Bad Theater Behavior- Page 30

[ArtMan]

Posted: 1/17/18 at 12:22am

JayElle, The sad thing is that clueless B tried to make you out the bad guy.  Uncageg,  your kicking the seat story reminded me of my recent situation with a seat kicker.  I saw the School of Rock tour in Orlando on 12/31.  At the beginning of the show the old man behind me decided to take off his jacket.  Which would have been fine if he hadn't preceded to grab the back of my chair three times to do it.  Then the kicking of my seat began.  I did the look over my shoulder glance a couple of times.  When that didn't work, I turned around and yelled "STOP".  He continued every so often during the remainder of the first act.  At intermission, I asked him not to kick the back of my seat.  He stated something back to me smart ass.  I told him "I don't care if you are a old man.  You don't want to see me lose my temper".  His wife whispered something to him.  The second act was free of kicks to the back of my chair.

[JayElle]

Posted: 1/17/18 at 1:12am

No Artman, the drunk was on my right, not behind me.  I was more concerned she'd disrupt John Lithgow.  I put on my headphones to drown out her whispers.  Bless Lithgow. What a performance he gave while ignoring stupid and rude attendees.  Ah, the seat kicker.  Elderly who are arthritic tend to grab seat as a lift up. Not defending the annoyance to you, but that's generally why. they do it.  Especially in Florida.  I know. I live there part-time. Hope you liked the show anyway.

[Wee Thomas2]

Posted: 1/23/18 at 6:53am

at Cardinal at 2nd Stage on Saturday, 2 rows in front of me were a couple in their 60's or 70's.  In between us and 2 seats to the right were two of the Volunteer Ushers.  I'm not sure how much responsibility they have once a show starts.

 

A few minutes in, the man takes out his phone and takes a few pictures of the stage.  A few minutes later he starts videoing about a 5 minute stretch of the show.

 

When the show was over I mentioned to the ushers that the man in front of them and to their left was videoing during the show.  "You should have told us" I was told.  I replied that I didn't want to interrupt the show (and frankly, I figured if they were supposed to deal with things like this they should have noticed it).

 

I did see the man who was doing the videoing on the way out and told him he should be ashamed of himself.  He was silent.

[quizking101]

Posted: 1/23/18 at 12:03pm

I was at the last performance of "An Act of God" with Kathleen Turner at George Street Playhouse back in December and this clearly drunk woman was chatting with me before the show, explaining how she "might possibly have alcoholism" (This is the peril of telling people I'm a psych nurse), and then passed out asleep in her seat next to her husband for the rest of the show.

We were also in the front row.

[TheatreRocks]

Posted: 1/23/18 at 12:21pm

I just hate when people don't realize that the overture is part of the show. SHUT UP

[carolinaguy]

Posted: 1/24/18 at 10:39am

TheatreRocks said: "I just hate when people don't realize that the overture is part of the show. SHUT UP"

When I saw The King and I at Lincoln Center, the usher in our section bellowed, "Phones off! The overture is part of the show!" just before it started. I wanted to buy her dinner.

 

[Gizmo6]

Posted: 1/24/18 at 10:45am

I'm so glad to see people mention talking during the overture. 

I find it so frustrating. You have this beautiful scored being played live by a hard working orchestra and people talk through. 

I am the person that says loudly I didn't pay hundreds to listen to your drivel! 

[ArtMan]

Posted: 2/7/18 at 6:20pm

So I saw The Lion King tour the other day.  Thank goodness this was my third time seeing it, because my enjoyment of the show was greatly affected by the audience.  I don't understand parents who bring very small kids to a show and when they start talking nonstop do nothing to quiet their little darling.  In addition, the senior citizen seated next to me coughed and hacked up into her tissue for twenty minutes during Act 1 and again for 15 minutes in Act 2.  She fiddled with the contents of her purse the entire time she was hacking.  When she sat down she was the type of individual to sit not in her space but leaned over more into mine.  The whole time she coughed, I leaned over to my friend's seat hoping she would lean  also.  If you are coughing that much, you should walk into the lobby.  During the last 10 minutes of Act 2, she then proceeded to tell me in a loud voice that she was not contagious.  This was last Wednesday, so I am hoping that anything she may have given me has moved on.

