Appalling audience behavior at Little Mermaid last night
Appalling audience behavior at Little Mermaid last night
ashley0139
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/3/05
#1Appalling audience behavior at Little Mermaid last night
Posted: 6/1/08 at 11:32am
During the second act of the show last night, I saw the most appalling, disgusting, intolerable behavior I have EVER seen in a theatre. I was sitting in the fourth row just off the center, and in the third row dead center there was this woman and her three year old daughter. She was speaking loudly to her daughter constantly, singing the songs, raising her hands in the air and waving them around, TAKING PICTURES, and standing her daughter on her lap to see better. The audience went nuts. People half back in the orchestra were shushing this crazy lady. Whenever people would sush her or tell her to shut up she would YELL, "Are you serious?! I have a three year old! SHUT UP." This one guy behind her tried to get her to shut up and she yelled "f**k you" and gave him the finger. Twice. In the middle of the show. The three year old was amazingly well behaved. She was adorable, and didn't say more than two words the entire act. Her mother was CRAZY. She was also yelling things out in the middle of the scenes. When Ariel was going to give her voice to Urusula, she was like, "No Ariel, NO ARIEL!!!" She thought she was in a private showing. I have NEVER seen anything like it in my life. She almost got into a fist fight with the woman sitting next to her who kept telling her to shut up. Finally, someone went to get an usher. I don't really know what happened after that because it took the ushers a while to come and I think they were waiting until after the show (don't know why). I couldn't concentrate at all on the second act because there would be an episode every 5 minutes. I found out after the show that she was completely wasted. The guy behind her said he smelled alcohol on her. It was just crazy. I'm still in shock.
"This table, he is over one hundred years old. If I could, I would take an old gramophone needle and run it along the surface of the wood. To hear the music of the voices. All that was said." - Doug Wright, I Am My Own Wife
Updated On: 6/1/08 at 11:32 AM
misschung
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/18/07
#2re: Appalling audience behavior at Little Mermaid last night
Posted: 6/1/08 at 11:34amIt's ridiculous that they didn't escort her out in between songs or something. I would have complained to the manager.
The morning star always gets wonderful bright the minute before it has to go --doesn't it?
#2re: Appalling audience behavior at Little Mermaid last night
Posted: 6/1/08 at 11:35am
Oh.My.God.
That's crazy! A drunk mother at little mermaid. That poor girl. Could the cast tell what was going on? What did they do?
You should ask for your money back! 110 bucks (maybe more?) for *that*??
Hunter: Your teeth need whitening./ Heidi: You sound weird./ Jeff: You taste funny.
-Jeff Bowen's worst onstage line flub.
Updated On: 6/1/08 at 11:35 AM
-Jeff Bowen's worst onstage line flub.
nmartin
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/3/05
#3re: Appalling audience behavior at Little Mermaid last night
Posted: 6/1/08 at 11:39amHow could the cast not notice a drunk yelling "F**k You!"?
ashley0139
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/3/05
#4re: Appalling audience behavior at Little Mermaid last night
Posted: 6/1/08 at 11:42am
I did not pay that much to see it, but I know people around me did and am hoping they asked for their money back.
And yes, I believe the cast did notice. Especially during curtain call, I saw a ton of looks in that direction.
I've never actually been in a bad audience situation, so for some reason it didn't occur to me to get an usher/house manager. I don't know why. However, the woman sitting next to her was not going to let the mother just leave after the show.
"This table, he is over one hundred years old. If I could, I would take an old gramophone needle and run it along the surface of the wood. To hear the music of the voices. All that was said." - Doug Wright, I Am My Own Wife
Mr Roxy
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/17/03
#5re: Appalling audience behavior at Little Mermaid last night
Posted: 6/1/08 at 11:42amWelcome to the theater.
Poster Emeritus
Marinacat
Chorus Member Joined: 1/31/08
#6re: Appalling audience behavior at Little Mermaid last night
Posted: 6/1/08 at 11:43amOh good, I still have a shot at "Mother of the Year" award.
#7re: Appalling audience behavior at Little Mermaid last night
Posted: 6/1/08 at 11:45amWelcome to a Disney show !!! The theatre mangt NEVER pays attention to the guidelines--- Wife and I went a Weds mat of "TLM" a month back, and there were children at the show that were still in diapers !!!
morosco
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/10/04
#8re: Appalling audience behavior at Little Mermaid last night
Posted: 6/1/08 at 11:45amdrunk and belligerent mother + 3 year old child = call the police
gonepishing
Understudy Joined: 5/17/08
#9re: Appalling audience behavior at Little Mermaid last night
Posted: 6/1/08 at 11:46amI feel bad for the little girl who had to wander around with a drunk mother. But seriously...How did an usher NOT get on that ASAP?
#10re: Appalling audience behavior at Little Mermaid last night
Posted: 6/1/08 at 11:49amWhat a story!
"Everytime you step on that stage it is somebody's first Broadway show and somebody's last Broadway show. Make it count."
wickedrentq
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/6/04
#11re: Appalling audience behavior at Little Mermaid last night
Posted: 6/1/08 at 11:52am
Wow, that's crazy!
I was at TLM Friday night, and I guess I lucked out with my timing. The only incident at all was a baby/little child (don't know how old) crying, but the parents would take him/her out when it started. I actually thought about what a great audience it was for a Disney show.
"If there was a Mount Rushmore for Broadway scores, "West Side Story" would be front and center. It snaps, it crackles it pops! It surges with a roar, its energy and sheer life undiminished by the years" - NYPost reviewer Elisabeth Vincentelli
#12re: Appalling audience behavior at Little Mermaid last night
Posted: 6/1/08 at 11:54amThe stories i hear about the Front Of House staff in NY theatre amazes me.If we had someone like that at our theatre (manchester palace in the UK) they would be out in a second
Namo i love u but we get it already....you don't like Madonna
Mattbrain
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/23/05
#13re: Appalling audience behavior at Little Mermaid last night
Posted: 6/1/08 at 11:58amI bet that this story will be in the Playbill Yearbook.
