Bad Audience Behavior- Page 4

[BOYFROMOZ]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 11:27pm

Believe me, I thought that was totally unrespectfull. But think about being in their shoes. Most of these unoriented famalies want to get the day of. I know we all want to enjoy ourselves, but our saftey comes first. About the behavior: absolutley horrible. In fact, at Christmas Carol (MSG) , there were lazer lights shining at us (I was in the show) and my fellow actor almost got blind. The stage managers unfortunelly could not stop it. Believe me, planning is better, I agree with that entirely. We do have to live with these peoples habits and behaviors. Its almost doing a school project with someone you hate and want to get rid of.

[BOYFROMOZ]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 11:27pm

Believe me, I thought that was totally unrespectfull. But think about being in their shoes. Most of these unoriented famalies want to get the day of. I know we all want to enjoy ourselves, but our saftey comes first. About the behavior: absolutley horrible. In fact, at Christmas Carol (MSG) , there were lazer lights shining at us (I was in the show) and my fellow actor almost got blind. The stage managers unfortunelly could not stop it. Believe me, planning is better, I agree with that entirely. We do have to live with these peoples habits and behaviors. Its almost doing a school project with someone you hate and want to get rid of.

[jam_man]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 11:32pm

OH MY GOD!!! A 10-TUPLE POST!!! HEAD 'ESPLODS!!!

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 11:38pm

What, you think saying it 10 times will change my mind?

I don't think theater audiences should have to dumb themselves down for the sake of the uninformed theater-goer, because it only will lead to a downward spiral of even more disgusting behavior than has been listed here in this thread. These people should realize they are out of their element and learn from the experience instead of expecting everyone else to accomidate their ignorance. They are adults, they have no excuse to claim "they don't know any better" about putting their feet on the conductor!

If you don't know any better, sit down, shut up and learn from it; don't argue with the person telling you that you're wrong.

[VivaBohemia]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 11:56pm

I think my favorite one was from Fredi Walker, who originated Joanne in Rent. APparently someone had removed their shoes and had their feet on the stage...ON THS STAGE! ANd Fredi said something to them at one point. I would be mortified. Then again, I wouldn't be putting my feet on the dam stage.

I also hate late comers, but I am more inclined to be annoyed when they're late after intermission! If you get caught in the bathroom, stand off to the side untill a proper moment, just as if you were coming in late for the begining of the show. AT least in the begining, youre not missing TOO much of the story yet. Act 2 usually jumps right in.

[Anakela]

Posted: 10/25/05 at 2:13am

Oz- Orangeskittles (random: love your name!) pretty much covered it. I say her right to keep her family together and squeezed into one less seat than people ends right where my right to enjoy the show, and not have to listen to talking all through Act 1, and two people shifting around 'trying to get comfortable' on one chair, and constantly ignoring all the people shushing, etc etc etc, begins.

So when usher guy walked by during intermission and we started chatting about "Son of a Witch" and stuff I mentioned it to him, and I then actually got to hear all of Act 2.

(ps- I don't have kids (!), but based on my sister and cousins and such I'd say the one kid was 12-13 yrs old, and the one on mom's lap about 10 yrs old, if that makes a diff. I don't know if that's too young to sit alone or not, as I said no kids here.)

AND, I do think Jam_man's the winner! That's all kinds of levels of wrong!

[cookie2]

Posted: 10/25/05 at 9:28am

ok i've got a couple. neither are from broadway houses, but i think all audience members should adhere to some sort of code of audience ethics/respect.

1. There was a production of Nine at my school, done in the round. You could not get out without walking in front of a section of audience, virtually onstage. As the talented young lady who plays Guido's wife is sitting onstage center on a stool smoking a cigarette and singing (it was a while ago - i think she was singign "my husband makes movies") this man gets up, from the middle of his section, and heads towards the stage. now, we all think he is just going to make a very rude exit to the restroom, which would have been inappropriate, but if you have to go, you have to go. Sadly, he had other plans. This man walked ACROSS THE STAGE to the actress CENTER STAGE, took the cigarette from her hand(as she was singing!) and put it out on the floor and RETURNED TO HIS SEAT!!! he was escorted out during intermission and much to the credit of the actress, she kept going through the whole incident without batting an eyelash or missing one note.

