Bad audience behavior - revisited — Page 7

Yay. I have another story, this time about cell phones ringing.

Okay. 2nd time seeing Wicked. My aunt went with me and she got a new cell phone and she has no idea how to work it, her last phone wasn't a flip phone, and this one was.

So... during I'm Not That Girl, when it's nice and quiet and a perfect time for a cell phone to go off. Someone's cell phone DOES go off. Everybody's looking around, and it's comming from the front rows, we were in row A. So I was looking all around and everyone was like 'Who's cell phone would be ringing at a time like THIS?'I was furious, this was my favorite scene and someone's cell phone is going off after the people working at the theatre keep telling everyone to turn off their cell phones or put them on silent, or vibirate, sometimes a persons viberate can be heard, mine can.

I turn back around.I then look at my SLEEPING aunt. She has her bag in her lap. I had to shake her to wake her up. She's still awake enough to hear a persons phone ringing. She looks deep into her bag and picks up her phone. She then has the nerve to start talking to her best friend at work. After she's done having her one minute conversation I start scream-whispering at her. Her excuse for not hearing her own cell phone ringing and vibrating in her lap was because she's a heavy sleeper.

She is.

Sorry for all of the spelling mistakes, I just woke up.

Another Example of Bad Audience Behavior

Updated On: 5/21/06 at 03:41 PM

During Wedding Singer, which I was ushering, a man in the mezz yelled "Read it again!" after Felicia Finley finished her "letter" song in the first act. I would have gone over and reprimanded him but I had no idea where he was sitting.

^ I'm sorry, but that story is hilarious!

Anyways, when I was watching Stomp, this guy next to me was uttering to the every single beat, which was soooo annoying! Argh!

Oh, and when I saw Gypsy at my local high school, during the Strip Tease part, this guy starts yelling "EWWWW You are DISGUSTING!" Wow... The girl playing June looked at the guy and just stopped moving. The whole orchestra stopped playing, and some students had to kick him out of the theatre.

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Wicked-Atlanta. May 18, 2pm and 8pm. I have never experienced so many rude people at one show. I witnessed people talking during the show, leaning their heads together blocking the view, droves of latecomers blocking the view and talking loudly while walking down the aisles and squirming down the row to their seats, people playing with their brightly lit phones, one of which rang for at least 2 minutes during the show, etc, etc. And the granddaddy of them all, running for the doors as the show is about to end. One lady was tripping over me trying to get out, but I didn't budge.

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Forgive me Broadway, for I have sinned...

Although this doesn't technically count as bad "audience" behavior, it was bad nevertheless... We went to New York this past weekend for a model UN conference and could only afford to see one show (of course, 5 minutes into the city my classmates see Avenue Q's "Wake Up Happy" advertisement and demand to see it)... So... I... Went stage door hopping and asked for photos with various other actors/actresses at musicals I haven't yet seen!!!!


I'm so sorry Broadway... But I love my camera so much now..

This afternoon at Awake and Sing, three women behind me and my mother whispered and commented throughout the first three scenes. At the start of the last scene, I loudly went "Shh!!" One of the women promptly fired back, "'Shh' yourself!" People around us gasped a bit and the woman next to me leaned over to me and said, "Well, you knew it was coming." I was glad to see other people agreed with me. The bitches were, however, quiet for the rest of the show. They knew they were in the wrong

Tonight at the Black Rider in LA a couple behind me spent the entire first act deciding if they were going to stay or leave. It wouldn't have been so bad, but during the quiet scenes they were doing the whole debate - and not in whispers. When the house lights came up to full power for intermission I turned around them as they were STILL debating and told them that their decision should be easy - Just LEAVE so the rest of us can watch the show without their interuptions. The couple behind THEM chimed in and agreed with me. The noisy couple looked at me like I had a third head. I noticed they weren't behind me anymore during the second act.

So during our performance of Nine last night, we had the most distracting audience member I have ever seen! And sitting in the front row, of course! And this is a small "theatre in the round" kind of space, so she was only about 3 steps from the stage.

We start the show, and she is talking. Now, it's only once in a while, and I hear the guy next to her try to "ssh" her, and honestly, I thought she might be "special needs". Well, as the show goes on, it's apparent that she's not "special needs" but just plain old drunk.

"Call from the Vatican" got her very excited, and her hands and legs started to "wander" and the groping got really intense. At one point her boyfriend got up to leave.....and we're not sure if it was because it started to rain and he'd left the car windows open, or if he needed to "finish some business" in the mens room.

By the time we got to "Be Italian" she was dancing in her seat and clapping along. Then she decided to sing along with "Bells of St. Sebastian".

Thank goodness she and her boyfriend decided to leave after Act I.

Most ironic part? The cast decided to go out after the show, and guess who was sitting at the bar as we walked into the restaurant? Yep....there she was, and had NO CLUE who we were.......

Glad to have been able to give you a chuckle!

You should have heard the cast the second we walked off the stage at intermission!

A friend of mine told me about his experience seeing "Resident Evil" - there was a girl talking loudly on her cell phone a la Scary Movie - "Girl, when they bring them bloody dogs out I am going to SCREAM!" Then someone's father was yelling "YEEAH!!!" every time someone was shot and of course when the dogs came out.

For the theater, Rent has never been a quiet musical any of the numerous times I've seen it; the worst times are when a longtime cast member has their final night - Antonique Smith's was the worst!! I'm still deaf from the geeks screaming their heads off. Another time at Rent, not so rude but cute - two pre-pubescent kids were giggling and giving each other the "WHOA! COOL!" looks to each other at every curse word. They asked me during intermission if during the second act people would be singing from the opera seats - I told them that like in the Lion King they're instead going to walk through the audience, but this time they'll be giving out drugs. I think they're still waiting for the stashes.

When I saw Jersey Boys this summer, I had to sit next to this couple who took it upon themselves to sing (horribly) every song in the show. You should've heard the husband's rendition of "Sunday Kinda Lovin'." At one point, in the big meeting in Act Two, when Tommy DeVito said something to Frankie Valli, the guy said, "Hit 'im, Frankie."

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I ran into a couple of the most obnoxious theatre goers this weekend. It was at a NYMF show and to top it all of these people were the volunteer ushers! I ushered for about 10 shows and ushered for two others the day before, but this is one that I happened to pay for.

Anyway, when I went to go find a seat there was a man in front of me. He said he was just putting jackets on the seats next to me to save them for some other people. At that point I didn't know they were the ushers, and I didn't really care. But a couple of minutes before the show started, they climbed over everyone to get to their seats...first row center. They then proceeded to chatter about how great it was that they didn't have to stand. Note that this peformance was practically sold out! and that as ushers we were told that we were not guarenteed seats.

To make matters worse, at least one of them was dosing during the first act and THEN, during intermission they decided that they needed to eat something. So they took out sandwiches and began eating. (also note that there was no eating or drinking allowed in this theatre...as they should well know...they were the ushers for goodness sake!!!!) The one lady didn't finish her sandwich before the second act started, so she continued eating as the performers sang and danced two feet in front of her. I could totally tell that they were thinking 'wtf lady!'

It was probably the most ridiculous thing I have witnessed. Just the fact that they were the Ushers blew me away!