Audience Member Pet Peeve

I went to see Be More Chill last night (absolutely loved it, by the way) and on the way out of the theater, there was another audience member loudly talking about all the things he hated about the show. Like, come on, dude. If you have an issue with the show, wait until you leave the crowd before you start ripping on it. I found it so incredibly rude and I literally almost said something to him about it.
Ive been to a lot of shows and Ive never seen this happen before Figured I’d post to see if you guys have ever run into something like this or other annoying audience member stories.

Updated On: 4/26/19 at 07:37 PM

An audience member gave his opinion of a show AFTER it was over and you find that objectionable? People have a right to their opinion. As long as he didn't interrupt the show, who cares???

TobiasRagg said: "South Fl Marc said: "An audience member gave his opinion of a show AFTER it was over and you find that objectionable? People have a right to their opinion. As long as he didn't interrupt the show, who cares???"

I do find it objectionable because you don’t know who’s there in the crowd when you’re saying these things. Could be family members or even crew members. It’s not even like he was being reasonable or civil about it too. It was stuff like “the lyrics really sucked”, etc. He didn’t interrupt the show but at least wait until you’re out of the theater."



Calm your t*its! People are allowed to speak to one another on the way out of a show. You don’t want to hear it—don’t eavesdrop. Or stick cotton in your ears. Would you be so offended if they were talking loudly about how AMAZING everything was?

Updated On: 4/25/19 at 11:22 PM

JSquared2 said: "TobiasRagg said: "South Fl Marc said: "An audience member gave his opinion of a show AFTER it was over and you find that objectionable? People have a right to their opinion. As long as he didn't interrupt the show, who cares???"

I do find it objectionable because you don’t know who’s there in the crowd when you’re saying these things. Could be family members or even crew members. It’s not even like he was being reasonable or civil about it too. It was stuff like “the lyrics really sucked”, etc. He didn’t interrupt the show but at least wait until you’re out of the theater."



Calm your t*its! People are allowed to speak to one another on the way out of a show. You don’t want to hear it—don’t eavesdrop. Or stick cotton in your ears. Would you be so offended if they were talking loudly about how AMAZING everything was? "

:’D

I’m calm. Lmao. And personally, I wasn’t offended. I just thought it was rude. So sorry for “eavesdropping” on someone purposefully trying to make it known to a crowd that he hated the show. I think everyone reading this is thinking that I just listened in on a conversation. It was literally a person announcing how he felt to no one in particular, as soon as the curtain dropped. I’ve seen shows that I really don’t like but I don’t make a spectacle of it because I have respect for the people who devote their lives to the work.

<<edited by BWW staff>>

Updated On: 4/26/19 at 11:42 PM

DiscoCrows said: "I think this is pretty subjective, and depends heavily on his own entitlement(s) as an audience member.

Yeah, I think most people on this board would agree that this is rude, but in all fairness, he did just walk out of a Broadway production, helmed bypeople who literally work at the top of their craft to make a living. If anyone can take it, then it's going to be the team of people at the Lyceum running this show every night. Not saying he's right for speaking up, I personally never would've until I left, but he probably didpay upwards of $100.00 for it and he is entitled to his own opinion so long as he doesn't disrupt the show and is not unreasonable in his deliverance of said criticisms.

On the contrary, if he had walked out of a local High School production of Be More Chill saying the same things for everyone to hear, then I think that's a completely different story and it would've made sense to stand up and tell him to cut the crap."

I completely agree with you in that sense. He was being over-the-top in the way he delivered the criticism. He was sort of just announcing it to everyone. He’s absolutely entitled to his own opinion and I’m all for any type of differing opinions, he just went about it the wrong way.

Also, thanks for an actual educated response without the aggression that everyone else seems to have for some reason. I’m all for civil and respectful conversation and debate without telling people to “calm their t*ts”

Childish infighting aside...

I agree with the OP.

When someone is giving a loud opinion immediately following the show while people are just trying to make their way toward the exit it’s always about them, not about the work itself. They want people to agree with them. It seems a little classless to me.

