Bad Theater Behavior- Page 28

[notalwaysontime]

Posted: 8/9/17 at 6:03am

I got one, Friday night seeing Hamilton in San Francisco, this girl and her friend (Is say mid to late 20s) came in full of a flurry of excitement, which I totally understand but during the entire first act she was dancing VIGOROUSLY in her seat. (she was one row ahead and three seats over from me and it was still distracting) and the guys in front of me had to ask her to stop because she was shaking the whole row of seats and people asked her to stop multiple times and she wouldn't, then at intermission she was gone the second the lights came on and came back as they were going down and people tried talking to her in those brief moments they had, to stop doing that, and I noticed she stumbled a little and wondered if she was drunk maybe, and then, two songs into Act 2, I was shocked she hadn't distracted me thus far and when I glanced over, I noticed she was ASLEEP. She slept through almost the entire act, woke up breifly at the beginning of The Election of 1800, and was babbling and mumbling incoherently, and her friend basically coaxed her back to sleep for the rest of the show at that point. 

Ive been torn between being amused, thinking karma, for being so rude, bit her, and that this was the most expensive nap (both in $$$ and experience) she'll ever take, and flat out anger, because there's definitely a lot more deserving people who would have definitely enjoyed those seats properly. 

on top of that, there was a woman behind me who, loudly, not even in a whisper, kept trying to offer commentary, and was shushed MULTIPLE times by her husband. and toward the end of act one, right in the middle of the quiet, sweet Dear Theodosia, this other guy behind me suddenly, and frantically had to get out of the theater for some reason and could not have been less graceful about it. He was in the middle of the row and basically plowed through the people next to him to get out (and he was last row of the orchestra, and the leg room in those last couple rows is non existst). he didn't even give them a chance to move for him and he was making a ton of noise. There was a group of girls in the sectipn to my right who kept screaming for certain actors too, I don't know if they knew someone or were just big fans but either way it crossed the supportive line into obnoxious  

i didn't want to get the matinee ticket I saw for that day because my drive home woulda been prime rush hour and headed the bad direction, but I forgot how bad date night type crowds can be. I think I would have preferred the traffic in favor of a friday matinee crowd instead of a friday evening one. It was crazy. l

[loveinnewyorkcity]

Posted: 8/9/17 at 12:06pm

Had my first encounter with an obnoxious Apple Watch wearer in the middle of the orchestra at Miss Saigon last week...

Every five or so minutes, this girl's wrist would vibrate and light up. And it wasn't subtle. She must have had the watch on the highest brightness setting because, my God, I was blinded everytime. It didn't help that she had her arm on the armrest, with the watches' face facing in my direction. The sound of it vibrating got so distracting I actually put a finger in my ear on my right side to block it out. Twice during quieter moments in the performance she even whispered into the Watch to respond to a text. I was shocked an usher didn't approach her about it during act one since it was basically lighting up our whole row. At intermission, I moved to one of the many empty seats in the front mezz after speaking to a nearby usher about the situation. Thought it was interesting the usher instructed me to change seats instead of speaking to the person at fault for my bad experience.

 

Updated On: 8/9/17 at 12:06 PM

[KathyNYC2]

Posted: 8/9/17 at 12:14pm

Well actually you don't know if the usher spoke to the person or not, but from experience if you are rude enough to text during a show, there is a good chance you will continue to be rude and ignore the usher's wishes. So moving is not a bad idea regardless.  

iPhone watches are an usher's nightmare. Rules need to be updated to specifically include them by asking people to not only turn off your cell phones but your watches as well 

[bwayguypi]

Posted: 8/9/17 at 12:49pm

My dad fell asleep during Harvey Fierstein's 2004 performance of Fiddler. It was my first broadway show. He was disinterested through the whole thing.

My mom was not pleased with him.

We didn't ask him along for Mamma Mia 3 years later.

