Have you ever walked out of a show? Or seen others walk out?- Page 4

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 11/5/06 at 6:48pm

LOL! I attended MERILY WE ROLL ALONG in previews in October 1981.
A few says earlier Liz Smith had written a column in the Post about the mass walkouts at the show. Suddenly everyone felt this is what they were supposed to do. They all came back after intermission but during the 2nd act opener ("It's a Hit!) People began getting up and leaving. And not just 2 or 3 I'm talking hundreds.

Their loss. They missed 3 of the show's best songs: "Not a Day Goes By", "Good Thing Going" and "Our Time."

I was surprised the number of people, mostly older couples getting out of their seats and walking out all through the first act of PIPPIN at the Royal Alex (Toronto) last week on opening night. After intermission the theatre was a good deal less crowded. If any of you are curious it's a good show to second act.

I have never walked out of a show. My friend desperately wanted us to depart SUNSET BLVD at intermission buts since I was reviewing it I felt it my duty to stay until the bitter end. The worst 3 hours I have ever spent inside a theatre.

[theaterdude87]

Posted: 11/5/06 at 6:56pm

i walked out during and all white version of "once on this island" it was awful and just did not work. h community theater for some reason you insist in doing things your own way.

[Becoz_i_knew_you21]

Posted: 11/5/06 at 6:56pm

StephenSondheim, I believe Passion only has nudity in the begenning(I've never seen a production but I'm love the music). Besides Passion is briliant and I don't see why people would walk out of that unless they have small children with them(which they shouldn't).

[missyrose87]

Posted: 11/5/06 at 8:15pm

I walked out of the rent movie. I talked to a couple at the intermission of wicked who were leaving because, "this show has too much singing."

[luvliza89]

Posted: 11/5/06 at 9:54pm

My mom, dad, and brother all felt during Threepenny Opera. Not because they thought it was bad, but because my mom had thought she lost her credit card and was near tears. It turned out that she had left it at the hotel :/

I stayed. I wouldn't leave. I loved the show, and so did my family. Well of what they saw of it. I wonder what the people around me thought :)

[Wild Roses]

Posted: 11/5/06 at 10:24pm

"I really don't understand why people leave at Sunday, it is such as brilliant peice of work, one of somdheims best. I can sort of understand Sweeney becuase of the violence and cannobolism and Passion becuase of the nudity but I just don't understand why people would leave at SITPWG."

I love Passion and Sweeney, but hate SIPWG. It the same old story male artists have been saying about themselves for centuries. The only reason why I got through the dvd of it was because of Mandy and Bernadette. Other than that, it said nothing new to me about the artistic process that I haven't already heard 5000 other male artists spew in the various field that they are artists in.

[moulinrougehk]

Posted: 11/5/06 at 10:28pm

"I love Passion and Sweeney, but hate SIPWG. It the same old story male artists have been saying about themselves for centuries. The only reason why I got through the dvd of it was because of Mandy and Bernadette. Other than that, it said nothing new to me about the artistic process that I haven't already heard 5000 other male artists spew in the various field that they are artists in."

That's because you didn't have a faint idea of what the musical is talking about. The process is the minor thing. The love George shown to Dot is the major thing of the musical. Dot refers to the dots of the painting and it's a gift to her. The main idea is the dread between Dot and George.

I never leave from a Broadway production! Not just because it's rude but it's dumb to pay $50 for half a show!

Updated On: 11/5/06 at 10:28 PM

[ChiChi]

Posted: 11/5/06 at 10:35pm

As a protest, tons of people walked out when the Falsettos tour came through town many years ago. The news had covered the fact that a lot of people were walking out of performances so I was prepared for it. It still made me sick though.

[emo_geek]

Posted: 11/5/06 at 10:59pm

I wanted to walk out of 'Night Mother....really badly. But I was in the very front row and both of them were stareing at me the whole time. So i felt bad and pretended I was enjoying it.

[hellokitty]

Posted: 11/5/06 at 11:30pm

I walked out of Amy's View with Judi Dench in, I think, '99. Worst play I have ever seen. I adore Judi Dench but even she looked thoroughly bored and embarrassed to be in it.

[theaterdude87]

Posted: 11/5/06 at 11:34pm

what happened on the Falsettos tour?

