Bad Theater Behavior- Page 32

[reginula]

Posted: 3/14/18 at 2:54am

I was at a local production of The Last 5 Years tonight and there was a drunk man next to me. Not kidding. He smelled like booze. Spent the first half making comments to his wife (you know when people think they are speaking quietly but they aren’t?), elbowing me, eating candy loudly, and checking his phoneuntil thank jeebus he fell asleep. I felt like calling the ushers but I was in the middle of the row with 8 people on each side so I thought that was going to be worse.
What is it to be done?
I feel very sad ‘cause that made the whole thing uncomfortable despite how excited I was. I want to go again in hopes of not sitting next to dumbasses next time.

[greenifyme2]

Posted: 3/29/18 at 9:12am

I took my mom to a show last weekend and experienced something I never have.... a horrible, awful, disgusting SMELL.

The old couple next to us smelled like the “homeless people smell” (fellow NYC-ers, you know what I’m talking about).

During intermission I was going to ask the house manager to change seats (I wanted to get up sooner but a wheelchair in the aisle prevented me from doing so) but my mom was like “it’s not that bad don’t make a big deal”. Well, after the 2nd act she was like “the air flow must have changed because I could smell it and IT WAS AWFUL”.

I literally watched the show with my coat hood over my nose and mouth. So gross.

I think I’ve run the gamet now on bad theater behavior, ugh. The next time someone is playing with their phone next to you I guess be glad they don’t SMELL.

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 3/29/18 at 10:17am

I usually don't say anything unless it's really disruptive or continues throughout the entire performance but I've noticed that in subscriber houses or venues that tend to cater to older patrons, there's a lot of whispering during the performance and if it's a concert, singing along. I feel like there's an attempt to curtail this by having a sing along at the end but I think it just encourages people to sing whenever they feel like they (might) remember the song.

[tinytalent]

Posted: 3/29/18 at 1:26pm

Last night at Cursed Child Part Two the person in front of me was checking their Facebook every five minutes. I leaned over and asked them if they could put their phone away after the seventh time they brought it out, to which they responded "I'm trying to sell my bike. I need to look at my phone." Interesting choice to decide to sell your bike in the middle of a show.

[ilysespieces]

Posted: 3/29/18 at 2:43pm

tinytalent said: "Last night at Cursed Child Part Two the person in front of me was checking their Facebook every five minutes. I leaned over and asked them if they could put their phone away after the seventh time they brought it out, to which they responded "I'm trying to sell my bike. I need to look at my phone." Interesting choice to decide to sell your bike in the middle of a show."

OMG!!

I think I shared this before, but when I saw Cursed Child the two seats next to my friend (I had the aisle) were empty the entire time for Part 1. We got there for Part 2 and the seats remained empty until ~45 minutes in when a family came and made a bunch of noise and interrupted the beautiful quiet moment that was happening. The woman next to my friend then spent the remaining ~30 minutes or so of the act on her phone. My friend finally asked her to put it away and instead of any response, this woman just stared at her in the eyes for ~20 seconds and went back to looking at her phone. I tried to flag down an usher but they didn't see me and I didn't want to miss the show, so I just asked one at intermission to keep an eye on our row. Well, good for us, the woman didn't come back for act 2.

 

Last night I saw Yerma and the girl in front of my took out her phone every single time the lights went out. It was ~Chapter 4 when the woman 3 seats to my left leaned forward and angry whispered "Turn that ****ing phone off". There was no phone when Chapter 5 was being set.

[mimitchi33]

Posted: 6/16/18 at 7:51pm

So a few weeks ago I went to see Frozen for my birthday (I went the day before since tickets were sold out on the day of my birthday). It was great, but during some parts, there was this toddler who stood up in her chair at random moments. During a plot important point towards the climax of the show, she not only did that, but was coughing very loudly. At least she was sitting far from me, but I could still hear it a bit from where I was. (end of the row) And what's with people bringing toddlers to these shows anyway? They're expensive, and for some people, it's a once in a lifetime thing. If you want to take a toddler to see her favorite princesses, Disney on Ice would be a better choice instead of bringing her to a place where she probably wouldn't behave.