[notalwaysontime]

Posted: 8/9/17 at 1:17pm

Apple watches have a theater setting now even, i used to take mine off and put it in my bag during a show until the update. The theater setting basically mutes it completely, no notifications at all, and when you lift your wrist it won't light up, you have to purposefully tap the screen to see if you got any messages, so like there's no excuse anymore. 

[wonderboynj]

Posted: 8/9/17 at 7:23pm

I had a dear friend who would moo at people who misbehaved.  Literally, moo as loudly as he could.

He and I went to see Rent for my 30th birthday far too many years ago and he did it to the old ladies seated next to us.  I was mortified, but it worked LOL

[Xman8]

Posted: 8/9/17 at 8:29pm

Wanna talk about bad behavior? (In a Sophia Petrillo voice) Picture this! The Neil Simon. December of 2014. It was Sting's first night as a cast member of his show The Last Ship. This happened right next to me, it was a spat between two couples. So what happened was that the wife/girlfriend from the couple to my immediate right didn't silence her phone and it rang during the first 15 minutes. The couple to their right politely asked them the first time to silence the phone. Ignored. It rang again and the same couple asked again to silence the phone. Ignored. Now the woman had her phone in the hand ringing while she silences it. The other couple's patience grows thin and now threats to take it to theatre management were made. Oh snap, now the  guilty couple is trying to antagonize the polite and good samaritan couple and ( I kid you not) physical threats were made towards the good couple "I will kick your ass!" "Let's take this outside" rude much? I was like looking around for an usher, there he is! I signal him to come down and I point to the couples and didn't even say anything while the good couple tell him the problem. Usher regulates on them nasty folks and all is peaceful and well again. Oh and Sting killed it.

[shanphelia]

Posted: 8/9/17 at 8:38pm

At Groundhog Day last week, the ladies room attendant was making announcements requesting that people not use their phones in the stalls, as there were a lot of people waiting.  I can't believe anyone would take up valuable intermission-restroom time (always a nightmare line!) checking their phone while on the toilet -- but I guess enough people do this that they need to make an announcement about it!!

[schubox]

Posted: 8/9/17 at 9:08pm

notalwaysontime said: "Apple watches have a theater setting now even, i used to take mine off and put it in my bag during a show until the update. The theater setting basically mutes it completely, no notifications at all, and when you lift your wrist it won't light up, you have to purposefully tap the screen to see if you got any messages, so like there's no excuse anymore. 

 

"

Huh. Didn't know this. I always take mine off in the theater. I'll have to find the theater setting 

[bisous3]

Posted: 8/9/17 at 9:41pm

shanphelia said: "At Groundhog Day last week, the ladies room attendant was making announcements requesting that people not use their phones in the stalls, as there were a lot of people waiting.  I can't believe anyone would take up valuable intermission-restroom time (always a nightmare line!) checking their phone while on the toilet -- but I guess enough people do this that they need to make an announcement about it!!

 

"

They did this at Comet as well. I get it but MAN were they rude about it! Yelling at the women in line for the bathroom like they were a bunch of high school kids to put their phones away.

 

[Phantom4ever]

Posted: 8/9/17 at 10:24pm

There is nothing I love more than a rude, aggressive house staff. Nobody takes the "cute" announcements seriously.  Those ushers need to have some serious charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent.  

[Olivia11]

Posted: 8/9/17 at 10:39pm

I know there are union rules to consider (length of show, etc) but they either need to find a way to add more bathroom stalls, particularly on the ladies room (which I know is extremely difficult) or lengthen intermission to allow enough time to use the facilities. Period. It is a ridiculous race.every.damn.show.

 I locate the bathroom on the way in so I know where I'm going, basically jump out of my seat as soon as the lights come up at intermission, walk quickly to the bathroom, don't waste time inside, and walk straight back to my seat as fast as I can (I never stop at the bar, etc), and I still barely make it (Waitress was the first time I was late, despite these best efforts). There are many others that don't and it is not their fault.   

Add facilities or lengthen intermission!

