Beauty and The Beast=Worst Audience in History! — Page 2

I think the thing about photography at Disney shows is they have the same principle as in their parks...in the parks they set up photo locations and lines JUST SO YOU CAN GET YOUR PICTURE OF THE DISNEY CHARACTER. It perpetuates their image and their brand to get photos floating around out there and making the guests happy that they encountered the character. People see Belle on stage and they must have a picture of her, just like at the park. And they don't stop them from taking pictures, because that is part of what they are selling.

I was kinda taken aback when I saw BATB last April...people were walking the aisles selling merchandise and maybe even candy? as if we were at a baseball game!

But anyway, I'm seeing Mary Poppins this March so I hope it's a little better audience-wise. I will avoid the early Tuesday show and the matinees, for sure.

About kids though, honestly I think it is ridiculous to take kids of certain ages to certain things. Even Disneyland, the kids under 3 can't be having that much fun. Taking them is more for the parents than for the kid, so they can say "we took you to see (BLANK) when you were 2!" and show off the pictures...

O and about cameras/phones, I agree that they should just be confiscated or checked or something. I went to the seediest of male strip clubs in Hollywood for my friend's 18th birthday, and even THEY were better about this, confiscating just the batteries from everyone's cameras...

I had a similar problem when I went to see BATB. That's what happens when you go see a "child-friendly" show - kid's are a pain!!!!!

You shouldn't have to expect that when you see a show. That is absolutely ridiculous and very disappointing because I think B&tB is such a wonderful show.

It's not the kids fault at BaTB or any of the other Disney shows: it's the parents, who are often just as bad (or worse) themselves.

People need to stop being parents, that's all. There are enough kids in the world, and too many of their predecessors are ruining my theatrical experiences!

My mom always said the best birth control was to keep an aspirin between your knees...

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"Y'know what's sad? A local theatre who always has The Rocky Horror Show over the summer has stricter rules about cell phones and cameras than Broadway.

What they do is check your bag, and if they see a camera or cell phone, they will remove it and place it on a table in the little room outside of the theatre itself, and at the end of the performance, you can go back and get it. Of course, it's guarded so no one can just come in and take away everyone's cameras and such. But I'll tell you something -- their method works."

But, see, that's a community theater. The capacity of a Broadway theater is MUCH bigger. I assume the majority of the people who go to shows have cell phones, and it would be an absolute zoo trying to get everyone's cell phone back to the original owner. Sure, the method works, but it isn't ideal for Broadway theaters.

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People need to realize that cell phones are not the problem. It's the people that USE them. People are inherently rude or they have manners. This has nothing to do with the cell phone in their pocket. The cell phone just gives them another outlet for the obnoxiousness. For every obnoxious cell phone user, there are 50 in the audience that have the courtesy not to use them. I guarantee you that if you took those cell phones away, they would be talking or humming along, or opening packages of Fritos, or something else to disrupt the performance. Best advice? And its not surefire...but hit a weeknight performance, tues or thurs and sit in the orchestra. Avoid weekends and matinees, and any night where children will be up late. Or as in New York, most theatre goers attend before a show is a cliche, bonafide tourist trap. Use common sense...the reality is...if you go to a Saturday matinee of a Disney show, you deseve what you get for having about as much common sense as the people who are DOING the disrupting. OMG, the ambiance at Chuck Cheeses was terrible the other night...how was I supposed to have a romantic dinner with all these children jumping in balls?????

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Sorry for your bad time at the show. It really is a wonderful show when people aren't interrupting it! haha

Next time it all happens though, go tell an Usher, but how people were behaving for you, it's a surprise they didn't have to stop the show and have the director or whomever come out and tell people to behave! I mean, don't they have respect? Even if you don't know how to behave in a theatre, people are working there butts off up on stage performing FOR YOU and all they do is take pictures like it's a concert and enter 30 minutes late like it's some school assembly!

I think Broadway theatres should take a cue from Celine's Dions camp at Caesars. You are practically stripped naked to get into the theatre and then the aisles are policed regularly. Two people were escorted out who snapped photos. One of the good things about Vegas is they expect nonsense and are prepared for it. They have a zero tolerance for shenanigans that aren't planned for.

In general, etiquette is out the window. At the film Dreamgirls, the couple behind me shared their opinions through the whole film and the 3 teen girls in front of me were texting on their phones through the whole film. I mean, honestly, why did they even go to a movie.

It makes me feel like an old troll when I go to movies and plays and get crotchety about silence. I try to be flexible but ignorant people keep pusing the line. It is astounding.

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Etiquette is a difficult term to use. Etiquette is a standard accepted behavior. Obviously, the behavior is being tolerated and accepted by certain houses, so it has therefore become proper etiquette to act like an imbecile in certain shows. I GUARANTEE you if a child was acting up in Doubt, it would have been corrected IMMEDIATELY. The comparison to chucky cheese is valid. You can go out to eat at fine restaraunts and expect a certain etiquette that will be enforced, such as "no hats in the dining room", " must wear a jacket" or you can go to Chuck E Cheese which is a free for all. There are many Broadway shows and other forums, where generic idiocy is NOT tolerated. You may either choose Chuck E Cheese for dining, or Le Cirque. Tarzan or Parade? But be ready for the accepted etiquette at the venue.

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People need to stop being parents, that's all.

No, people need to START being parents. Spewing out a child is fine and dandy, but once you've done that, you need to take responsibility and teach it to be a productive and not-**** member of society, ie PARENT the child. And that's what people are failing to do. XP

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Updated On: 1/8/07 at 05:23 PM

The offenders at Grey Gardens were not blue-hairs, they were middle-aged. And I agree that the problem was corrected, albeit in a highly public way that distracted from the production itself.

But it speaks to a larger issue about behavior, and not just at the Disney shows. There have been at least 4 separate threads about this phenomenon over the last few days alone, so obviously it is an issue that merits discussion.

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Piercemn - what's wrong with that?

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I haven't attended a Disney Broadway show for fear that this would be my experience too! But the Broadway theater ushers do not seem to feel it is their obligation to enforce the rules. As one of the earlier posters noted, at the Metropolitan Opera if you use a flash camera, it will generally be confiscated until after the opera is over. But the cell phone/talking thing is pandemic! It must be Murphy's Law that a cell phone with an obnoxious ring tone will go off at the quietest point of any major production. The worst I saw was at "I Am My Own Wife" which, as you recall, was a one-man show, one patron's cell phone went off twice during both acts. I think the rest of the audience was prepared to lynch the owner.