2. I was in a national tour of an admittedly out-dated show about 5 teenage drug addicts in a treatment facility. the show was geared towards a young middle school age group, but unfortunately we were booked in some high schools where the kids were just too cool for us. In one performance in particular, i will NEVER forget the absolute disbelief we all felt as the lights went down and before one line was even said we heard shouts of "this SUCKS" and once the show began it was a constant stream of obscenities ranging from "F@#$ YOU" to "F@#$ OFF" and a whole colorful range of racial and sexual orientaion slurs. Towards the end of the show, my character has this moment by herself onstage where she is coming to grips with family issues and whatever, and i'm standing onstage alone, pouring my heart out and i hear "GET ON YOUR KNEES, BIT@#!!" oh did i mention they were also throwing things at us? The most shocking site of all - the 15 or more teachers who were just standing in the back of the house, glazed over, numb to it all, not doing a damn thing about it.
Updated On: 10/25/05 at 09:28 AM

[BOYFROMOZ]

Posted: 10/25/05 at 1:56pm

My computer does that too much. Sorry about that.

[BOYFROMOZ]

Posted: 10/25/05 at 2:06pm

Anakela,
Do you think that matters? The usher should of been asked just to hush them down. Some people are not like us. I think if you just tell them to be quiet (although in front row, its quite hard, then all will be accomplished. At least the actors should of had some signal like Christina and her snapping finger. Of course everyone has a right, but life is so short. People might as well make the best of a situation. Believe me, if I were you, I would just ask the usher to tell them to hush. I know you dont have kids, but crazzies do come to shows (especially Wicked). Did they move the whole family or just one person? Sometimes the ushers are not great with watching the area. I know many of those types of people.

[lildogs]

Posted: 10/25/05 at 2:07pm

Good call, orangeskittles...I hate hearing about how hard it is for families to find time together or that some people don't have to follow the rules. If you're too cheap to buy three tickets outright, stay at home. If your children are too small to enjoy a show by themselves, leave them at home. Not everything is for everybody. Not that I think children shouldn't see anything, but if they can't behave, I want them far away.

[BOYFROMOZ]

Posted: 10/25/05 at 2:11pm

The post was repeated by mistake orangekitties (love the name). I absolutley agree that people should learn and make the best of the situation. When you have a family, it is amazing how stupid they can be at a broadway theater (a little reasearch please for parents?) ORANGEKITTIES IS THE BEST!!

[lildogs]

Posted: 10/25/05 at 2:22pm

They act like that in movie theatres, stores, restaurants...you know you're getting old when you think kids are WAY more out of control that you were growing up--I was too scared of my parents to act the fool in public, plus mine were not above spanking or leaving me at the grocery store...it was the 70s...

[Piazzaslight]

Posted: 10/25/05 at 2:22pm

It's OrangeSKITTLES, not orangeKITTIES. (Love the name too.)

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 10/25/05 at 2:46pm

Aw, thanks for all the love! Just stating my opinion, I'm just glad I'm not the only one that feels that way.

lildogs, if you think you're getting old because you think kids are acting horrible, I must be well beyond my years. I think it's disturbing what some of these parents are doing. (Especially the "We don't use 'No' with our children" idiots- do they not care that this goes against everything experts teach about effective parenting?) But many adults act just as spoiled as their children, so apparently they're just perpetuating the cycle. If they're intent on destorying future generations, that's their business, but it doesn't mean I have to put up with them in public.

[lildogs]

Posted: 10/25/05 at 2:56pm

You just might turn me str8, orange...those are my sentiments exactly...And the things people let kids do on the subway are disgusting...but I digress...

