Do NOT Do Standing Room For FINDING NEVERLAND

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/8/15 at 5:20pm

I got standing room for the show today and in all the years I've gone to the theater have never had a worse time. Starting with the fact that at 1:55, I was still in (an admittedly fast moving) line halfway down 46th Street to get inside. The show started a few mins after 2pm before people had taken their seats or everyone had been let in. It never occurred to me that this show, a pretty heavy drama, would be like a Disney show where parents would bring their babies and little kids and let them run up and down the aisles, but that's exactly what it was. Add to that that the ushers there are LOUD. They don't even try to lower their voices to talk to the dozens and dozens of people who showed up anywhere from 2pm - 2:45 to get in. Waving their flashlights everywhere, distracting everyone around them and then when they all went to go get food and come back with their loud plastic bags, going downstairs talking and laughing with each other, not even bothering to try to stop the people with their phones out taking pictures, I swear to God - it was worse than a show at Madison Square Garden. Did the people in charge at the Lunt sit everyone down and say - "OK, for this show, our rule is going to be 'F*ck it. Let the audience do whatever they want", because that's exactly what it felt like. And all of this is happening right behind/next to me distracting myself and honestly, everyone sitting in the back of the orchestra as well. The late comers who camped out in the back and played around in their plastic bags looking for their food next to ushers who didn't even stop them or ask them to be quiet and the sea of ice clanking in cups was just an added bonus to the day. And I forgot to mention the woman with her selfie stick (who worked for the show) who sat in front of the last couple rows shooting the show on her iPhone. There's a reason cell phones aren't allowed to be on in the theater - they're DISTRACTING. Especially when it's right in front of your face for 2.5 hours. 

 

I can't even tell you if this was a good show or not. This was the worst experience I've ever had in a theater. And I sat through BKLYN - IN THE FRONT ROW.

 

[SDV]

Posted: 4/8/15 at 5:24pm

Holy ****. I'm so sorry you had to endure this but it's so ridiculous that I'm laughing.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/8/15 at 5:26pm

And if anyone was curious, the ushers had Italian food for lunch. 

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 4/8/15 at 5:27pm

OMG

[Boq101]

Posted: 4/8/15 at 5:31pm

I would call someone and complain. 

[macnyc]

Posted: 4/8/15 at 5:32pm

Your pain is our hilarious gain! Thanks for posting!

[loliveve]

Posted: 4/8/15 at 5:32pm

It's not just standing room that is ridiculous at this show. I was in the mezz a couple weeks ago and was going insane with all the snack bags being opened for kids and adults alike, and children talking saying "I don't get it" or something to that effect when most of the audience laughed.  There were two ladies taking photos and videos of the show.  I finally had enough and went and got an usher and identified the two people, but the usher did not do anything until she saw them doing so-- about 5-6 photos later.  The audience was driving me insane and was very distracting.  I have a difficult time concentrating on things as it is (due to post concussion symptoms) and it was painful to sit through.  I left with quite a headache. 

Updated On: 4/8/15 at 05:32 PM

[rjm516]

Posted: 4/8/15 at 5:35pm

Ugh that sounds awful! I really want to see this show but not enough to deal with bad audiences. (Unfortunately, that is the current trend in my live theatre going. It's just too stressful and anxiety-ridden with people behaving so badly.)

[Robbie2]

Posted: 4/8/15 at 5:38pm

Jordan UGH!!!!!!!!!

I doubt Harvey could care less as long as the shows are selling out...and they are!

It's a shame anyone has to experience this and more importantly that all of this is being allowed without any doings on part of the ushers or management @ the Lunt!

Where's the house manager?

I can just imagine what the audience is like throughout the show?

Eating, texting, talking, bathroom breaks, drinking, crying...

This is why people are NOT going to the theater as it's so expensive and I have to subject myself to this?

Not worth it!

I wonder if an evening performance is any better well-behaved?

[Keiichi2]

Posted: 4/8/15 at 5:43pm

I am so glad I have never had an experience like this.  Still, I am truly sympathetic to what happened, and can't believe they allowed all that.

[de_lovely]

Posted: 4/8/15 at 5:46pm

Lol, oh man I am so sorry. Do you think it was especially bad because you were at the matinee?

