Are They Still Serving Alcohol During "Rock Of Ages"?

[Testing1232]

Posted: 11/12/08 at 5:49pm

Anyone been there of late?

Just wondering if they are still serving alcohol during the performance?

TIA !

[srtfan]

Posted: 11/12/08 at 6:05pm

Yes....I don't know whether to add "unfortunately", or not to that...
I suppose anything that keeps the dollars flowing in and the crowd happy is a good thing...

[Testing1232]

Posted: 11/12/08 at 6:11pm

Thanks for the reply, Srt....

I would add the "unfortunately"- I like the show, but it doesnt really keep "all" of the crowd happy.

Friend of mine went with her sister, and they really liked the show, however, most of the experience was ruined by people in front of them that decided to have too many. (her sister got a drink spilled all over her)

I know a number of people that dont want to go because of the drinking during the show.

[Ilovekevincahoon]

Posted: 11/12/08 at 6:56pm

Yes and I will add unfortunately, people are getting too drunk. as of late, I have seen the show 6 times. I think people are getting too loud and obnoxious, to the point where one of the actors even commented that they were stepping on his lines.
Singing along is one thing shouting out answers to their lines and also saying the lines before the cast definitely is taking away from the enjoyment.
I have tickets for one more show. I may take a break for a couple of weeks.
It would be fine before, after and during intermission, I am even ok with binging it back to your seat.
But order during the show, having to pass drinks down the row, having people spill drinks on you is not the way I want to enjoy theatre. And it is still theatre not a rock concert....sorry to rant but that's my opinion....
Updated On: 11/12/08 at 06:56 PM

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 11/12/08 at 7:54pm

Not to mention the mess that you have to walk over when leaving the show. I had a pretty good seat (Orchestra Center, Row G) and the number of plastic cups I had to walk over was disgusting. I know it's too expensive to consider, but if they're going to allow drinks AT ALL, the seats should have a drink holder on the arms of the seats, like they do in the newer movie theatres.

[Testing1232]

Posted: 11/12/08 at 8:13pm

<< It would be fine before, after and during intermission, I am even ok with binging it back to your seat.
But order during the show, having to pass drinks down the row, having people spill drinks on you is not the way I want to enjoy theatre. And it is still theatre not a rock concert....sorry to rant but that's my opinion.... >>

Totally agree ! The last time we were at the show, the people in back of us got loaded, and were talking out loud basically the entire show !!

If I want to be around drunk, rowdy people, I can go to a crappy bar, and get in for free !!!

And its a shame, because I like the show alot, but they really need to stop serving the alcohol.

Agree with you as well, Ed. The place winds up looking like a $2 movie theatre !!!

Posted: 11/12/08 at 10:13pm

Alcohol has a very high profit margin so in tough economic times I can't see them stopping the sale of it any time soon. They are happy to be making enough money to still be open. Besides, there are people who go precisely because of the ability to drink through the show. I also suspect the calling out lines before the actors is a Catch 22. This is the type of show that has the potential to become a cult hit ala Rocky Horror, something that could be both desirable and limiting. It seems to be headed well into that direction.

Ah well...the 80s were marked by excess...it's fitting.

[Jersey Girl2]

Posted: 11/12/08 at 10:39pm

I was there Monday- they still were. I have been there 5 times- it hasn't really been a problem. I think rude people will be rude with or without alcohol.

[Pianolin717]

Posted: 11/12/08 at 10:41pm

so question...
i have heard NOTHING but good reviews :)
i would love to see this show
but do you think it will have a shot at a broadway transfer? it sounds like it would do well... and if so, im sure they wouldnt allow the alcohol the same way, but do you think that would affect the crowd?

[Jersey Girl2]

Posted: 11/12/08 at 11:01pm

>>>but do you think that would affect the crowd?

Not at all. The show is so much fun- you don't need the alcohol to have a good time.

[Pianolin717]

Posted: 11/12/08 at 11:05pm

but for all the ppl that do come drunk... do you think they wont show up?

[Jersey Girl2]

Posted: 11/12/08 at 11:13pm

Won't show up because it's Broadway- or because there isn't more alcohol?

I think the biggest obstacle will be the price. If it goes to Broadway the price will have to go up. Right now anyone can afford to go...more than once. If the tickets are selling for $100 - who can go several times?