[CPannullo]

Posted: 6/16/18 at 8:15pm

When i saw The Bands Visit the other day towards the beginning of the concert someone’s phone started going off! Totally ruined the moment and they didn’t even scramble to turn it off, they just let it keep ringing

[mailhandler777]

Posted: 6/16/18 at 10:20pm

mimitchi33 said: "So a few weeks ago I went to see Frozen for my birthday (I went the day before since tickets were sold out on the day of my birthday). It was great, but during some parts, there was this toddler who stood up in her chair at random moments. During a plot important point towards the climax of the show, she not only did that, but was coughing very loudly. At least she was sitting far from me, but I could still hear it a bit from where I was. (end of the row)And what's with people bringing toddlers to these shows anyway? They're expensive, and for some people, it's a once in a lifetime thing. If you want to take a toddler to see her favorite princesses, Disney on Ice would be a better choice instead of bringing her to a place where she probably wouldn't behave."

Last time I went I had a child coughing all through act 1. It was loud too and she was 2 rows behind me. She wasn't there during act 2 but instead there was another child the row in front of me coughing. 

[Phantom4ever]

Posted: 7/9/18 at 11:28pm

I just finished a 4-day, 8-show theater binge, (Boys in the Band, Head over Heels, Wicked, Phantom, HP 1, 2, Skintight, and Straight White Men) and it seems that Broadway audiences have crossed a seemingly small but to me, still disturbing threshold. At these 8 shows, I did not see people ON their phones, I saw people CHECKING their phones. I would say every five to ten minutes at all of these shows, someone within my line of sight was checking their phone. No they weren't sending a text or scrolling social media. They were checking the time. Reading a text but not responding to it. Seeing why their phone is vibrating or lighting up. See what the social media notification is. Checking the score of the World Cup. These things were done every 5 to 10 minutes and it legitimately seemed as if I were the unreasonable one. It seems as if everybody knows not to TEXT during a show or keep your phone out, but it is now considered reasonable to take your phone out for a quick second just to see the time or just to see who liked my check-in. I felt like an old worrywart. Is anyone on this board willing to defend this practice of just taking out your phone for a quick second here and there throughout a show?  Because there is 110% the MO of Broadway audiences these days. 

The other trend I noticed was so many very young children---especially at Harry Potter of course, whose parents were just horrible. Constantly checking to see if their child heard lines. Repeating lines to a child. Asking the child what they think will happen in the next scene. Explaining who each character is onstage. Lifting their hand up and pointing at things onstage despite the fact that their arm is impeding on the view of the person behind them. 

The final thing is APPLE WATCHES. Apple watches offer people who can't stay away from their phones a convenient and technically safe way to be on their phones during the show without being on their phones during the show. It seemed that everywhere I looked, someone's apple watch (iwatch?? IDK IDC) was lighting up. The kids in the audience of Harry Potter were so restless and they would constantly sit with their hands up over their heads, waving their glowing watch to everyone behind them, with their parents totally oblivious, but of course still narrating the events of the play. I did hear one usher at the Lyric Theater tell people to turn off their watches, but once they kept lighting up again and again and again, ushers never intervened. The cutesy warning about "disgusting muggle technology" only served to make everyone think the rules are a joke.  

[JayElle]

Posted: 7/9/18 at 11:37pm

Last night at Cursed Child Part Two the person in front of me was checking their Facebook every five minutes. I leaned over and asked them if they could put their phone away after the seventh time they brought it out, to which they responded "I'm trying to sell my bike. I need to look at my phone." Interesting choice to decide to sell your bike in the middle of a show."

I have in the past and would've told them it's the phone or they're out the door. I don't tolerate any of that crap.
 

 

[JayElle]

Posted: 7/9/18 at 11:39pm

Damn....gotta sell my Harry tickets.  If the audience is like they were in S/Bob, I don't need to see the show.

[Phantom4ever]

Posted: 7/9/18 at 11:40pm

If I would have tried to confront people who took out their phones these past 4 days, it would have been a wack-a-mole situation. As soon as one phone went away, another came out.  And then the watches.  There was absolutely no way I could have even confronted a tiny fraction of them.

[greenifyme2]

Posted: 7/9/18 at 11:43pm

Theaters really need to stop with the cutesy announcements. They do it, everyone laughs, and it continues to be a problem. Simply state before curtain that phones are not allowed and if you don’t follow the rule you will be escorted out.

[taylortrensch]

Posted: 7/9/18 at 11:48pm

I saw Once on This Island tonight and a lot of the audience was very rude. Despite how many times the ushers and cast says "no photos", these ladies in the front row continued to take photos and laughed when Isaac P went over and told them to stop. An usher had to stand near them until the show started.


