Bad Audience Behavior- Page 6

[lilprima2b]

Posted: 12/16/05 at 11:01pm

I saw a touring production of 42nd Street a couple years ago. During the final dance bit after curtain call, people were getting up and leaving. Like a LOT of people. It was awful. I HATE seeing the touring productions here - people have absolutely no courtesy; they arrive late, phones ringing, talking, leave early.

The ballet company affiliated with my studio does a performance at a park by my house every September... the stage is like a foot off the ground and people can sit right in front of it, and there are always little kids climbing onto it. Their parents don't even try to stop them. This year they finally made an announcement about it at the beginning of the show.

[broadway_baby4]

Posted: 12/17/05 at 12:23am

HBG, i think i was at the same wicked show as you. Was it november 18th by any chance? i think that's the date i saw it, and i remember that happening.

[YOU_aremyLucky_STAR]

Posted: 12/17/05 at 12:50pm

BKLYN- School Group that was so unbelievably rude to the actors. Er. Laughing at the absolute WRONG moments, and screaming out things while Eden is belting out her brains. No respect what-so-ever. And, the guy next to me slept the entire show.

PIAZZA- crinkling bags. During Clara's interlude. Boo, people, Boo!

Posted: 12/17/05 at 12:56pm

When I saw Aida with the original cast a few years ago, in the scene when Radames and Aida do it for the firs time and Aida like rips off Radames tunic and they started getting hot and heavy, there was this (probably) school group that started shouting and reacting like they couldnt handle the thought of people having sex. It clearly effected the actors. They seemed a bit distracted and pissed at this clearly annoying and immature group of people.

Posted: 12/17/05 at 1:04pm

When I saw hairspray my mom and I ended up with seats next to like this huge group of girls. And they proceeded to sing the ENTIRE show. So I finally had to turn around and be like "sorry we paid to see them not you, theres a reason nobodys giving you money to perform today". I felt bad but I was soooo mad. I mean they were like singing really loud. Also when I saw RENT this old lady behind me had smuggled in this HUGE bag of chips and ate them the entire show, while she talked loudly with her husband about how much she didnt like it. It was so annoying. Ive also encountered the usual talking children like in PTO when this little girl kept saying "mom is THAT girl christine...which ones christine!" lol wow I just have a lot of pet peves I guess. Usually everythings fine though lol.

[SirLiir]

Posted: 12/17/05 at 2:23pm

I have not seen alot of bad behavior in my time but the people who get me are the ones who talk loudly right near me. And the ones that sing...that really deters a good show. I noticed that off all the shows I have seen, Wicked seems to have the most amount of obnoxious audience members. Updated On: 12/18/05 at 02:23 PM

[YankeeGal#24]

Posted: 12/17/05 at 3:58pm

On the last night Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick were performing in "The Producers", everyone gave them a standing ovation of course. Well the women behind me remained seated and then had the nerve to tap me on the back and say that they couldn't see!!!!!! I told them to stand up, but had to laugh because it was so bizarre but I was ticked!

[Blanche]

Posted: 12/17/05 at 4:33pm

Oh my Lord,audiences these days seem so horrible. So many treat a Broadway show like they were sitting in their living rooms watching a dvd. It makes me insane.
I have witnessed the "picnic" behavior someone else mentioned. How these people got cooler-like bags into the theatre, I don't know, but I was sitting behind a woman and her two children during The Lion King and she pulled out drinks, food, the works. I couldn't believe my eyes.
Some other pet peeves. Of course, the noisy folks with their candy wrappers. People who wear so much perfume/cologne that you can't breathe. People who have to comment on things happening in the show. People who have to constantly ask "what did he say"? People who just TALK.
I HATE seeing people get up and leave before curtain call is over. That is just rude. As an actor, I know how it feels to see people leaving as you are coming out to take your bow.
There seems to be no such thing as audience etiquette anymore and it is very, very sad.

[Anakela]

Posted: 12/17/05 at 7:09pm

oh- on the people who leave early front: the both times that I saw DRS were Wed matinees (lotto wins), and the audience both times was full of old people who got up to leave right after "Dirty Rotten Number." Not even leaving during the curtain call, which is bad enough, but trying to beat the crowd and leave after (what they thought was) the last number. Like 20-30 people getting up and leaving each time, enough people to distract me (sitting up in the box seats) from the stage to looking at the aisles in the orch section instead. But then of course there's stuff after "Dirty Rotten Number," and so there'd be groups of people standing at the back of the house, in the aisles, watching until it was actually finished finished, and then they'd leave.

Since it happened both Wed matinees that I was there I'd imagine that it's got to be almost a common problem there or something? Very annoying!

And then on the camera front: I have only ever once, one usher at one show, seen an usher take away someone's camera for taking a pic inside the theatre. The usher at Light in the Piazza, in front of the rest of the audience, took away a woman's camera for taking a picture of the stage before the start of the show (the usher walked the woman to put the camera in a locker, I'm pretty sure the woman got it back after the show).

And you know what? For the rest of the night there were NO other cameras in this usher's section, no one dared to try and take a picture. I wish more ushers would (were allowed to?) take away cameras, rather than having to hear "no cameras please," "no pictures please" over and over again and nothing else happening to picture takers...

