Color Purple Audience

[musicman_17082]

Posted: 5/13/07 at 11:13pm

Okay... so I finally got to see The Color Purple last Saturday and must tell you that I was completely amazed, touched, and impressed! [Particularly by Fantasia's INCREDIBLE performance]

HOWEVER... I have a few mixed feelings about the experience as a whole, mostly in regards to the audience.

Is it RRREEEAAALLLY neccessary to ruin every good moment of the production by hundreds of people shouting out "you go girl!" or "you tell him!" or "amen sistah!" etc etc etc I found that the most incredible moments on stage would be ruined by someone screaming out a stupid comment that made everyone laugh and/or reply... thus ruining the "moment" completely. UGH.

Now, the "mixed" portion of my feelings was glad that the audience was so respsonsive and thoroughly excited about the energy and buzz in the theater. I loved how much the audience loved the show. I just think it went a bit far at times! I mean, A LOT of lines were lost under the shouting out of comments from audience members. Somewhat frustrating when I spent over $100 to be sitting there.

Fantasia received OUTSTANDING feedback but perhaps what made me maddest of all is when the dang audience would start screaming their brains out at EVERY good note she hit... escelating to a level in which you could no longer even hear the note being sung! Especially at the ending... I was SO looking forward to hearing the "Amen" (last line of the show) but NOT A SINGLE PERSON IN THE THEATER could hear the last portion of that amazing song due to screams and premature applause!

Perhaps I'm being too uptight. I just think I'd rather HEAR the music first and THEN applaud it! And don't you think Fantasia would rather get the chance to sing and THEN be cheered? Just a few thoughts I guess...

Are The Color Purple audiences always like this?

[MungoGypsy8232]

Posted: 5/14/07 at 12:10am

You're not being uptight by any means. I would have been incredibly annoyed myself! That's the way it was when I saw Wicked. During Defying Gravity, I had wanted to hear Sho's "it's meeeeeeeee" but it was inaudible because everyone had already started screaming and cheering, that always annoyed me.

[theaterdude87]

Posted: 5/14/07 at 12:22am

yeah with sho its annoying. one youtube video the girl was sobbing into the camera.

[antonijan]

Posted: 5/14/07 at 3:51am

I am gnna bring my aunt and cousins to see Wicked this coming memorial holiday and I hope the fans doesn't ruin it :P

Another one...though a concert....of Mariah Carey...all the fans kept on screaming that I could barely enjoy the songs she was singing.

big mistake!

[LuPonatic]

Posted: 5/14/07 at 3:58am

This is why I don't like concerts of popular performers, because you can't enjoy the concert for all the screams. I hate how people are so needy in the audience that they have to have the attention and that is their way of getting it. "AMEN SISTER!"

[LifeofTheParty2]

Posted: 5/14/07 at 4:09am

I absolutely HATE that. I was at a John Mayer concert (Yeah, we'll discuss my oddly divers taste in music another time), and in between songs, he would stat to talk about when he wrote it and interesting stuff like that, but was interupted constantly by "I LOVE YOU JOHN! EEEEE!!!" I almost punched someone.

On an actual theatre-related note. During Soldier's Play, Taye Diggs had to wait two full minutes sometimes for people (girls) to stop screaming so he could start speaking. The worst day was, by far, the high school group. I seriously worried that I'd have to tackle some fo them to the ground if they started rushing the stage.

I didn't notice this problem when I saw The Color Purple, but maybe things have gotten crazier since Fantasia is in it.

This is also the exact reason that I avoided Chicago like the plague when Usher was featured.

*edited because I apparently can't type or spell*
Updated On: 5/14/07 at 04:09 AM

[jordangirl]

Posted: 5/14/07 at 7:07am

Antonijan ~ I've never experienced that at Wicked. Maybe it depends on who's Elphie and their fan base?

[thtrbear]

Posted: 5/15/07 at 1:23am

I've seen the show twice and I thought the audience was extra prone to talking constantly, chewing gum, and eating, as well as hollering.

By the way, recently I saw The Woman In Black in London with a mostly high school or junior high audience. They were on the noisy side, though there was also an adult with really jangly bracelets which I thought might be ghostly sound effects for a long time (they sounded like loud sleigh bells). It appears that since the novel is a set school text in England the show actively courts schools and they are a major part of its audience. Maybe I should have seen it more than once off-broadway to get my fix!

[chino]

Posted: 5/15/07 at 9:57am

When I saw the Dreamgirls movie for the first time!!! I hated these kids who would sing with Jennifer Hudson and Beyonce! People would of course "shhh" them, and then they would reply in a very annoying manner! Argh...

Totaly ruined it.

[Sleeper2]

Posted: 5/15/07 at 10:06am

I never remember the audience screaming like that when LaScreamz herself was playing Celie.