[ThankstoPhantom]

Posted: 10/25/05 at 3:45pm

From my experiences with children in theatres, the parents are acting up just as much and it ends up motivatiung their children! WHat is with parents nowadays?! I'm 15 and I'm already going nuts over kids and how their parents discipline in public.

[TheaterBaby]

Posted: 10/25/05 at 3:57pm

One time, at Gypsy, the lady on the aisle seat across from me kept falling over laughing/drunk.

People who sing along....out loud!

Late comers are always a pet peeve.

I've never had a real problem with children in the audience. Anything I've been to where children have been in attendance, they've been pretty well-behaved; BUT the kicking of the back of my seat. ARG!
Whenever my parents would take my Brother and I to see a show when we were younger, they always made sure were front row mezzanine. That way there were no tall people in front of us, and no people whose seats we could kick and disturb.

[lildogs]

Posted: 10/25/05 at 5:05pm

That's a good idea, TheaterBaby....maybe that could be a kid-only zone...

[Piazzaslight]

Posted: 10/25/05 at 5:23pm

Oh, that reminded me of a few more stories:

-At "Frog and Toad," there was a kid in front of me was, for the first few minutes, was jumping up and down in his seat. Luckily, the mother pulled him down, and the show was good enough for me and the other kids to shut them up and their concentration was all on the stage.

-At "Lion King," there was a kid who put his feet in front of his seat on the balcony aisle front, and he had them there for most of the show. Thank God I was focused on the show too much too care. And, during the scene with Rafiki and the Tree of Life, when he was talking in another language, the kid was like, "I don't understand it!" and the mother said, "It's not english, honey."

Wow, I have it good compared too most of you.

Updated On: 10/25/05 at 05:23 PM

Posted: 10/25/05 at 6:24pm

The biggest one for me was when some guy left his cell phone on, and not only let it ring then answered it once or twice and so on, but EIGHT times!!! I was going to kill him he was right behind me!

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 10/25/05 at 6:34pm

The kids reminded me of another thing I heard. I was at Chitty and they have these booster seats available for small children, so they can be able to see (The Hilton Theater wasn't built with 6 year olds in mind). The usher that brought me to my seat said that soon they're considering starting to require parents to bring the child with them to get the booster seat, because parents were getting booster seats for like 10 year olds, just so they could get an even better view.

The problem is that then they're blocking people behind them AND there's not enough booster seats for the children that actually need them.

[TheaterBaby]

Posted: 10/27/05 at 1:23am

I've seen short adults get booster seats for themselves and say it was for a child. lol I don't think there should be an age limit, but a height requirement would be something to consider.

[jollipops]

Posted: 10/27/05 at 1:27am

I recently went to a performance of 'Fiddler on the Roof' starring Topol in Sydney.

Woman next to me sang the WHOLE of 'If I Were A Rich Man' REALLY LOUDLY.

Um...excuse me, I didn't pay $100 to hear you sing it, i paid to hear TOPOL sing it! Ugh!

[justme2]

Posted: 10/27/05 at 2:12am

Ok..those stories are good. But...I have one that may gross you out even more.

Mamma Mia at the Orpheum theater in SF about 2 years ago. My friends and I sit down and get comfortable. The woman sitting next to my friend decides that now, in a theater, in front of everyone, now is the proper time to remove her shoes and begin picking at her feet. Yes..you read that right..picking her feet. Searching between the toes...looking for god knows what and generally picking her cuticles instead of..say..WAITING FOR A PEDICURE.

We were NASTIFIED. Staring did nothing. Thankfully the lights went down and she was unable to carry on with her random pedicure moment.

[Piazzaslight]

Posted: 12/15/05 at 9:55pm

I have a few more:

At SWEET CHARITY, towards the end of Act One, this person from the right mezzanine akes a photo of the show. WITH FLASH, DAMMIT!!!

At the same show, throughout the second act, there was this lady next to me who was eating and drinking something that I could smell from my seat.

At THE WOMAN IN WHITE, during the seduction scene someone's pager or someting that had noise went off, causing the audience to look around.

Sheesh.