Okay, this was a really bad one:
Last week, I am seeing An American in Paris at the Hollywood Pantages and sitting in Center Orchestra, Row F, 3 seats off aisle. Not, in other words, the cheap seats.
The show starts, and the 3 seats in front of me are empty. They remain that way for about 15 minutes until, during "I Got Rhythm", a man and two women -- all middle-aged -- arrive. Now, rather than quietly slinking into their seats to minimize their disruption, they fuss and bother, taking off coats, juggling purses, etc. They finally get settled. But apparently the one woman doesn't like her seat, so they all get up and shuffle around -- moving themselves and the aforementioned coats & purses to a new configuration.
Well, thank goodness that's done. But wait! Scarcely two minutes go by before the man stands up, talks to the women, and then makes his way out of the row -- once again disrupting everyone around. Then, unbelievably, within seconds of his departure, both women pull out their cellphones! One starts texting, while the other fires up a game! Before I can say anything, the guy sitting next to them tells them to put the phones away, which -- after some fussing -- they do. (Remember, these are not kids I'm talking about but grown, middle-aged adults.)
The women actually start paying attention to the stage at this point, but the man is nowhere to be seen. He doesn't come back for a good 20 minutes -- at which point he doesn't return to his seat but, rather, stands in the aisle, leaning over to talk to the woman who is 3 seats in. I can't hear what is being said, but he's obviously asking for something as she picks up her purse and starts digging through it. (Meanwhile, I can't believe this ass has the nerve to stand there and block people's view of the stage. But, as he's not blocking mine, I don't say anything.) The woman finally locates whatever she was looking for, hands it to him, and he disappears again.
He is gone for most of the rest of the act, only returning for the last 15 minutes or so. At which point, he sits down -- and proceeds to carry on a conversation with one of the women! He never even looked at the stage. After about a minute and a half of this nonsense, I have had enough and lean forward. In my quietest, coldest voice I say, "Could you please be quiet? You are disrupting the entire audience." I was a little afraid it might trigger a brawl, but, believe it or not, it worked! He shut up, turned to the stage -- and the final 10 minutes of Act One proceeded without further incident.
During intermission, with the offenders absent, everyone in the vicinity was talking about them. Several people actually thanked me to speaking up. We also apprised the ushers of the situation, and they were going to talk to the party -- but, fortunately, the jerks did not come back after intermission.
It made for a much better experience during Act Two. :)
Excited to be in the beautiful newly- renovated theater? Or was I just lucky? Does this reinforce the idea that the announcements are pointless?