[Leah Robertson]

Posted: 2/14/18 at 6:36pm

ArtMan said: "So I saw The Lion King tour the other day"

Sorry to be off-topic, but @ArtMan what did you think of the tour? We are going to NYC in June, and DD asked to see it. It's also coming to a city about two hours from us next month. I'm debating going to that instead and saving a Broadway slot for something else.

[Bwayfan292]

Posted: 2/14/18 at 6:50pm

I was at Aladdin last night and the lady in front of me decided to sing all of Arabain nights. Luckly, the people next to me were equally annoyed and voiced their comments. Show was great tho and she kept quiet the whole show.

[ArtMan]

Posted: 2/14/18 at 7:32pm

Leah Robertson said: "ArtMan said: "So I saw The Lion King tour the other day"

Sorry to be off-topic, but @ArtMan what did you think of the tour? We are going to NYC in June, and DD asked to see it. It's also coming to a cityabout two hours from us next month.I'm debating going to that instead and saving a Broadway slot for something else."

Leah, I thought the tour was excellent. If it would not have been for the lady next to me and the kid in front, I would have said it was the best of the three times seeing it,  This includes, original cast, five rows from the stage, a month before the Tony"s.  The costumes and puppetry are still outstanding and the singing, especially Mustafsa (spelling) were great.

[Christopher P Groves]

Posted: 2/16/18 at 4:44pm

The worst for me was when I saw Rent last June in Memphis.  These four large ladies in front of me were talking, rattling candy, and drinking.  When we got back from intermission and one came in late, tried to take a picture, and was being so interruptive during Seasons of Love.  Thankfully this wasn't my first time seeing Rent, but when you wait for this song and its ruined, you get upset. 

[Phantom4ever]

Posted: 2/17/18 at 9:56am

What is the point of mentioning the ladies' size? Are you going to mention their race and socioeconomic status too?  Not sure what their size has to to with bad theater behavior.

[mailhandler777]

Posted: 2/17/18 at 12:27pm

Last night at Escape To Margaritaville. I think at least 75% of the audience has never set foot in a theatre before. Talking, taking pics, singing along...etc. Not sure if it was as bad in the orchestra as it was up in the mezzanine.

[ArtMan]

Posted: 2/17/18 at 1:11pm

mailhandler777 said: "Last night at Escape To Margaritaville. I think at least 75% of the audience has never set foot in a theatre before. Talking, taking pics, singing along...etc. Not sure if it was as bad in the orchestra as it was up in the mezzanine."

And that is how it is going to be for the run of this show.  Parrotheads are notorious boozers and love to party.  Yes, this is a generalization, but in this instance true.

[backwoodsbarbie]

Posted: 3/1/18 at 10:52am

I saw Frozen last night and wild behavior from kids would have been expected, but the atrocious behavior I witnessed was from a middle aged woman. She sat directly in front of me and was told not once, but 6 times by ushers to stop taking pictures. She was even removed temporarily during act I to delete the photos. It continued during act II and when she wasn't taking photos, she was checking texts and facebook. When I asked her to please put it away because it was distracting me, she replied "I have a lot going on right now so I need to check my phone." I don't understand why ushers cannot remove people from the theatre when they continue to break the rules. 

[Marianne2]

Posted: 3/1/18 at 11:44am

backwoodsbarbie said: "I saw Frozen last night and wild behavior from kids would have been expected, but the atrocious behavior I witnessed was from a middle aged woman. She sat directly in front of me and was told not once, but 6 times by ushers to stop taking pictures. She was even removed temporarily during act I to delete the photos. It continued during act II and when she wasn't taking photos, she was checking texts and facebook. When I asked her to please put it away because it was distracting me, she replied "I have a lot going on right now so I need to check my phone." I don't understand why ushers cannot remove people from the theatre when they continue to break the rules."

I hate people like this. Clearly if her personal life was so important, she shouldn't have gone to the show. I mean, it couldn't have been too enjoyable anyway if she was worrying about whatever made her keep checking her phone anyway.

 

[greenifyme2]

Posted: 3/1/18 at 1:38pm

The Angels audience last week was a breath of fresh air.