This actually happened to me on Sunday at All My Sons. I thought the production was excellent and the woman next to me, less than 10 seconds after the curtain call, said “Wasn’t that absolutely terrible?” It was really jarring. And it wasn’t a conversation starter. When I replied that I liked it, she shrugged me off. She didn’t want to have a discussion.

I always wait until I’m outside of the building. It seems correct to me to be outside the space where it happened, whether my thoughts are positive or negative.

And from a professional standpoint, especially at previews or Off-Broadway or a hot ticket, you never know who you’re sitting next to. Being the critic no one asked for makes you seem like a rube.

TobiasRagg said: "I do find it objectionable because you don’t know who’s there in the crowd when you’re saying these things. Could be family members or even crew members. It’s not even like he was being reasonable or civil about it too. It was stuff like “the lyrics really sucked”, etc. He didn’t interrupt the show but at least wait until you’re out of the theater."

So you're offended on behalf of others who may not even have been there or heard anything?

I've known people who were in polarizing shows on Broadway, not to mention specifically having a friend in BMC, and they are not in a bubble, they know they're not everyone's jam. No worries...

Aren't a lot of thoughts shared during intermission as well? What I find interesting is when a show is in previews, where a lot of creatives are at the production, and people just voice their opinions without regard for this. Although they probably don't know these people are there/near them, does anyone think this affects the production?

haterobics said: "magictodo123 said: "Aren't a lot of thoughts shared during intermission as well? What I find interesting is when a show is in previews, where a lot of creatives are at the production, and people just voice their opinions without regard for this. Although they probably don't know these people are there/near them, does anyone think this affects the production?"

Well, in previews, if people think something in the show stinks, that is the time they can still try to do something about it... they are working in a collaborative artform, so the audience reaction is the point of out of town tryouts and previews. If the audience was external to the equation, they could just open a perfect show without us being involved. But how a show is being received is what they are specifically there to address, so if anything, previews are the time to loudly declare what isn't working around the creatives."

Right. I also like seeing shows in previews because when I attended several at shows off-Broadway, there would always be creatives seated in the back rows of the theater with laptops or notebooks making notes. It was always interesting to see!

Ultimately its just classless. I get people like that who want to make it about themselves and not the show, on either end. If someone LOVES it thats great, but sometimes people act like that show is for them specifically and no one else. Same with people who hate it, its like dude people may have loved that and had an amazing evening for themselves? Idk, if I truly hate something I talk quietly or we all just nod and move on and discuss on our way home. He's allowed to do this, doesn't mean it isn't totally classless and rude if he's vehemently making a point he hated it, just move on dude.

I think in the age of social media, most people tend to post their opinions public forums like this one. I've heard people voicing their opinions during intermission, but normally I don't hear much about a show--I usually just see peoples reactions on Instagram, Twitter, etc. I can't remember the last time I heard someone bashing a show while they were still in the theater. They may make general comments, but that's all I remember ever hearing.

I have...mixed feelings on this subject. On one hand, possibly doing it so overtly maybe was just a tad tasteless, but on the other hand...if the show is bad, it's bad (ANY show, not just BMC which I haven't seen so I can't speak to it). And please note that I said SHOW. Over the years, I've started seeing shows through a different lens...the dramaturg one. The cast members themselves are hardly ever what makes a show bad. It's usually the dramaturgy and writing. Even the best actors have a hard time getting past bad writing. That what makes me irritated when I get critical of a show and someone will say "But I was in that..." and I have to make myself clear and respond with "I didn't say YOU or the cast weren't great, I said the SHOW is". The show being bad isn't a reflection on the cast. They're just playing the cards they're dealt.

Yeah it’s tacky, I say as someone who has been majorly guilty of it in my more impetuous arrogant youth (which was sadly not all that long ago.) At least once I went on a pompous rant about how awful something was while on premises and it made me look like a giant jackass. It wasn’t about the show, it was about me and my own insecurities and blah blah. There’s a time and a place and it’s not there. I feel bad that people enjoyed a show and had to listen to some pompous doucheweasel pontificating about how it didn’t meet his precious standards.

We can learn from our poor decisions and choose to be better.