonlp86]

Posted: 1/4/11 at 10:00pm

Bettyboy72...that is just one of a few reasons why I refuse to see 'Rock of Ages' when I'm in New York. Or when it's on tour, for that matter.