There were also these old ladies next to me who would not stop laughing. I know that some things in the show are funny, but we were sat right there in the sand and as "Ti Moune" played out right in front of us, one of them burst into laughter. Every little thing made one of them laugh and I eventually leaned over and told them to stop which made them roll their eyes and one of them said "be quiet little girl". So rude smh 

I saw Hamilton this past Sunday and this big group in the row in front of me came in late. They took their time sitting down and throughout the show one of them was rummaging through her purse which was super loud and began to smack her lips when she was chewing gum. A couple in the group got bored and kept leaning to talk to each other and one of them kept flipping her phone over to read her notifications. It bothered me a lot because we were in the front center orchestra in premium seats. 


Edit: I also saw Anastasia this past week and despite their no late seating policy, two very loud girls came in during act 1 and their seats were directly behind mine. I thought their chattering and the usher's flash light was bad enough but after they sat, one of them swung their leg over their knee and hit the back of my head in the process. 

Updated On: 7/10/18 at 11:48 PM

[Addipia94]

Posted: 7/10/18 at 12:37am

All these accounts of phone usage is still mind boggling to me. Like people pay a lot of money to see these shows and for what? To look at their phone which they can do at intermission or after the show? But this is nothing new. Phones should be banned period as others have suggested. If seen, you are removed and no re-entry.

I was at Wicked this past weekend (my friend's first time seeing the show), and the number of people that got up to use the restroom or just exit during the show was insane. People came late by 20 min to the show and the ushers let them in, turned their flashlights and waved them around to show them their seats like we were at a fricken disco. I think 20-30 got up during each act. We were sitting near the doors and it was so distracting with the doors constantly opening and closing, and people walking around like they were seeing a show in their living room!

[Miles2Go2]

Posted: 7/10/18 at 12:56am

When I saw The Iceman Cometh (loved it!) last month, I was in Orchestra Row A. The lady next to me apparentiy got bored because around Act 3 she started slipping her phone out of her small purse in her lap and TEXTING. Luckily, there were two rows ahead of us and only my seat didn’t have a seat in front of it. She also started eating M&M’s about the same time.

Having said that, I don’t think you can ban phones from theatres. Many of us, myself included, use them to navigate the city including getting to the theatre. Also, once I leave my hotel room I have a full day of it including shopping and eating and often two shows on two-show days. I need my phone to make navigating NYC easier and still get to the theatre on time.

I would not object however to them turning on cellphone blocking technology during the actual performance.

Updated On: 7/10/18 at 12:56 AM

[EllieRose2]

Posted: 7/10/18 at 2:31am

I have been saying this for years and I know it couldn't work in huge Broadway houses but everyone should check their phone in the lobby.  I was just at a tiny regional theater in Vermont and they had cubbies with your seat number on it, and everyone was to put their phone in them.  It worked and everyone behaved beautifully.  I just wish someone could put a system in place for larger theaters!

[BroadwayNoob]

Posted: 7/10/18 at 2:44am

I sat through the closing performance of War Paint with two young kids next to me playing games on their phones and jumping around in the seats. They didn't speak English, their parents were nowhere in sight, and obviously didn't understand the ushers when they were told to put their phones away. I even made as abvois of a gesture that I could to put their phones away but they just gave me blank stares. On top of that they had these giant jangly tourist-ey keychains that were jingling the whole show. Made the entire experience absolutely awful unfortunately

 

When I saw Charlie there was a mother singing along to candyman right in the beginning of the show and her own daughter told her to be quiet. Then that same daughter started screaming about wanting more candy and the mother dragged her 3 other kids out of their seats and marched out of the theater, which caused the other kids to start screaming because they did nothing wrong. They didn't come back to those seats and I wonder if they just left. They were sitting in the 7th row though so I can't imagine how much it cost them just to leave 15 min in

 

When I saw SpongeBob I sat behind two kids who were fighting with each other the whole time and their parents who were sitting on either side of them just acted like they didn't even know them. Right in the beginning of act two one of them just shrieks "THIS IS WHY YOU RUIN EVERYTHING I HATE DOING STUFF WITH YOU" and then the other boy was crying in to his jacket for a good 15 minutes. I don't understand why the parents didn't just rip those kids right out of the theater

 

At Kinky Boots right after Hold me in Your Heart, someones ringer went off full blast and ruined the moment so horribly, Half the theater was crying and then some blaring iPhone just went off. I literally wanted to strangle that person.

 

2 weekends ago I saw TPTGW with my friends and one of them not only left her ringer on (what?) her phone went off and she sat there for a good 2 minutes fumbling through the settings trying to turn off the ringer. She then checked her phone multiple times during the performance to the point where i had to slap her on the leg because she was being so rude. It was so strange because I could never imagine doing something like that

 

Sorry, I get really bothered by stuff like this. The only time I haven't had any problems whatsoever was when I saw Phantom since I had first row seats and didn't have to see anyone pull out their phones in front of me, and surprisingly no phones went off

[dramamama611]

Posted: 7/10/18 at 5:42am

Damn, you people have the worst luck.