[Pianolin717]

Posted: 11/12/08 at 11:18pm

true... see, i wish there were more theatres like the Helen Hayes... its big enough to be a broadway show... yet small enough to be cheaper... ugh!

Posted: 11/12/08 at 11:22pm

"...but do you think that would affect the crowd?"

___________________________________________________________________
Yes it would. The set is somewhat oversized for the theater, the audience is right at the stage, there are often so many people on stage at once, it's hard to pay attention to everything, the actors break the wall on occasion and the narrator contributes to an intimacy between the audience and the action. So it's not just the alcohol that contributes to some people crossing the line. The show is made for audience participation. Compared to a real 80s arena metal concert, it's pretty tame. It's still a musical.

Look, Rent heads, kids at Beauty and the Beast, screaming teenage girls at Wicked and countless other shows attract an out-of-control element, evidently without any visible alcohol involved. People scream uncontrollably and yell out at Patti during a conventional musical like Gypsy.

I think ROA could successfully move to Broadway and I think the show is achieving what the producers intended. The 80s were not a polite time so don't go thinking you won't get a drink spilled on you. LOL It will never be the kind of show where you can hear a pin drop no matter what venue you put it in. Why anyone would expect that is a mystery to me.

[Jane2]

Posted: 11/13/08 at 9:32am

Excellent post, starlight, I concur!

[VocalLizzy]

Posted: 11/13/08 at 10:14am

I'm with you on this one, Starlight (and Jane2).

I will say it is nice to have a glass of wine before the show (to take the edge of my NYC edginess at the end of a long day and get me ready to have fun)...and that's enough.

Miss Lizzy

[Testing1232]

Posted: 11/13/08 at 12:53pm

<< This is the type of show that has the potential to become a cult hit ala Rocky Horror, something that could be both desirable and limiting. It seems to be headed well into that direction.

<<

While I understand the "comparisons" with "RH"- (went for years to the midnight showings"), people werent loaded, and it wasnt "theatre"- (meaning at a Bway/Off-Bway house)

[Testing1232]

Posted: 11/13/08 at 12:59pm

<< Alcohol has a very high profit margin so in tough economic times I can't see them stopping the sale of it any time soon. >>

When/if enough of the patrons (not to mention the castmembers) start complaining that people are getting loaded, I think it will stop.

I have been to hundreds of shows, and of course, there are rude people everywhere, no doubt. However, the "rudeness potential" goes way up when people go overboard with liquor.

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 11/13/08 at 1:31pm

I agree with Testing re: comparison with Rocky Horror Show. It was a movie, the rowdies were usually at midnight or later shows, everyone knew the lines backwards and forwards, and a good time was had by all. IMO, that was an event, a happening, a night to act crazy. Rock of Ages is a live production in a theatre, with live actors doing their damndest to give a good show. No, it should not be treated like a Euguene O'Neill play with all due solemnity. And I'll go along with the boisterous applause and, as long as it doesn't detract from what's going on the stage, the woowoos and all that. But I do draw the line at treating live theatre like a pigpen. My opinion.

[Jane2]

Posted: 11/13/08 at 2:13pm

"people werent loaded, and it wasnt "theatre"- (meaning at a Bway/Off-Bway house)"


Oy, gotta disagree on that one. As someone who was there for every single showing for one year, and part of the cast who acted out the film in front of the screen-the crowd was pretty darn loaded!

To say it was a party was an understatement. One of the best years of my life!

[BlueforBroadway]

Posted: 11/13/08 at 2:34pm

I was at the late show on Friday in the second row and the drunk girl in front of me wanted me to get up and dance during the show. she said she would pick a song and then we could all get up. Well, I told her I didn't think so. She seemed put off by that. Even one of the actors had to make a motion for her to tone it down.

The girl behind me was singing so loud that I had a hard time hearing the actors sing. Would have been a bitter better if she was not tone deaf.

I'm all for having a good time enjoying the show, but I want to 'enjoy the show'.

As a contrast, the matinee the next day was like a mortuary. lol

[Testing1232]

Posted: 11/13/08 at 3:01pm

<< Oy, gotta disagree on that one. As someone who was there for every single showing for one year, and part of the cast who acted out the film in front of the screen-the crowd was pretty darn loaded!