[mailhandler777]

Posted: 3/1/18 at 6:53pm

backwoodsbarbie said: "I have a lot going on right now so I need to check my phone." 

If she had that much going on she could have easily sold her ticket and attended to what was going on. 

[LxGstv]

Posted: 3/8/18 at 11:32pm

I’ve had a much different experience with the Angels in America audience than greenifyne2, saw the show tonight and most of the audience itself was fine, but two girls next to me wouldn’t stop chatting and giggling through the first act... during the second and third act they added eating chips on top of their drinks... 3 rows from the stage! It wasn’t constant, but it was incredibly distracting... almost dreading seeing part 2 tomorrow knowing they will be there again... 4 more hours!

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 3/8/18 at 11:39pm

A woman next to me at Three Tall Women wouldn’t stop rifling through her purse, seemingly for no reason whatsoever. I’ve been practicing patience with the ever increasing HORRIFIC behavior in the theatre but I finally had to tell her to stop. It was so irritating and distracting.

Also, people lazily and endlessly looking through their Playbills need to be banned from the theatre. Just stay home if you’re that bored! The rest of us paid to be here and would like to watch the show without your rude and selfish distractions.

[Danielle49]

Posted: 3/9/18 at 12:05am

LxGstv said: "I’ve had a much different experience with the Angels in America audience than greenifyne2, saw the show tonight and most of the audience itself was fine, but two girls next to me wouldn’t stop chatting and giggling through the first act... during the second and third act they added eating chips on top of their drinks... 3 rows from the stage! It wasn’t constant, but it was incredibly distracting... almost dreading seeing part 2 tomorrow knowing they will be there again... 4 more hours!"

That's unfortunate. With such a long show, it's kind of inevitable to have people snacking though - even if eating during one of the intermissions is preferable. I had a similar experience as greenifyme2 at Angels. The audience through both parts was lovely: attentive, invested, and enthusiastic. The woman next to me bought snacks but either ate them during intermission or was super quiet with them because I heard nothing from her. Or maybe I was too drawn in to notice.

[xoffender45]

Posted: 3/9/18 at 12:08am

The audience was awful at Party Face tonight. There was a group of 6-7 intoxicated women sitting in front of me, talking throughout the whole show. Clearly they saw the word “party” in the title and thought they were going to have a very different kind of girls’ night out. The one seated directly in front of me started texting at one point during the second act, so I whisper to her to stop, and she didn’t, so the woman sitting next to me asks her to as well, but she didn’t stop until she finished sending her text.

Two early-20-somethings in the row in front of them were taking pictures and videos every time Haley Mills would make an entrance. And since the house is in 3/4 round (is that the term?), you could see the other two sections no matter where you’re seated, so I had a clear view of two other twenty something girls in the section across from me, not even trying to hide their phones in their hands, laughing and talking to each other, and repeatedly taking out their compact mirrors and fixing their makeup.

The whole time, the only usher in the theater is seated in the other section across from me, and I kept trying to make eye contact with him, but he was really into watching the show, and never looked away from the stage.

The worst part of the evening for me came after the show ended and the woman in front of me decided to complain to me about MY behavior, asking her to stop texting her children, so I decided to get the house manager. I went to his office, and he refused to get up from his desk, barely made eye contact with me because he was working on his computer, and had the most annoyed demeanor and asked me what I wanted him to do about it. When I told him that the volunteer usher did nothing and spent the whole show watching it, he told me that the usher isn’t a volunteer, hes paid to be there, which is probably even worse.

I have no patience for poor audience behavior, so I call people out when need be, but I’m just tired of the burden of patroling rude audience members falling on the rest of us, and not on house staff.

[Dancingthrulife2]

Posted: 3/9/18 at 2:47am

greenifyme2 said: "The Angels audience last week was a breath of fresh air."

Actually the Angels performance I attended in London was the only one there where I heard a phone ring. And worst of all it was during the final Bethesda speech. 

[ellbellthomps]

Posted: 3/9/18 at 8:51am

Some lady fell asleep front row of Once on this Island during mama will provide. 

One of the worst audiences ive ever seen was on a friday at anastasia, Im going back saturday matinee and dreading the crowd.