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 12/17/05 at 7:29pm

I've been to multiple shows where audience members have sung along (TBFO, Wicked, Mamma Mia!, All Shook Up) to the songs being performed. And I've experienced plenty of audience members who repeat the lines (usually comical) that were said on stage. We heard them, theres no need to repeat it!

The guy next to me at DRS had his head in his hands, crouched over the entire show and was leaning on me. I asked him if he minded but he proceeded to lean on me. So rude. And during TBFO, a group of faux "know-it-all-theater-goers" sat behind me and the ENTIRE SHOW made comments about how the cast didnt sound like who they were portraying, how Hugh didn't need to strip to his boxers for one scene (I do agree though...it just wasnt neccesarry but sex sells) etc etc. I almost died. It was AWFUL.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 12/17/05 at 7:31pm

Oh, and at the recent GYPSY revival, an older man next to me had the headphones on to project the sound on stage and not only yelled to his wife like, 15 times during the show about how he remembered "this" and didnt know who "this" was etc etc but his headphones were turned WAYYYYYY up and obviously not working very well, so I heard static in my right ear the whole evening.

[JoizeyActor]

Posted: 12/17/05 at 7:52pm

I went with my friend to the city and he stupidly ordered tickets to The Woman In White one night because he wanted to see it so badly and he didn't wait for anyone else to say they would go, so he had to go alone. Me, being the kind friend that I am, said I would go with him and try student rush. Well, I didn't get sutdent rush so I paid $50 to sit in the SECOND to last row of the Mezzanine. I guess there is a $25 difference between the two rows - go figure.

Anyways, I'm sitting up there by myself and these two women sit next to me. Just before the show starts, during the instrumental music at the beginning, the lady next to me takes out a can of Diet Coke and cracks it open loudly and places it near her feet - and mine. So now I have to make an effort to remember not to move my feet so I don't spill her soda. A few minutes later I hear another can being opened by her friend.

About 2 songs go by and the lady next to me reaches down into her bag and pulls out a personal pan pizza in a white box. She opens it up on her lap and then continues to go ahead and start eating this pizza that she whipped out of seemingly nowhere. So I had to deal with the odor of her pizza and the sound of her slurping for the entire first act of Woman in White. I looked around me in disbelief to see if anyone else was seeing this or if an usher was nearby, but nobody seemed to notice.

Luckily they had nothing left to annoy me with for the second act. Perhaps that is why I didn't really enjoy The Woman In White...Hm.

[YankeeGal#24]

Posted: 12/17/05 at 7:54pm

Re taking pictures in the theater, the only time I have seen an usher take a camera away was at the last show of 42nd Street. At other performances of the same show, they did walk around and ask people to put away cameras, but never took them away.

I hate when people leave before the final curtain call too; almost as bad are people who arrive half way through the first half of the show and then proceed to talk with one another or to me! That has happened to me a few different times, and is incredibly rude to the people around them and the actors.

[jo]

Posted: 12/17/05 at 8:13pm

>>>And during TBFO, a group of faux "know-it-all-theater-goers" sat behind me and the ENTIRE SHOW made comments about how the cast didnt sound like who they were portraying, how Hugh didn't need to strip to his boxers for one scene (I do agree though...it just wasnt neccesarry but sex sells)...<<<

As an aside to this thread --

He changed clothes onstage a few times - black pants wouldn't have gone well with the red/white pineapple Hawaiian shirt and the white shoes...hence, the change to white pants

[anjilly]

Posted: 12/17/05 at 8:42pm

In 10 years of going to shows, I've never really encountered anything like what has been described on this thread- until this fall.

In November, we had SRO to Rent- and for anyone who hasn't been to the Nederlander, there is a small bench at the very back, behind the SRO railing, with a sight-line going up the aisle. There was a middle aged couple sitting on this bench on this particular night who held a running conversation at full volume through the entire first act. No attempt to speak quietly, and not even talking about the show. As soon as the lights came up for intermission, I spun around and asked them to please do me a favor and not talk through the entire second act. They got up and left and never returned. Alas, the silence didn't make the show any better...

Also in November, this time in LA at a performance of Mamet's Romance- a man in the front row pulled out an issue of Time Magazine and proceded to read. And another person- an older man in a wheelchair- vomited loudly into a bag and handed it to an usher maybe two minutes into the show. I kind of felt bad for him, but really- if you are so sick that you know to prepare for the possibility of vomiting by carring a barf bag with you, you're too sick to go to a show.

Updated On: 12/17/05 at 08:42 PM

[kec]

Posted: 12/17/05 at 9:11pm

I was at the Wednesday Matinee of Woman in White this past week. During Michael Ball's encore of "You Can Get Away With Anything," when he picked up the rat, a woman close to where I was sitting asked "is that real?" Now, a couple of women in my area were talking a bit as the second act began, and I turned round a couple of times hoping that my action would give them a clue. When this other woman asked the question, I whispered "yes -- SHHHHH!" :rolleyes:

[Taryn2]

Posted: 12/17/05 at 10:22pm

I haven't seen anything as horrible as some off this stories. o.@

When I saw Hairspray on tour, people took pictures like Crazy. I was beginning to wonder is they had even dimmed the lights, i couldn't tell because of all the flashing. people all along my row had sandwiches, cokes, and chips out, enjoying their meals very loudly. and there were children crying off in the distance. Why anyone would bring a baby to see hairspray was beyond me.