[avab802]

Posted: 5/15/07 at 10:22am

musicman, I encountered the same thing when I saw TCP, but it was really only during the opening number (part of which is sung by a preacher and is very much in a gospel/church style anyway). There were a few call-outs during other parts of the show, but not enough to bother me. I saw it when LaChanze was still in, so maybe it's gotten worse with Fantasia. I was also in the front row so maybe it was easier for me to tune it out than if the call-outs had been coming from all around me instead of just from behind me. However, I did like seeing an audience of people that are most likely not frequent theatergoers enjoying the show.

Posted: 5/15/07 at 11:22am

Enough of the racist comments. Where's the moderator?

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 5/15/07 at 11:37am

It's only racist to you, Tom.

[Weez]

Posted: 5/15/07 at 12:09pm

By the way, recently I saw The Woman In Black in London with a mostly high school or junior high audience. They were on the noisy side, though there was also an adult with really jangly bracelets which I thought might be ghostly sound effects for a long time (they sounded like loud sleigh bells). It appears that since the novel is a set school text in England the show actively courts schools and they are a major part of its audience. Maybe I should have seen it more than once off-broadway to get my fix!

I just saw The Woman In Black with a mostly adult audience after twice seeing it with a mostly high school audience (they'd be around 15 to 18; I think TWIB is a GCSE text but there's no reason A-level students wouldn't see it as well), and I honestly preferred the school audience. Half the appeal of TWIB for me is how unsettled it makes people feel, and screaming from teenagers - annoying as it may feel at the time - really helps with unnerving the entire audience. First time I saw it, I couldn't sleep properly for a month. Third time, with the adult audience? I wasn't even bothered walking home on my own in the dark. *shrugs*

Aaaaand back to TCP...

[Fenchurch]

Posted: 5/15/07 at 12:18pm

How silly. Guess what, this show wasn't written for you. It was written to empower a certain audience, and that audience is part of a culture where that is how they show their appreciation.

To denigrate how that culture expresses itself is to Sh*t on the entire production and what it stands for.

Its fine to have black people onstage, but not in the audience?
Makes me sick to my stomach, you should be ashamed.

[Jonny boy]

Posted: 5/15/07 at 3:03pm

I find it ridiculouse that you posted this thread!!! I think it is awsome that people are loving the show that much that they are shouting and hollering!!! I think it makes the show that much better!

[madbrian]

Posted: 5/15/07 at 3:15pm

While I wasn't crazy about the show, I loved the experience! For me, it was a cross between a Broadway show and a Baptist church service. I saw the show with LaChanze, however the biggest response from the audience was during 'Hell, No'. Honestly, I felt it raised the level of the show, because I didn't like the OBCR at all.

[dream on]

Posted: 5/15/07 at 3:32pm

I find it endearing that people love Fantasia as the character of "Celie" so much - that they show their support.

This is a very disrespectful thread and I hope the mods delete it.

[avab802]

Posted: 5/15/07 at 4:20pm

How is it disrespectful to discuss the behavior of an audience? There are countless threads on this board about audience behavior, I don't see how this one is any different.

I think if we'd all just acknowledge racial/cultural differences instead of trying to pretend they don't exist the world would be a much better place.

[folkyboy]

Posted: 5/15/07 at 4:29pm

when my roommate saw this show in previews and came back and told me people acted like it was Showtime At the Apollo in the audience, it made me immediately not want to see it.

in fact, i have YET to see it because of this. i feel your pain. i get mad at someone unwrapping a candy wrapper. i know i'd be mad at someone going "YOU GO, HOPPO!"

[jpbran]

Posted: 5/15/07 at 4:59pm

How is this racist??? Theater (at $100 plus a pop!!) is NOT participatory beyond laughter, clapping, etc.

This would annoy me as much as (any color) people's cell phones, (any color) people opening loud wrappers, (any color) people showing up late -- and (any color) people shouting out during ANY show.

Drawing attention to yourself in ANY way while at a show is just pathetic. Takes away from the actors, musicans, etc. and makes YOUR experience MY experience. I hate that people in general have lost all ability to sit and enjoy something (movies, theater, etc) without forgetting or not caring that they aren't in their living room.

(sorry to sound like a grouchy old man-- I'm just 36, but some stuff makes me feel like an old geezer yelling at kids from my front porch)

[misto625]

Posted: 5/15/07 at 5:24pm

I agree with the original poster. This kind of behavior is exceedingly annoying. It is one thing to dress as if you are going to church, but The Color Purple is NOT a participatory show, so the audience members should refrain from adding comments to the show.

Also, I wonder if the audiences are really cheering Fantasia as Celie or just cheering Fantasia

[uncageg]

Posted: 5/15/07 at 5:30pm

I will start off by saying that I am black. I didn't experience that behavior when I saw TCP in previews but I did when I saw A Raisin in the Sun. Unfortunately, these are black people who probably do not attend the theatre on a regular basis so therefore don't know how to "behave", so to speak, in a theatre. It annoys me also. What I did experience at TCP was a couple behind me making comments especially during the intimate scenes with Celie and Shug. I turned around and asked him to please keep his commnets to himself. And it surprised me because when I saw him before the show, my gaydar went ballistic! At Raisin, it was the cell phone cameras, comments and inappropriate laughter.