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 11/5/06 at 11:44pm

When I saw Sweeney in the front row, the couple next to me,(one of which was NOT dressed for a show, he was wearing a Wicked T-shirt, shorts, and sandals)left at intermission. Their loss.

Slightly O/T, but at the stagedoor that night, Mano told me that the cast was glad when they left, apparently they were very figgedty and distracting. Go figure.

[ozdustgirl2]

Posted: 11/5/06 at 11:52pm

I was at Dirty Rotten Scoundrels tour in Columbus last week and a couple walked out during the first act, right after Oklahoma! I dont think I could ever walk out on a show!

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 11/5/06 at 11:56pm

I've walked out of films and shows that bored me to tears or were dreadful. That's every patron's right.

[Wild Roses]

Posted: 11/5/06 at 11:56pm

"'I love Passion and Sweeney, but hate SIPWG. It the same old story male artists have been saying about themselves for centuries. The only reason why I got through the dvd of it was because of Mandy and Bernadette. Other than that, it said nothing new to me about the artistic process that I haven't already heard 5000 other male artists spew in the various field that they are artists in.'

'That's because you didn't have a faint idea of what the musical is talking about. The process is the minor thing. The love George shown to Dot is the major thing of the musical. Dot refers to the dots of the painting and it's a gift to her. The main idea is the dread between Dot and George.'"

Yawn. The story as a whole---process and love story---has been written about by 5000 male artists so many times that either you are not well read or you are just too impressed with Sondheim for putting it on a Broadway stage.

[virgil blessing2]

Posted: 11/6/06 at 12:00am

I have been tempted to walk out on tons of stuff in NYC, but never have, in hopes that it can just get better, or I paid for these seats, so let's not waste it. I have even muddled thru some baaaad comm. theater in the past, only to support pals.

I came incredibly close, though. In Nov., 2004, I saw Woody Allen's "A Second Hand Memory," at the Atlantic Theater Company. Allen directed. I usually dig Allen's work, some of the cast members were folks whose work I dug, and I have enjoyed the Atlantic's work in the past. These all seemed to be good signs. Well, this Allen play was simply AWFUL. Bad writing and "direction", some lame performances (while a few cast members did do splendid work. Beth Fowler and michael McKean were lovely. Elizabeth Marvel's 'work" was an utter embarrassment.) Laura Bauer's costuming was heinous and this woman must be stopped. I was mortified by many of her "designs", which were grossly inappropriate and looked to be pulled randomly off a Salvation Army clothes rack. The piece was se tin the 1950's, but she didn't even seem to be cognizant of the fact.

We wer ein the first row and basically stayed to see how this horro show would end. It wrapped-up in a glum, and INCREDIBLY abrupt fashion, to the point where we, as an audience, did not even know the piece had ended. It seemd that Allen had hacked-off the true final scene. So, the cast came out for bows and we all sat there stupefied. About a minute into bows we all realized the time has arrived to clap. We all left in a fog wondering how he could have wrapped up the piec ein such a silly, cauterized fashion.

Well, if you muddle thru shows and loathe them, at least you can have fun mocking them over drinks afterward, far, far from the theater. Oh yes, and I saw a pathetic attempt at ENTERTAINING MR. SLOAN midtown a few years ago. Bottom drawer production, no pacing, bad set, bad casting. My pal begged to stay as he had never seen it before (and I had), and he wanted to know the ending. When they play the EXACT same music for the preshow and the TWO intermisisons, WATCH out!

[Rose_MacShane]

Posted: 11/6/06 at 12:12am

I left Big River during intermission. It's not that I hated it, I was just intensely bored and wasn't feeling it.
I went to the 2002 National Thespian conference and we sat through a dreadful rendition of Blood Brothers. We begged our sponsor to let us leave, but he insisted we stay for the sake of politeness. And we weren't the only ones who hated it; when the lights dimmed for act 2, the entire audience began to groan and kick up a fuss to the point that they had to bring the lights back up. Trust me, it really was that painful.

[moulinrougehk]

Posted: 11/6/06 at 1:00am

"Yawn. The story as a whole---process and love story---has been written about by 5000 male artists so many times that either you are not well read or you are just too impressed with Sondheim for putting it on a Broadway stage."