One time i was doing a skit my friend and i had written for our new school's dedication, and out of the corner of my eye, i see my little brother coming towards the stage. First he tried to climb on it then he went towards the orchestra. FINALLY my mom came and got him (i was mortified.)

During my schools performance of oliver, People yelled snide remarks and "GO SUCH AND SUCH! YOU ROCK" during Food glorious food. People in the front row made fun of oliver's singing and our Nancy's *cough* more than ample bosom. *cough*

My friends and i went to see another school's performance of "Alive in Wonderland" and my friend would not stop making snide remarks. So i moved away from him. Sometimes i'm ashamed to be a teenager. So many of them give us a bad name.

[bwaykaykrazy]

Posted: 12/17/05 at 10:41pm

the second time i saw sweet charity...at the end when charity is crying and it is silent throughout the enitre theatre a persons cell phone went off, and this person was robably a good fifteen rows behind me. it was loud.
oh and the worst...
when i saw Mama Mia, there was this guy who obviously wasnt interested in seeing the show and had better things to do. he had this palm pilot thing and was talking to his friend on it for the entire first act. not only that but every time his friend would respond there would be this loud beeping noise. and finally when it was time for the second act (i had told him to stop), every time the show got boring he would play games on it with the sound on. ugh! IDIOTS!

[Joe Mike2]

Posted: 12/18/05 at 3:11pm

What is an SRO people fight?? I don't get it.

[elphatine]

Posted: 12/18/05 at 3:17pm

Hi Darrin! *waves*

/threadjack

Anyway. I don't know if this counts, since it's not BWay, but whatever. Our local high school did a drama called "Ghetto" this year, which is a play about a Jewish ghetto who forms a theater company in the 1940s, so it's obviously really intense and moving. And right during one of the pivotal scenes (and I know this is so typical), someone's cell phone rings... and it was LOUD. And it was some kind of overly peppy thing that sounded remotely like the Sex and the City theme song. *shakes head and rolls eyes* Oy vey.

[SirLiir]

Posted: 12/18/05 at 3:19pm

Yeah I am curious to hear about that too.

[GYPSY1527]

Posted: 12/18/05 at 3:59pm

-At the recent revival of Gypsy, some guy took off his shirt before the show and sat there the whole time with his undershirt on. It was rude and none the less gross. I was so surprised that an usher didn't say anything!
- This is more of stage door ediquet (sp?) but at the stage door after the first preview of Sweeney Todd, there was a girl and her mother who would just call actors over to take pictures with them. They wouldn't ask politley but say "PICTURE.....PICTURE?!" The mother would then proceed to say to the actors and her daughter "smile pretty" and not even say thank you to the actors. Then when Michael Cerveris came out, the mother was like "is this the one you want to take a picture with? Is this him?" in a really loud and obnoxious tone. Honestly, one of the rudest incidents I have witnessed.
- At the stage door of Chita's new show, this guy basically pushed me over when I was talking to Chita and bombared her with questions. She kindly and graciously asked him to wait as she was talking to me and about to take a picture.

[Jenny1284]

Posted: 12/18/05 at 4:47pm

I started to list all the annoying things that happened when I saw Phantom of the Opera a couple years ago, but the post got pretty long. As we were leaving the theater, though, my friend said, "I think that once we forget about the plastic bags, and the coughing, and the cell phones, and the candy wrappers, and the whispering, we'll just remember the good things, and then we'll be really glad we went." It was like every inconsiderate theatergoer was sitting in the mezzanine with us. Multiple people answered cell phones and my friend ended up shushing an elderly couple who had been whispering throughout the show.

And the last time I saw Sweeney Todd, someone took a flash photo at the end of "A Little Priest."

[sparky310]

Posted: 12/18/05 at 5:25pm

This behavior has gotten completely out of control i went to see a show. to stay un-named and the adults. i mean at 50 years old were ..in the center of the orchestra, slouched down feet up on the seats in front of them.
Although the initial blame lies on bad parenting, bad breeding and just plain stupidity. the ushers should do their jobs. Honestly, its ok to be comfortable..but good grief. some of these people think its a spa. sit up and pay attention you poor excuses for Crap.

[jo]

Posted: 12/18/05 at 5:57pm

I went to a performance of THE WOMAN IN WHITE where my companion and I had split tickets in the same row. I happened to sit next to a man who, in the middle of the first act, opened his mobile phone and whispered a few instructions ( it seemed like a business transaction to me) to the other party. He then promptly shut off his phone, but I and a few others nearby were a little surprised about the phone call.

During intermission, he noticed that I talked to my companion very briefly across the row. Right before second act opened, he and his companion graciously offered to move down a vacant seat to the side so my friend could join me in his previous seat.

Well, what can I do - I gave him the biggest smile after he offended me previously