Audience Behavior — Page 3

The worst experience I've had was seeing Next to Normal in Pittsburgh. The couple sitting next to me came in late at the beginning of the show and after intermission. The woman was eating candy and the man had some sort of cold and kept coughing and blowing his nose. Both of their cell phones rang at different points during the show.

Plus to make it even more awkward the man was on the larger side and decided he would be more comfortable if he put his arm across the back of my seat. I whispered for him to move it and he politely did, but come on! That's just ridiculous to me.

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This was on Thursday night and I was front row center Mez. I really just don't understand some people.

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I didn't have any problems Sunday night, but Thursday I wanted to HURT people. My little cousin wants to see "Wicked" when it's at the Benedum Center in September and I can only imagine what kind of circus that is going to be. I saw it twice on Broadway and while it's a bearable show it tends to contain an unbearable audience.

Although, that makes me wonder this question. Are audiences worse with touring shows or with actual Broadway shows?

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Updated On: 4/14/11 at 08:23 PM

I was at a show the other week and the seat next to me was open, the person sitting in the row behind me thought it was ok to put her feet up on the top on the chair. see looked like she was sitting in her lazy boy at home. i couldnt believe it and of course that is all i could see in the corner of my eye.

I was at "Sister Act" on Monday and someone was taking flash pictures from the second box on the left. Also annoying was at Roundabout at Studio 54 while seeing "The People in the Picture" in the Mezz. The ushers kept flashing their flashlights. It was really distracting.

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I will never forget the time I went to see The Lion King about three years ago and all I could hear were children talking. Parents, silence your children. I work in childcare, I understand it can be difficult but when you are paying $70+ for tickets you deserve to actually HEAR the show.

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After seeing shows in New York for many many years, I just witnessed the absolute worst audience behavior I've ever seen in the audience for The Woman in Black in London. There was a group of about 100 15-17 year old school kids clearly on a school outing, and when the show started (one man on the stage, another comes down the aisle from the back of the house) all of them just continued their conversations in full voice. No one could hear the opening few minutes of the play because about a hundred kids were carrying on their conversations.. then the SHHing started, and a woman a few rows in front of them yelled "CAN YOU BE QUIET?!" over the actors speaking. Any time there was any action in the show-- the woman in black walking down the center isle, a loud noise, a joke-- the teenagers erupted in more talking and laughter until they were each SHHed again about twenty times.

As soon as intermission started a good number of people bolted from their seats to complain to ushers and the house manager and the house manager was huddled with their school teachers I assume trying to tell them to make the kids behave better or leave. I don't know if they ended up kicking out the whole group or the teachers decided that the kids couldn't keep it together but just a few minutes before Act 2 started they told the group they'd be leaving and all of the kids sprang out of their seats laughing and cheering like they were excited to get out and proud of themselves. The whole audience was turned around glaring at them, a few people "boo"ed them, a man yelled "you should be ashamed of yourselves!" while the kids were laughing and waving goodbye and a few stuck up their middle fingers to the rest of the audience as they left. After they left the orchestra was about half empty, but at least we got to enjoy the rest of the show. I had honestly never seen anything like it and everyone around me was totally shocked at how disgusting their behavior was, especially for older teenagers, completely unacceptable.

I wish it were only an issue of the differences between cultures, but unfortunately it's not. It's a matter of manners, which more and more seems like a folksy, outdated notion.

When I saw GYPSY with Lupone, my iPhone apparently hit something in my pocket and turned itself back on. Didn't know 'til it RANG! With Lupone on stage no less. Practically ripped my thigh off to stifle it -- I swear I'd have broken it in my pocket if I could have figured out how. Shew. A truly terrifying moment.

I farted during PRISCILLA and an usher came over and yelled at me.

People are ignorant filthy creatures and egghumor is right on the money. With ticket prices as high as they are and Broadway clamoring to create bombastic, expensive spectacles based on crap movies the bar is being lowered considerably.

People nowadays feel entitled to be not be inconvenienced in any way during a show and the includes talking freely, sharing comments, talking to the stage, eating, shaking their ice in those F@#KING PLASTIC CUPS ( I still want the person who invented that idea to be castrated.), texting, singing along. It's grotesque.

It's no better in movie theatres which are ridiculous as well.

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"Oh Christ, those F*CKing plastic cups with ice. Because God forbid people have to sit for two hours without being able to put something in their lard ass pie holes."

Amen Jordan. I remember the good old days when you had 3 minutes to pound your drink after waiting 10 minutes to get it and not being allowed into the theatre with it.

Now these slobs come back to their seats LATE with icy drinks in plastic cups, all matter of candy and food. It's like a f#@king tractor pull.

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What I don't get is that some shows don't specifically say no taking of pictures. Tonight at "House of Blue Leaves" they just say cell phones and electronic devices. Needless to say people were snapping pictures before and after the announcement. Cell phones popped out all over the place for the curtain call.

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I understand some are foreign require some translation, but they should have the courtesy to keep it to a VERY LOW WHISPER.

At PRISCILLA, there was this Eastern European couple (Whether they were Russian, Polish, or Ukrainian was anybody's guess). The wife was translating for the husband (rather loudly), and I turned around and shot them a dirty look, which they returned.

...Thank God they left at intermission.

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