Bad Audience Behavior- Page 2

[rd2ruin]

Posted: 2/19/06 at 8:38pm

It ocurred to me, to late, that it would be upsetting for the actor it happened to, to read about it. I care more about their feelings than whether you find me ridiculous. My bad.
It did spark a lively thread and some shocking and/or funny experiences.
Updated On: 2/19/06 at 08:38 PM

[dirty rotten guy]

Posted: 2/26/06 at 8:46pm

I went to see DRS for John Lithgows lst performance. I was from row Mezz and a mother and about 4 kids sat directly behind me. About 5 minutes before the show i heard wrappers and the mom was passing around candy and said, "Everyone has candy, right?" That alone made me cringe. For the entire first act the kept opening candy, krinkling wrappers and one even popped open a soda can and drank it during the show. It was so damn obnoxious and the worst part was even when I asked the to talk they continued. I had to go get security during intermission cause it was so bad.

I just find that so disrespectfull to these actors and if you want to behave like that go to a movie theater or stay home. That just really pisses me off...

Updated On: 2/26/06 at 08:46 PM

[WickedlyPerfect]

Posted: 2/26/06 at 9:18pm

I do not condone the behavior in any way, but you have to keep in mind that people come to NYC from all over the country and many are elderly. This being said, you have to take into account the fact that many of these visitors grew up in a time when they did not have to deal with this and many parts of the country are not as accepting as NYC.
I like to think of this as what my grandparents went through with when they were my age. Instead of deal with Blacks in the south, we are dealing with the Gays in the North. Just keep an open mind.
Again, i do not agree with the behavior. I am taking a class on intervention, and we have to take these things in account all the time.

[luvliza89]

Posted: 2/26/06 at 9:24pm

There was this one girl in Sweeney, who was next to me in the front row, who kept looking at her Playbill for most of the performance. I think that's very rude for the actors just because HELLO they can see you! I don't think she fully understood what was going on but at least give the actors your attention. She also claimed to know a lot about musicals, but she didn't know who Patti LuPone was and she called an OBCR a soundtrack :/ I probably sound like a diva or something, but when her first words were "Wow, this theatre is like a lot smaller then the Gershwin", I knew I was in trouble. At least she didn't talk through it though.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 2/26/06 at 10:07pm

I was in the second to last row of the mezz for Beauty and the Beast, and this mother behind me had a plastic shopping bag and kept opening it. I even looked back and tried to make a face, but sometimes people JUST DON'T GET IT. There are always gonna be rude theatergoers and bad audience behavior.

[dirty rotten guy]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 6:43am

"There was this one girl in Sweeney, who was next to me in the front row, who kept looking at her Playbill for most of the performance."

Someone did that during the performance of Dame Edna: Back With a Vengence! Edna spotted the woman and said "Would you like to come up here and read that, you'll have more light." Then she introgated her in the normal Edna fashion and made a few more jokes at her. It was so funny!

[AlmostFamous]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 7:28am

Okayy Woman in White Closing night story here::

The show was amazing and there was soo much applause after each song but...(SPOILER WARNING)


when Mr. Fairlie announces Laura and Anne were halfsisters someone in the rear mezzanine said "YES!!" It was quite funny in such a serious plot twisting moment, that even Maria Friedman let out a slight smirk on stage.

[keatonbynumbers]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 7:51am

The first time I saw Sweeney, it was such an awkward audience experience. The two men on my left just kept talking--not even whispering, which is already annoying, but normal volume speech--during moments of silence onstage. I mean, I asked them to be quiet, but they were speaking Spanish and they also just sort of looked at me.

Also, the lady behind me with the M&Ms. Hearing her opening the bag was annoying. Hearing her munch on them was annoying. But hearing her say "Oops," and then hearing the M&Ms dropping and scattering on the floor was the most annoying thing ever.

Another thing I really hate is when people pretend they're in their own homes instead of a theatre. I think it was at Chitty when the girl sitting next to me put her feet up on the seat in front of her. The person sitting there had left during intermission so the seat was empty, but oh my GOD, this is not your HOUSE, put your feet down.

[dirty rotten guy]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 8:20am

Oh I have another quick story. The second time I saw Aida I think I was in like center Row E Orchestra, very nice tickets. Anyway there were two guys sitting directly behind me. When the show started the one guy started translating the ENTIRE show to the other guy. THE WHOLE DAMN THING! And, like you said, he didnt even attempt to whisper. That really pissed me off...

[OasisBroadway]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 9:50am

I saw a performance of Take Me Out and I was sitting a few rows from the stage. Two individuals were witting in the first row literally hooting and cheering when the guys were showering. It was obvious that they came to the show because they heard about the nudity. It was quite disgusting. One of the actors even stopped and looked at some point. I was so embarrased. Luckily at intermission they were informed to stop or they would be asked to leave.

[astonishing1985]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 9:50am

When I saw Bernadette Peters in Gypsy this old woman behind me started singing with "You'll Never Get Away From Me".
I saw Les Mis in Boston last weekend and these people who were sitting in the row in front of me, if something funny happened they would repeat it and be like "haha, master off the ass, did you hear that?" soo annoying.
I saw Romeo and Juliet at the Met and there were young people behind me who were talking and talking, I wanted to smack them, it's so rude to the people around you who are actually listening. But they left during intermission :)
and I also hate people who stand up and leave before the actors take their bow, the Met was half empty when the actors came out.