Butters, go buy World of Warcraft, install it on your computer, and join the online sensation before we all murder you.
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ATTENTION FANS: I will be played by James Barbour in the upcoming musical, "BroadwayWorld: The Musical."
#14re: Appalling audience behavior at Little Mermaid last night
Posted: 6/1/08 at 12:04pm
I never pay attention, but don't the ushers stand at the back of the house? I know when I saw August: Osage in December and we had all of the cell phones going off, those poor ushers were running all over the theater trying to locate them.
We have ushers stationed all over the inside of the theater during performances. When there is a problem, they jump right on it and have no problem asking disruptive people to leave.
Just give the world Love.
Updated On: 6/1/08 at 12:04 PM
winston89
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/18/06
#15re: Appalling audience behavior at Little Mermaid last night
Posted: 6/1/08 at 12:09pmThat is because August played at the Imperial and then the Music Box. Both Shubert houses. The Shubert organization is more strict about things like cell phones, eating in the theatre, and things like that. The Little Mermaid is playing at the Lunt which is owned by the Nederlanders. Who are the total opposite of the Shuberts in how they handel house issues.
"If you try to shag my husband while I am still alive, I will shove the art of motorcycle maintenance up your rancid little Cu**. That's a good dear"
Tom Stoppard's Rock N Roll
heathurrr
Broadway Star Joined: 12/9/06
#16re: Appalling audience behavior at Little Mermaid last night
Posted: 6/1/08 at 12:11pmYep, sounds about right. When I went I encountered a lot of the same annoying things. Kids singing, pictures being taken and a LOUD lady talking on her cell phone during the entire overture. In that case two seperate ushers spoke to her and yet she yapped away. Made me beyond angry.
"As we all should probably have learned by now, to be a Stephen Sondheim fan is to have one's heart broken at regular intervals" - Frank Rich
Dearest, how can this be so? You were dead, you know. - Candide
Oh my god, this show has everything! Half naked guys and girl on girl action! - [title of show]
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Dearest, how can this be so? You were dead, you know. - Candide
Oh my god, this show has everything! Half naked guys and girl on girl action! - [title of show]
(My avatar? Why, yes! That is Laura Benanti making out with a chick!)
Broadway Star Joined: 12/31/69
#17re: Appalling audience behavior at Little Mermaid last night
Posted: 6/1/08 at 12:17pm
Something similar happened to me in Mary Poppins, although not as hardcore as this.
This woman was verbally abusing his nine-year-old son, commanding him to enjoy the show! She was also shouting how much she had spent for her ticket. Everyone was very annoyed.
#18re: Appalling audience behavior at Little Mermaid last night
Posted: 6/1/08 at 12:29pm
Someone should have called the cops on her. She could have put that three year old in danger wandering around NYC drunk.
How horrible.
So, that was the Drowsy Chaperone. Oh, I love it so much. I know it's not a perfect show...but it does what a musical is supposed to do. It takes you to another world, and it gives you a little tune to carry with you in your head for when you're feeling blue. Ya know?
#19re: Appalling audience behavior at Little Mermaid last night
Posted: 6/1/08 at 12:34pmThey should do what some movie theaters do here. They give a device to random patrons. If there is a disruption in the theater, the patron presses a button and it calls a manager. If the disruption is obvious when the manager walks into the theater he/she handles it. If not, you can get the manager's attention to have it taken care of.
Just give the world Love.
BrodyFosse123
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/27/06
#20re: Appalling audience behavior at Little Mermaid last night
Posted: 6/1/08 at 12:37pm
From the lips of numerous Broadway actors --yes, believe it or not -- the actors on stage can HEAR everything, even when they're upstage and sometimes even in the wings. They can also see clearly the front portion of the orchestra and any activity in the orchestra section and front mezzanine. Even if someone is walking at the back of the house (behind the orchestra section), they can also see this, so yes... they DID see the little girl standing on her mother's lap as well as every annoying nuance this woman was doing. I'm surprised someone in the cast didn't say something to the stage manager and have him pass word to the house manager. Its been done in the past.
#21re: Appalling audience behavior at Little Mermaid last night
Posted: 6/1/08 at 12:44pmThat's absurd. I can't imagine how the ushers didn't notice something like that.
I am a firm believer in serendipity- all the random pieces coming together in one wonderful moment, when suddenly you see what their purpose was all along.
gypsy4
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/14/07
#22re: Appalling audience behavior at Little Mermaid last night
Posted: 6/1/08 at 1:02pm
I think one of the actors should have gotten out of character and slapt that mother in the face.Even when I was a little kid I always hated when audience menbers would be disruptive.and why do people think they can talk during the overture are they not important anymore
Updated On: 6/1/08 at 01:02 PM
#23re: Appalling audience behavior at Little Mermaid last night
Posted: 6/1/08 at 1:32pmWell - it is a Disney show. This is exactly why I am cautious about purchasing a ticket to a Disney show on Broadway. At least when it is on tour, there are other showings if there are disruptions.
So, that was the Drowsy Chaperone. Oh, I love it so much. I know it's not a perfect show...but it does what a musical is supposed to do. It takes you to another world, and it gives you a little tune to carry with you in your head for when you're feeling blue. Ya know?
#24re: Appalling audience behavior at Little Mermaid last night
Posted: 6/1/08 at 1:39pmSierra should have channeled Patti. That would have taken care of the situation!
Just give the world Love.
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