Audience Behavior Cursed Child

[hearthemsing22]

Posted: 3/2/22 at 9:08am

Wow. 
 

I have words. I don’t think audience members have any respect for actors anymore. Literally groups of people coming in late in act I last night. Multiple phone use in my area, so much so that I had to ask people to put them away during intermission because it was so incredibly distracting. 
if you can’t go to a show without putting your phone away, there’s something wrong. 
People talking during the show. Eating (which I obviously can’t say anything about. 
 

it was awful. I don’t get it. Does no one respect actors anymore?? 
 

on the bright side, during certain special moments (effects and such) people were amazing with their reactions. As someone who saw the show before that was fun to see/hear. 

[ashley0139]

Posted: 3/2/22 at 9:14am

I was there on Saturday and it was by far the worst audience I have ever experienced in a Broadway theatre. People getting up and down constantly, excessive crinkling and eating, talking, phones going off. I was able to tune it out mostly and enjoy the show but wow. 

[Phantom4ever]

Posted: 3/2/22 at 9:17am

I agree the Cursed Child audience is bad. When I went, the row of children in front of me asked loud questions like they were on the living room couch watching a movie, and the adults around them answered all of their questions in full voice. All of the children and Apple watches and they would raised their hands over their heads and stretch and play with their hair etc. and the bright light of their watches would shine in my face.  

[dramamama611]

Posted: 3/2/22 at 10:20am

This is something you will see more AT family/kid shows - more people with no theater experience bringing in the family.  It has little to do with respect, it has to do with experience (or lack of it).

[Dollypop]

Posted: 3/2/22 at 10:40am

dramamama611 said: "This is something you will see more AT family/kid shows - more people with no theater experience bringing in the family. It has little to do with respect, it has to do with experience (or lack of it)."

 

It's not just kids. I was at the Radio City Christmas Show and it was the adults who were disruptive: constant trips to the bathroom, beer drinking in the theatre (an obvious cause for the bathroom runs), conversations, and eating hot dogs during the performance. The staff did nothing to quell the vocal noise.

A few years ago my granddaughter and I were at a performance of LA BOHEME at the Metropolitan Opera when the woman next to her pulled out a tablet and started watching the movie MOONSTRUCK. My granddaughter, who was 9 at the time, politely told the woman it was distracting her and asked her to put it away, which she did. We were both glad when the woman left after the 1st act.

 

[Loopin’theloop]

Posted: 3/2/22 at 7:15pm

dramamama611 said: "This is something you will see more AT family/kid shows - more people with no theater experience bringing in the family. It has little to do with respect, it has to do with experience (or lack of it)."

These people have a lack of experience being in a public space and having to share with other people? They’ve never left that house?

Your response is utter nonsense. Basic manners and human decency in any person, would make them think twice about how their behaviour has an effect on those around them.

[pmensky]

Posted: 3/2/22 at 9:03pm

I once heard that an audience will become comfortable with laughing out loud during a comedy only after a few people start the trend, then the audience becomes comfortable because they feel they have permission to laugh. I wonder if this kind of bad behavior spreads for the same reason.

[joevitus]

Posted: 3/2/22 at 9:31pm

dramamama611 said: "This is something you will see more AT family/kid shows - more people with no theater experience bringing in the family. It has little to do with respect, it has to do with experience (or lack of it)."

I'm sure it's more pronounced at family/kid shows, but I saw my first live production in 4th grade, and I don't remember having to be told to hush. I mean, I'd been to movies before. But then, I hear people talking in movies these days all the time, too. 

[Loopin’theloop]

Posted: 3/3/22 at 5:34am

pmensky said: "I once heard that an audience will become comfortable with laughing out loud during a comedy only after a few people start the trend, then the audience becomes comfortable because they feel they have permission to laugh. I wonder if this kind of bad behavior spreads for the same reason."

That’s a really interesting question. 
 

Certainly ‘permission to laugh’ is a thing. Comedy already works so much better when you have a full house, or if not a full house if people are sat closer together. You’ll always have a company of actors desperately asking if a half empty house can be moved closer together rather than spread out over an entire auditorium (which isn’t generally possible as more often than not, people who book for the circle do so because they like that view and don’t want to be moved etc) 

I think to a certain extent you are probably correct, regarding children. Children will often be lead by example. However, when it comes to adults I think that it’s possibly more realistic to say that no, it doesn’t matter. Behaving badly in the theatre comes from being selfish and that means caring little to nothing about other people. Therefore it’s a contradiction in terms to say that people act more selfishly when they see others doing it because I think I’m general terms, these sorts of people are blisteringly unaware of anyone else. 

[ClumsyDude15]

Posted: 3/3/22 at 11:41am

hearthemsing22 - I was also at Cursed Child last night and not sure where you were sitting (I was second row on the left) but I had similar issues around me. Someone was loudly eating near me and someone else kept shaking their ice from their drink and then people behind me were straight up out loud talking including one moment where a male voice said "This is the climax" just as the final battle was amping up. 

I've seen the show several times so I'm used to the awful audiences, but it doesn't make any of their behavior right. Also, in general, last night's audience was just super unresponsive and I felt so bad for the cast as you can tell there were moments where they were like - is anyone out there? The woman next to me I don't think made a single noise nor applauded once. I mean, I get it - it's a Wednesday in the middle of March, but as Daniela in In The Heights says - show some freaking spirt! 

 

Updated On: 3/3/22 at 11:41 AM

[dramamama611]

Posted: 3/3/22 at 12:30pm

Loopin’theloop said: "dramamama611 said: "This is something you will see more AT family/kid shows - more people with no theater experience bringing in the family. It has little to do with respect, it has to do with experience (or lack of it)."

These people have a lack of experience being in a public space and having to share with other people? They’ve never left that house?

Your response is utter nonsense. Basic manners and human decency in any person, would make them think twice about how their behaviour has an effect on those around them."

Im not EXCUSING the behavior and I find it appalling as well. But people that are both unknowledgeable and entitled ("I PAID for this" create these problems.   It's like going to a Disney on Ice show,theyve been taught that behavior doesn't matter.