Bad Audience Behavior — Page 6

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.

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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!

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.

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!

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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...

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.

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.

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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.

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

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.

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

Yeah I am curious to hear about that too.

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."

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