[hollebolle]

Posted: 7/10/18 at 8:41am

JayElle said: "Damn....gotta sell my Harry tickets. If the audience is like they were in S/Bob, I don't need to see the show."

I’m sure a show with as huge a name as HP is probably more likely to attract audiences who are less familiar with theater etiquette (much like any super touristy show), but I just wanted to throw in my two cents: I had no issues last weekend when I saw it. Granted I was all the way up in the balcony (row B) in an aisle seat, but the literal only complaint I had was that the adults in front of me started to scramble for booster seats during intermission, which ended up being a non-issue. I wouldn’t be so quick to sell for that reason alone.

I’ve been on a bit of a theater binge recently, and the only negative experience I’ve had was at Once on this Island, when I was sitting in front of a high school group who could not contain themselves whenever Isaac Powell apppeared.

[Lot666]

Posted: 7/10/18 at 9:14am

Miles2Go2 said: "I would not object however to them turning on cellphone blocking technology during the actual performance."

I really would like to see theatres implement technology that blocks all cellular and wifi connections in the auditorium as soon as the lights go down.

I also would like to see theatres actually enforce the now seemingly ubiquitous "Please be advised performances begin promptly at the time indicated on your ticket. There will be no late seating for __________. Patrons arriving after the performance has begun will not be admitted until intermission." policy. Unfortunately, this is nothing more than an impotent scare tactic.

[kennin]

Posted: 7/10/18 at 9:21am

It seems that we are all having issues with others using their phones.  I was at the first preview of Iceman, and the woman a row in front of me texted through the entire show.  I told the usher during the first intermission, and she said she would keep her eyes open for it.  Nothing happened.  My question is this...where are the ushers?  I remember not that long ago that they would see a cell and the flashlight would come out.  All one has to do is stand at the back of a section to see what is going on.  The two women next to me at HP were talking and I asked them to stop.  After that, one of them kept checking her phone.  I had to say something again.  I just find it so frustrating when all I want is to enjoy a show, but instead, I end of focusing on having the internal dialogue as to whether or not I should address the rude people.  The ushers should be watching the audience and taking the phone of those who cannot put them away.

[Miles2Go2]

Posted: 7/10/18 at 10:41am

The ushers at the Vivian Beaumont seem to be on top of things. When I attended My Fair Lady last month, I checked my bags (my backpack plus one shopping bag), but held onto the clear bag they gave me when I bought the MFL program. When I got to my seat, I took a pic of my playbill and posted it to Instagram. Then I turned off my phone which was charging via portable battery backup and then dropped it into my clear bag along with my playbill. I was in the aisle seat so dropped my thin sack between me and the small space between my seat and the railing. Within minutes the usher asked me to turn off whatever was emitting a blue light. I had forgotten that this particular charger had a small blue light. Of course, I unplugged it which immediately turns the small light off. This was all before the show began.

[kmissa]

Posted: 7/10/18 at 12:08pm

This is interesting b/c at HP the Usher was not messing around and I would've been afraid to pull my phone out. I also have hometraining and it would never cross my mind to touch my fun unless it's intermission. 

I may have mentioned this before, but I was stunned at this awful couple seated beside me at The Iceman. I think they may have been drunk, but the kept talking in the middle of it, dude kept caressing her to the point I ccould feel it and you could hear it b/c of the material of her fleece, and then the guy had the nerve to pull out his phone and record minutes of the performance. At intermission, I told the usher along with another woman behind them who was telling him to put his phone away. Security came and let it slide, but they thankfully ended up leaving after the 2nd intermission. At least 5 phones/chimes went off last week at AIA part one, and I didn't notice the guy playing with his phone in front of me, but the lady next to him was pissed and yelled at him as they excited at the end of the show, lol. It blows my mind people are that obsessed with their phones. Or maybe they get free tickets so they don't care?

[Miles2Go2]

Posted: 7/10/18 at 12:16pm

PThespian said: “I also think it’s preposterous to say things like “The ushers at the Vivian Beaumont seem to beon top of it” merely because one of them happened to be able to see your phone charger. I would’ve done the same thing at my theater if I saw it as would almost any other usher I know.

The difference isn’t the theater it’s the individual usher and, more specifically, if they can spot the offenders in the first place.I’ve worked enough theaters over the years to let you know that no one house has a monopoly on all great ushers."

My apologies. I didn’t mean to offend or malign ushers at other theaters.