So, I bet you haven't watched closely to the second act which is absolutely nothing to do with the process of the painting and the love story. The whole painting process ended in act 1 (which I think the process is not any normal one because pointilism is actually an invention in painting, a revolution in impressionism) and the love is over because of Dot's leaving. Act 2 is about George's legacy fell to his younger generation (an inventor) who was lost about his vision. How he was supported by a soul in his heart that he never met before and move on.

Even though you may think it's a traditional story about a painter, have you ever listen to the songs they sang? Each song is a philosophy address. "Finishing the Hat" is about how artists approach to new creation simultaneously decribe the character of George. "How you watch the rest of the world from a window while you finish the hat."

"Putting it Together" describe how the younger George treated the thing art. Sondheim used different kinds of phrases to show to George's point of view.

"It's Hot Up Here" tells us about how the "people" in the painting feels? As being immortal and unspeakable, do they have the right to question or complain why they have to be in the painting? Who are they? Do they existed as the normal people we saw in act 1 or just dummies created by the dead painter?

This musical actually has a lot of philosophical elements, not as shallow as just telling you about a painter's love story and how he paint! Actually, the 2 musicals you like: Sweeney Todd and Passion have the same elements in Sunday. They all are about relationship and the question of what we are living for.

Btw, hasn't a love triangle story like Passion written again, again and again? How the guy finally loses both girls with a girl having deadly disease? I really don't know why you like it if it was so often written.

Updated On: 11/6/06 at 01:00 AM

[TenThousandThings]

Posted: 11/6/06 at 1:17am

I, too, would NEVER walk out of a performance out of respect for the performers working their butts off (even though it took the patience of a saint to sit through "Hollywood Arms." Ugh.). I don't really feel you earn the right to say you hated a show unless you saw it in its totality.

The only show I've seen people walk out of was the LaChiusa "Wild Party" -- right at the end of the opening number when Toni Collette took her top off and threw it into the pit. The whole show was like that -- alive and raw and real and wonderful -- and quite a few (mostly old-and-in-the-front-row) people couldn't take it and walked out clicking their tongues. Their loss . . . a BIG one, in my book!

[Revolutionary]

Posted: 11/6/06 at 1:49am

I would never walk out either. I mean, I'm not able to get completely free tickets to anything and my money is valuable to me so I would sit through just about anything if I was paying for it. Plus it's not like I would be doing anything better with my time if I did leave.

Although I was counting down the minutes to the end of Lestat when it was here in San Fran, and I was so tempted to go to the bathroom and not go back to my seat. I stuck it out though, lol.

[PaintWordPictures]

Posted: 11/6/06 at 2:19am

As an actor and a director, the idea of leaving before a show has exhausted any chance of potential is sad - but in the same vein, theatre is an audience sport. We can do all the theatre we want, but without an audience ... if a tree falls and no one hears it... etc.

As long as its not stupidly abused (which everything is), walking out of a performance is an audience member's way of giving the performers feedback. Maybe its the subject matter, maybe its the direction, maybe its the "I've done this show 6 times this week and I'm bored" performance. Maybe not all shows deserve walk-outs, but good or bad, it's one of the few forms of feedback audience members have after their ticket is paid for.

[sarbear2]

Posted: 11/6/06 at 9:48am

I would've walked out of Heartbreak House if it were at all possible that evening (it wasn't), and I've seen people leave during intermission at The History Boys and Sweeney Todd, behavior that I will NEVER understand.

[kelzama]

Posted: 11/6/06 at 9:50am

Unfortunately, I don't remember the name of the show, but there was one (early 90's) whose sound was so distorted and so loud, I couldn't take it anymore and left before intermission. Had nothing to do with the perforomers or the show, just couldn't stand the noise.

[RevolutionaryCostume]

Posted: 11/6/06 at 9:59am

I've seen the standard old people walk out of RENT. I remember one of them walked past my friends and I and we heard them say, "It must be some sort of cult thing. . ."

Now we say that to each other any time someone makes a reference to RENT.

I saw quite a few people leave at intermission during previews of The Pirate Queen. I liked it, but I was about to join them if they would have made reference to her "balls" once more.

~Jacob.

[blueroses]

Posted: 11/6/06 at 10:10am

A few people walked out of Brooklyn before it was over, and I was dying to but decided to see it through (plus, I wanted to hear every last note Cleavant Derricks sang). I looked at my watch quite a bit though. Worst piece of sh*t I've ever seen.