Posted: 2/27/06 at 12:54pm

This is a true story, because a friend of mine was really there. Several years back, a group of employees from one company went to see a show (don't remember what show) at a very large discount rate - in the area of $28 for an orchestra seat. One of the women - a very unsophisticated old bat - was talking during the show, and a gentleman nearby picked himself up in the middle of the show, went over to her, and told her to shut up or get out. That man: Stephen Sondheim. She did shut up.

[uncageg]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 1:26pm

I would think that whatever show you were at and whichever actor this was is used to strange things happening at performances. So I agree, why start the thread if you are not going to tell what happened?!!

I was at a preview performance of The Color Purple and during Celie and Shug's kiss, there were groans from the audience. Two African American people behind me groaned and I spun around and shot them a look and then reminded them that they were in a theatre.

[keatonbynumbers]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 1:36pm

One day, I hope Stephen Sondheim tells me to shut up.

But then again, I don't talk in the theatre. Because I like to, you know, pay attention to the show I paid to see.

[uncageg]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 1:39pm

Thank you keatonbynumbers!

Posted: 2/27/06 at 2:32pm

Stephen Sondheim never told ME to shut up, but he did (sort of) tell me to go away! I was at a party he attended, and I went over to him to tell him how much I admired him. He told me he didn't want to talk to me at that moment. Oh well. One hour later, I get a tap on my shoulder, and it's him, saying "okay, I can talk now."

[Johnnytoc]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 2:32pm

Glinda2, that story made my day.

[uncageg]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 4:34pm

Wow!

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 4:48pm

I saw Into the Woods t a high schol last October. I loved the show, but two girls behind me kept talking through the show. I really wanted to turn around and tell them to shut up.

[uncageg]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 4:55pm

Well it just ticks me off that for the longest we have had to put up with cell phones ringing but now we have to put up with the glow of the phone screens while people constantly check msgs during a show and even take calls during a show. Had one woman here in Denver at the Denver Civic Theatre take a call in the middle of Brooklyn when it premiered here. A few people said something, she said she had to take the call or something and in the middle of the show you had 3 rows of people screaming at her to leave and take the call or get off of the phone. The woman was actually mad at us!!! What is up with these people? I still think there should be a law allowing theatres to put a system in place to deactivate cell phones upon entrance. They do it either in Russia or Germany. (I think) I saw on TV where they do it at the theatre and in movie houses over there.

[beckie_nyc]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 7:21pm

Yes, funny. In Germany you have absolutely no cell phone reception in movie theaters. They block it. Nobody has ever complained about it. If you have your kid with a sitter you don't trust, you can leave your cell with an usher and he'll get you, if something comes up (how did we all survive before cell phones came along, eh?) However, I am not sure about theatres or opera houses for that matter. Will ask around.

[keatonbynumbers]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 7:28pm

Glinda2, that is the cutest/best story ever.

Ugh, I hate the cellphone glow. Like, a lot. I actually haven't encountered ringing phones and/or people answering them in a while; either audiences are wising up to how rude that is or I've just been lucky. But I see the cellphone glows all the time. What are they doing, checking the time, text messaging people? It's ridiculous.

[downtowndiva84]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 7:33pm

Sondheim's an amazing man. I haven't had the pleasure of meeting him face to face, but I wrote him in high school and he wrote back. The man is like the godfather of contemporary musical theatre and he actually took the time to write to little old starstruck me.

He's wonderful. If he ever tells me to shut up, I will happily oblige.

[xoxRogue]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 7:35pm

When I saw The Color Purple on a class trip, two boys behind me were listening to music loudly, talking, making rude comments, and were throwing things at my friends to the left of me all during the first act. They were yelled at during the show by one of the workers because of the music (someone got up and told them). They continued to do the rest of the things so right when intermission started, I turned around and yell (more like warned with a very stern voice) that it is disrespectful to the other people in the theater who actually want to be here and don't use it as an excuse to get out of class. I elaborated on that some more. They kept trying to say that they weren't doing anything. I told them that might be more convincing if I hadn't turned around and watched them do those things. They moved during intermission to somewhere else. They had no idea that I even went to the same school as them. It gave me some sort of power.

Oh, we were in the last couple rows of the theater.

Also, some kid kept on opening and shutting the emergency exit which let alot of light in and annoyed everyone in that area.

Updated On: 2/27/06 at 07:35 PM

Posted: 2/27/06 at 7:51pm

I went to see Wicked, for the first time for my 16th birthday and behind me was this man who kept putting his feet on my chair and made fun of me for buying Wicked memorablia calling me a Wicked freak. Keep in mine- this is a grown man talking to a teenager. I told him lay off or I'd tell the usher what he had done, and he stopped


During Brooklyn this little girl kept saying she wanted to go home. Her mom said "Do you like the show?" and she said. "No, I wanna go home." I swear Ramona glared at her


During the Lion King over the summer, this camp brought like half a dozen kids to the preformance and they had this huge backpacks and they kept open and making them make noise.