Crazy people in Broadway shows

[tthomas76]

Posted: 9/16/04 at 3:40pm

Ok, we were at a baseball game the other day and some idiot ran on the field during the game... I wondered in Broadway History has there ever been any type of stunt like this been done? It would not be too hard to do since there are stairs going up to the stage sometimes... Just curious to hear stories..

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 9/16/04 at 3:41pm

heehee I thought you meant "crazy people IN Broadway shows"...

[lildogs]

Posted: 9/16/04 at 3:42pm

i love the Ethel Merman/Drunk Man in Audience story that Stritchie tells in "At Liberty"--i wish i had been there to see that! I would have given Ethel a standing ovation on the spot!

[KMF_NYC]

Posted: 9/16/04 at 3:42pm

me too Raith....that list can get pretty long!

[uncageg]

Posted: 9/16/04 at 3:44pm

I heard that someone yelled out "4 more years" during a very quiet moment at Frogs a week or so ago.

[tthomas76]

Posted: 9/16/04 at 3:44pm

SORRY, no I meant crazy audience members...

[tthomas76]

Posted: 9/16/04 at 4:10pm

Ok, so no stories? Awww there has to be some....

[WOSQ]

Posted: 9/16/04 at 4:23pm

About 15 years ago Lincoln Center did a (not very good) production of The Tenth Man by Paddy Chayefsky (sp). It starred Jack Weston.

Midway through the second act after Weston finished an uncharacteristic dramatic scene, a woman of a certain age and hearing impairment piped up quite audibly, "He's good! Who is he?"

Mood destroyed.

[dancinfan]

Posted: 9/16/04 at 11:10pm

I have personal experience with a young member of the audience climbing onto the stage during a major Broadway national tour, running across the stage, and jumping off the other side. You shoulda heard his mother yelling at him all the way up the aisle.

[broadwaystar2b]

Posted: 9/16/04 at 11:47pm

There's a pseudo-famous one when during the run of Forum, some guy's cell phone rang, he stupidly answered it, and Nathan Lane jumped into the audience, took the guy's cell and shouted into it: HE CAN'T TALK RIGHT NOW, HE'S SEEING A SHOW!

[Rose_MacShane]

Posted: 9/17/04 at 1:27am

Did that really happen?
And I've never heard the Ethel Merman/Drunk Man story. Do tell!

[Ebonic_Singer]

Posted: 9/17/04 at 1:38am

Yeah I wanna hear the Ethel Merman story!

[Spiritoflaw]

Posted: 9/17/04 at 1:47am

Yes, me too! What is that Merman story? Please tell us.

Last season, Audra Mac Donald told a story about some people who were screaming and jumping up and down during some of the most intense moments in "A Raisin in the Sun." Apparently, there was a mouse or rat that was running up and down and all over people that ended up disrupting their concentration.

Updated On: 9/17/04 at 01:47 AM

[Musetta1957]

Posted: 9/17/04 at 2:10am

I heard this second-hand.

During the Miss Saigon second national tour's stop in San Francisco, some guy ran onto the stage while Steve Pasquale and Kristine Remigio were singing (I suppose sometime in Act 1), and Steve had to wrestle him into the wings. (!)

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 9/17/04 at 2:10am

While Hairspray was playing in LA, there was a guy in the balcony who must have been high on something. He was singing out loud and getting into fight with his date in the lobby. Then, twords the end of the first act, he made his way from the upper balcony down to the front and proceeded to climb on the railing, all the while singing. People got freaked out because they thought he was going to jump from the balcony.

Marissa told everyone that it was just her stalker.

[lildogs]

Posted: 9/17/04 at 11:17am

the merman story was when she was doing "call me madam" during the money song....i don't remember it word for word, but Elaine does in on the CD as well...

A drunk man heckles Ethel during her song, and she puts up with his remarks until he says, "You can bet a** on it" Ethel sings "YOU CAN HAVE...." Then Ethel went off the stage, into the audience, picked up the SOB and dumped him outside the theatre into the street. She came right back in, through the wings back on the stage, hits dead center and finishes "MINE!" what a moment! i tear up just thinking about it! I'd stop the show right there, cause you can't top that! Give her a standing ovation and call it a night!

You must check out the whole story on either the DVD or the CD--pure classic broadway!

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 9/17/04 at 11:25am

In mary martin's autobiography, I read a great story about a little deaf girl who crawled her way from the boxes at the Winter Garden onto the stage during a scene...

not crazy.. but hey.

[ShbrtAlley44]

Posted: 9/17/04 at 11:27am

That's creepy. It reminds me of Samara in The Ring crawling out of the television set.

[tthomas76]

Posted: 9/17/04 at 12:08pm

Those are all hilarious! That's funny about what Marissa said. Was she serious? LOL