Updated On: 8/9/17 at 10:39 PM

[KathyNYC2]

Posted: 8/9/17 at 11:36pm

Olivia11 said: "I know there are union rules to consider (length of show, etc) but they either need to find a way to add more bathroom stalls, particularly on the ladies room (which I know is extremely difficult) or lengthen intermission to allow enough time to use the facilities. Period. It is a ridiculous race.every.damn.show.

 I locate the bathroom on the way in so I know where I'm going, basically jump out of my seat as soon as the lights come up at intermission, walk quickly to the bathroom, don't waste time inside, and walk straight back to my seat as fast as I can (I never stop at the bar, etc), and I still barely make it (Waitress was the first time I was late, despite these best efforts). There are many others that don't and it is not their fault.   

Add facilities or lengthen intermission!

 

"

That's not always possible. You can't just add more restrooms especially in a small theater which is small already and has numerous challenges because of its size. 

But yes you can't just make intermission longer than 20ish minutes. Most people don't want to wait that long already. The bathroom lines are a challenge for sure but work in the vast majority of situations. 

It would be nice to find a miracle solution but it's not always possible. 

[bwayandstuff]

Posted: 8/9/17 at 11:37pm

Luckily, I've experienced great audiences over the past few months. But I'm still holding my breath when there's silent moment in a show, waiting for a phone to go off at the most inopportune time.

I also hate the "narrators". The other day during Come From Away, 3 women behind me kept saying things to each other mid show at full volume. I don't understand why people think other people can't hear them/ they aren't being distracting.

When I saw A Doll's House this past weekend, someone's phone went off during a dead quiet moment. I don't know if it's just me, but I swear it always takes the culprit the absolute longest time to silence the phone. It's like an unspoken rule of the universe. You would think that once the person heard it going off they would move as fast as possible to silence it but it never seems that way.

 

[Itonlytakesajourney]

Posted: 8/9/17 at 11:41pm

Oh! That reminds me, at Anastasia the other day, a little kid kept whispering to his mother during Act 1. It was beyond annoying; and it got so bad that a woman in my row had to shush the boy behind us. He stopped, but it still baffles me as to why the mother let that go on for so long.

[Olivia11]

Posted: 8/9/17 at 11:44pm

KathyNYC2 said: "Olivia11 said: "I know there are union rules to consider (length of show, etc) but they either need to find a way to add more bathroom stalls, particularly on the ladies room (which I know is extremely difficult) or lengthen intermission to allow enough time to use the facilities. Period. It is a ridiculous race.every.damn.show.

 I locate the bathroom on the way in so I know where I'm going, basically jump out of my seat as soon as the lights come up at intermission, walk quickly to the bathroom, don't waste time inside, and walk straight back to my seat as fast as I can (I never stop at the bar, etc), and I still barely make it (Waitress was the first time I was late, despite these best efforts). There are many others that don't and it is not their fault.   

Add facilities or lengthen intermission!

 

"

That's not always possible. You can't just add more restrooms especially in a small theater which is small already and has numerous challenges because of its size. 

But yes you can't just make intermission longer than 20ish minutes. Most people don't want to wait that long already. The bathroom lines are a challenge for sure but work in the vast majority of situations. 

It would be nice to find a miracle solution but it's not always possible. 

 

"

I am well aware of the challenges to add facilities as mentioned in my post. Five minutes added to intermission could make a world of difference.

 

 

[bwayandstuff]

Posted: 8/9/17 at 11:48pm

Another thing I just remembered about bathrooms:

The Golden only has one women's bathroom and A Doll's House has no intermission. So, the line for the women's restroom was more ridiculous that usual... The security guard came downstairs and had the women use the stalls in the men's bathroom while the men used the urinals. No one seemed to mind but it was quite the interesting solution! 

[Olivia11]

Posted: 8/10/17 at 12:21am

It happens at other shows too. I used the men's room recently... I want  to say Hello Dolly??  I could be wrong on that show.  

