This comment from the METRO article above says all you need to know about her to me.
Without giving too much of the film away, Kaža said that Cochrane creates quick friendships at the plays she attends but holds a distanced and rocky relationship with her own children.
Really she's a small slice of a bigger problem with these seemingly entitled theatergoers who think they can talk, eat , text and disturb other patrons who genuinely want to experience what is going on--on stage and not be distracted by the people around them during the show. They're so un self aware it's amazing. I think a theatre shaming website needs to go up and we can take pictures and video of them. I also blame house management for being too nice. Boot them the hell out.
Pretty sure she sat behind me at Peace For Mary Frances the other evening. She showed up 20 minutes into the show, and immediately began ruffling a shopping bag and a big (soft) lunch box. She would zip and unzip the lunchbox so slowly as if that wasn't just prolonging the noise. She moved her shopping bag countless times. She dropped her cane behind my seat into our row. The stranger sitting next to me and I scowled back at her multiple times. At intermission I looked behind me and everything from this thread started to come back to me and I realized this must be the woman I've read about.
The usher towards the end of intermission told her to put away her food and that she couldn't eat in the theater. She acted as if she had no idea and tried to argue with the usher. I told the usher to come back and "check on us."
Updated On: 6/4/18 at 01:10 PM
Senior citizens can indeed be bullies, especially in groups. From their voting habits to their selfish give me mine but screw yours attitude, time will eventually deal with them--but not soon enough for some.
"Really she's a small slice of a bigger problem with these seemingly entitled theatergoers who think they can talk, eat , text and disturb other patrons who genuinely want to experience what is going on--on stage and not be distracted by the people around them during the show. They're so un self aware it's amazing. I think a theatre shaming website needs to go up and we can take pictures and video of them. I also blame house management for being too nice. Boot them the hell out."
Oh she's still around. And still going strong. That definitely sounds like her, Bandit.
I've seen her 3 times in the past year, one of which was a pretty nasty encounter where she was trying to bypass the waitlist system of a sold out show (I was first, she was second).
To be frank, I think she is a lot more mentally capable than she lets on and uses a personal of a mentally disturbed old woman to get her very selfish way. Not that narcissism isn't a mental illness but it's obvious from anyone who has ever been around her that this woman is a narcissist with sociopathic tendencies.
She's definitely around. I encountered her when I was volunteer ushering at an off-Broadway show. She refused to sit in the seat for which she had a ticket, instead choosing to sit in an (as yet) unclaimed seat in the front row. She got upset when someone with a ticket for that seat arrived just before the show began and she was forced to move. She never ended up in her actual seat; she found another empty seat in the first or second row that she claimed. The house manager was aware of her and didn't really know how to deal with her (neither did the two of us who were volunteer ushers).
#1Elphie said: "She's definitely around. I encountered her when I was volunteer ushering at an off-Broadway show. She refused to sit in the seat for which she had a ticket, instead choosing to sit in an (as yet) unclaimed seat in the front row.She got upset when someone with a ticket for that seat arrived just before the show began and she was forced to move. She never ended up in her actual seat; she found another empty seat in the first or second row that she claimed. The house manager was aware of her and didn't really know how to deal with her (neither did the two of us who were volunteer ushers)."
Insisting she move to her assigned seat with her understanding that refusal to do so will subject her to being removed from the theater was not an option available to the house manager or either of you? I understand as a volunteer you might be reluctant to bring the hammer down but the house manager needs to empower you to deal with people like her for the sake of everyone else attending. She counts on people not challenging her and that only emboldens her even more.
UncleCharlie said: Insisting she move to her assigned seat with her understanding that refusal to do so will subject her to being removed from the theater was not an option available to the house manager or either of you? I understand as a volunteer you might be reluctant to bring the hammer down but the house manager needs to empower you to deal with people like her for the sake of everyone else attending. She counts on people not challenging her and that only emboldens her even more."
We informed the house manager about her, who then took over the situation and was probably trying to avoid a scene.
Is this doc posted anywhere to watch, fascinating.
This 65 minute documentary is still going thru the European film festival circuit. It has not been officially distributed nor shown in the United States, which is why you can't find it anywhere. It came into attention in February 2016.
I can't wait for this to win the Best Documentary Feature Oscar so the director will bring Cochrane to the ceremony and she can troll Hollywood, too...
UncleCharlie said: "Insisting she move to her assigned seat with her understanding that refusal to do so will subject her to being removed from the theater was not an option available to the house manager or either of you? I understand as a volunteer you might be reluctant to bring the hammer down but the house manager needs to empower you to deal with people like her for the sake of everyone else attending. She counts on people not challenging her and that only emboldens her even more."
Ushers have absolutely NO authority to even suggest that someone can be removed from the theater. House managers have the authority, but due to potential legal issues only reserve it for extremely disruptive or abusive behavior. Someone moving into an empty, unsold seat is not really cause to remove someone from the theater, and the theater owner would probably comp her another ticket if it had happened.
The part I never get about the people who stand outside the theater looking for a free ticket is that you would't just be giving them a ticket, but also then sitting next to them all night. If it were some general admission thing, and someone bailed on me, then sure, have fun. But why would I choose a lady with a bunch of shopping bags as a theater companion for the night rather than just having an empty seat next to me?!
#1Elphie said: "She's definitely around. I encountered her when I was volunteer ushering at an off-Broadway show. She refused to sit in the seat for which she had a ticket, instead choosing to sit in an (as yet) unclaimed seat in the front row.She got upset when someone with a ticket for that seat arrived just before the show began and she was forced to move. She never ended up in her actual seat; she found another empty seat in the first or second row that she claimed. The house manager was aware of her and didn't really know how to deal with her (neither did the two of us who were volunteer ushers)."
Based on what you said, I think I saw her when I saw The Present... I was on the second row of the mezzanine, she was occupying one of two empty seats on the first row... the couple that had those seats arrived 15 minutes into the show, despite the warnings of no late seating, but that’s for another thread... anyways, so the couple arrives and the usher signals for her to leave, which she does, but then she just remained seated on the aisle looking for another empty seat, which unfortunately was right next to my husband. So once again she’s bothering everyone to get past us to get to the empty seat... all while the show was going on.
For some reason, this crossed my mind yesterday, and I discovered that the film is available to rent on Vimeo (https://vimeo.com/ondemand/139999).
It’s really awful and one-sided. It devolves into her life and her strained relationship with her kids. I feel for her in the sense that she’s trying to keep up a lifestyle that she simply can’t afford after making bad decisions. Nevertheless, she comes across as extremely entitled and abrasive, and the film doesn’t account for that at all. It offers no rebuttal from those working in the theater and lets her comment that box office and FOH staff don’t really care about theater as an art go completely unchallenged.
I actually saw this a couple of months ago out of curiosity. You get treated to some delightful behavior from Cochran, including hitching rides into the city, joining somebody's dinner in progress at a diner and helping herself, dumping out her bags in the lobby of what looked to be MTC's City Stage space to find her ticket, and more.
You learn a bit about her life and her extremely strained relationships with her kids (particularly a nasty dinner scene with her daughter), but largely it leaves more questions than it tries to answer (she is not without money, as we learn she takes annual trips to a tropical beach). Her extreme hoarding and her often hostile, entitled, and rude behavior at theatres go unaddressed.
"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."