To say it was a party was an understatement. One of the best years of my life! >>

Jane,

Whether or not the crowd was "loaded" was not really my point.
Sorry if it was a bit confusing)

My point was that you cant compare the two.

"RH" was performed (at least the ones that I went to) in a movie theatre. (Yes, it was a party, no doubt !! We had a blast each week!)

The differences were:

1) At "RH", they were not serving drinks DURING the performance to the patrons

2) It was not performed in a Broadway/off-Bway house.

3) People are not paying (at least the people that I know), including myself, $10 ( I think thats what we paid for "RH" at that time) to see "ROA".

I am not a prude by any stretch... If people want to have a drink (or two or three) before a show, that is obviously their business. But to serve it in the theatre, during the performance (AND you have to listen to orders being taken as well) is not a good thing.

Just my .02

[SillySara]

Posted: 11/13/08 at 3:09pm

While I am not completely against alcohol being served at the show, I do have a problem with people ruining my experience because a) they are being obnoxious and b) a server is screaming over the actors to get an order. There is a level of professionalism that should be achieved at any theatre, on or off broadway.

And yes, the 80s were filled with excess...and that fact is what makes the Stacie Jax character so perfect. But the audience is not in the 80s, they are in a theatre. Spilling a drink on someone you do not know is completely unnecessary. That's when it's time for someone to get caught off. Also, this show absolutely promotes audience interaction, which I love! But I do not appreciate someone talking over the show because they are wasted. Carrying on a personal conversation is very different than participating in the show.

Call me a party pooper, but I think the alcohol should be limited to before and intermission. Sure, bring the drinks back to your seats. But please, do not ruin other people's good times.

[Mistress_Spouzic]

Posted: 11/13/08 at 4:36pm

I think its very easy to draw a comparison here to Rocky Horror, that was actually one of my first impressions of the show- that it has that quality and potential. And while you may not have seen Rocky Horror on Bway or been a participant there, that doesnt mean the show didnt play Broadway. It did, I saw it 17 times on Broadway at the Circle in The Square, it closed January 2002 after seeing such stars as Joan Jett, Sebastian Bach and myriad of guest narrators. They sold audience participation bags with a boa, playing card, newspaper, flash light and I dont remember what else. The crowd that came yelled a mish mash of callbacks that people knew from the movie and their own creations tailored to the Bway production. Audiences who came there had a mixed bag of reactions as well because there were diehard theatre fans and diehard rocky horror fans and decorum was inconsistent from night to night. As for the alcohol, theyre playing into the concert settings of the 1980s, and I think it suits the show. Unfortunately theres no way to know or police a patrons alcohol tollerance so yes there will inevitably be on occassion people who get carried away. But I also think with a show like this, you can reasonably guess ahead of time what kind of audience you will meet and attend according to your preferred degree of rowdiness, with Mondays being the only unpredictable night due to most other shows being closed. If youre attending a Friday night 10pm performance and not expecting a crowd that wants to party, then well I've got a bridge you might be interested in.

Posted: 11/13/08 at 4:42pm

FTR, no way did I mean to indicate I approved of drinks being spilled on audience members. I was simply saying that I would not go to this show without the realization that a drink might be spilled on me and would adjust my clothes and expectations accordingly. (hic) If the afternoon performances are a relatively more sedate, traditional theater experience, then what’s the problem? Something for everyone. But personally, I'll opt for the rowdy good time on Saturday night.

It’s a great, fun show and deserves time to develop legs. It’s an expensive production by off-Broadway standards. I believe I read somewhere it is the most expensive off-Broadway production ever. That’s got to mean the producers intend an eventual Broadway run.

Every show is doing everything and anything to get asses in seats right now, except the established top 5. There’ve been lots of comps and discounts, just as everywhere else so one SRO show doesn’t really mean much, although it’s a good sign. When every weekend starts selling out and it’s hard to find a weekday ticket, tell me about it.

The fact that alcohol sales dovetail nicely with the themes of this show, is a plus to producers because those revenues are very important right now. It's up to the venue and producers to strike a balance on acceptable behavior and it seems like that's what they're doing.

Different topic: I wonder if Will Swenson is considered a big draw? When he leaves to do Hair, will it affect sales? Any ideas, thoughts, gossip on who they'll bring in as a replacement?

eta: thanks for the info on RH, Mistress. I knew it played live.


Updated On: 11/13/08 at 04:42 PM