Every show I've been to is aware of the issue and does everything possible to expedite things, but there is only so much you can do. The number of fixtures in the time allotted is the constraint. 

Updated On: 8/10/17 at 12:21 AM

[Lot666]

Posted: 8/10/17 at 8:57am

Phantom4ever said: "There is nothing I love more than a rude, aggressive house staff. Nobody takes the "cute" announcements seriously.  Those ushers need to have some serious charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent."

[irishgator1]

Posted: 8/10/17 at 9:11am

I forgot about my last Great Comet experience- the row behind me got shakers and someone kept rattling theirs throughout non-shaker scenes. It sounded like they were fidgeting with it and rolling it around in their hands. So distracting and annoying, especially during the quiet, emotional scenes. I kept turning around to glare in the row's general direction, but I couldn't pinpoint exactly who it was, otherwise I would've said something.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 8/10/17 at 12:02pm

Oh lordy

https://twitter.com/nicrouleau/status/895447838481567744

https://twitter.com/BrahSears/status/895438589554597888

[10086Sundays]

Posted: 8/10/17 at 12:16pm

If you're going to smoke pot before you come see a show, please change clothes first.  As much fun as a contact high is...

[JayElle]

Posted: 8/10/17 at 12:29pm

Olivia11 said, "Add facilities or lengthen intermission!"

I said the same at the Ham theater, Rich Rogers.  Theater manager told me they couldn't during it's extensive renovation b/c it was a historical building.   Lengthen the intermission.

I don't drink or eat before a show for that reason.  And I adhere to my mother's often command before we went on any car ride:  "go to the bathroom now b/c we won't have one once we start."

[KathyNYC2]

Posted: 8/10/17 at 1:05pm

Sorry for the double post.

Updated On: 8/10/17 at 01:05 PM

[KathyNYC2]

Posted: 8/10/17 at 2:42pm

KathyNYC2 said: "Olivia11 said: "KathyNYC2 said: "Olivia11 said: "I know there are union rules to consider (length of show, etc) but they either need to find a way to add more bathroom stalls, particularly on the ladies room (which I know is extremely difficult) or lengthen intermission to allow enough time to use the facilities. Period. It is a ridiculous race.every.damn.show.

 I locate the bathroom on the way in so I know where I'm going, basically jump out of my seat as soon as the lights come up at intermission, walk quickly to the bathroom, don't waste time inside, and walk straight back to my seat as fast as I can (I never stop at the bar, etc), and I still barely make it (Waitress was the first time I was late, despite these best efforts). There are many others that don't and it is not their fault.   

Add facilities or lengthen intermission!

 

"

That's not always possible. You can't just add more restrooms especially in a small theater which is small already and has numerous challenges because of its size. 

But yes you can't just make intermission longer than 20ish minutes. Most people don't want to wait that long already. The bathroom lines are a challenge for sure but work in the vast majority of situations. 

It would be nice to find a miracle solution but it's not always possible. 

 

"

I am well aware of the challenges to add facilities as mentioned in my post. Five minutes added to intermission could make a world of difference.

"

I work at a theater. Our intermission is from 17 - 22 minutes based on the bathroom-bar lines for that performance and we have five employees working the bathroom lines at intermission. 17 minutes is sometimes enough. That said, we cannot go longer than 22 minutes because of rules. I'd say 99 3/4% of the time, we don't need more than 22 minutes. The rare occasional days it doesn't work is when some people push/shove or inform us about the long bathroom line - like we didn't notice it 8 times a week...or argue that too many people are on line. This week in particular someone actually unhooked the rope and tried to cut into the front of the line causing a huge mess and delay.

22 minutes is enough as long as everyone cooperates. You can't have actors, employees, etc work another 5 minutes just because some people that day decided to be rude and uncooperative and ruin it for the whole. (And yes, we also do have women in the men's and handicapped/accessible bathrooms when the designated patrons are allowed in first and they become free).

 

"

 

Updated On: 8/10/17 at 02:42 PM