I was at the Saturday matinee of the King and I last week, and while it wasn't as bad as what you have described, there was A TON OF CRUNCHING AND BAG OPENING. I was so shocked that parents were dumb enough to give their kids chips and bags of pretzels. I attributed it all to the Saturday matinee though. 

[SusanDelgado2]

Posted: 4/8/15 at 6:27pm

Was there last night. It was awful. So much talking, chomping, etc. even by groups of adults with no kids with them

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 4/8/15 at 6:32pm

^^^^

 And with that description, I'm out.  That is COMPLETE BUL*SH*T.

 

Updated On: 4/8/15 at 06:32 PM

[dramamama611]

Posted: 4/8/15 at 6:37pm

Yikes, that's awful, Jordan.  I'll be there Friday night with a large (and well behaved) group.  Hope we don't run into the same problem.

 

But truly, you should write a letter to as many people as you can!

[evic]

Posted: 4/8/15 at 6:46pm

Harvey told management not to bother disciplining the audience for his children's show. It is his way of punishing the true theater goers. He knows that the show will attract families with little ones and knows not to upset the cart with people bad mouthing the "mean" ushers.  The Nederlanders are to blame as well of course. They are the organization who leased the gorgeous Hellinger to the Church.  Hence they care more about $$$ than art.  I wonder how much urine and excrement is on the seats after a show.  I never go to a children themed show.  Regular audiences these days are bad enough. I had a fantasy that if there is ridiculous behavior in the theater, i would scream "STOP THE SHOW" run onstage and read everyone for being assholes. I feel for ya Jordan-but look on the bright side- you only paid $20 for your ticket.  How was the Dog?

[WickedAwesome]

Posted: 4/8/15 at 6:47pm

Was there this past Saturday in the Mezzanine and found it to be a bad experience as well. The ushers only pointed me to my seat and mumbled how many rows up I should go. I found it myself though with little help from them. They barely caught anyone on their phone and rarely looked up from the stage to watch the audience. There was a group of about 10 people including teens and younger that took up a few rows in the side mezz that kept taking pictures and video the whole time. It took until the beginning of the second act before I believe the house manager came and told them to stop. Throughout the show parents were leaving with their children to go the bathroom at some of the most emotional parts. I'm guessing I saw kids as young as 6 go in. While I thought the show was great, I could have a more pleasant experience if all of this around me was not happening. 

Jordan, I feel for you. Seems like it is not an isolated experience and something really should be done! 

[JayG 2]

Posted: 4/8/15 at 7:25pm

Keeping the doors shut until ten minutes before curtain is a producer's trick. When 1600 people are lined up around the block, it looks like the show is a massive hit - on the scale of  Phantom in 1987. When I saw Neverland (which is kind of wonderful, after a sluggish first half of Act I), the line went down to Eighth Avenue. I waited across the street and could hear passing people commenting about the crowd and checking out to see what everyone on earth was lined up for.

The noise during the show is awful. Constant crinkling of candy wrappers for 2 1/2 hours. I guess the kids who were expecting a lot of flying were bored and amused themselves with their candy. (THis is not a kiddie show. Go see Aladdin!)

Intermission must have been  25 minutes so they could sell as much of that nonsensical merchandise as possible. Anyway Harvey can make a buck is fair and good. But that lengthy break is included in the running time. Show let out  after 2:35 -- as stated.

[atuomala]

Posted: 4/8/15 at 7:39pm

The show is great, but I don't blame you for being angry. I've seen it twice and both times I found myself sharing a row with a bunch of children who would not stop talking or sit still. That's the problem with family shows, too many parents trying to 'enlighten' their young children with a Broadway experience when it's at a cost to everyone around them. I bet most professional, theatrical experiences are wasted on young children who would rather go see Disney on Ice for a quarter of the price you have to pay for a ticket to Broadway.

No matter how much I love the Lion King, I avoid it at all costs because of the audience.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/8/15 at 9:44pm

Are they marketing this as a kids show? I really don't understand what's going on over there or how in the hell anyone in charge could let this go on. I've seen staff be more respectful of the audience at the circus. Seriously. 

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 4/8/15 at 10:15pm

The did the same thing last Friday night held us all out the front to maybe twenty to eight , and than started the show late cause they couldn't get every one in in time.

 

But the audience I saw it with where we'll behaved 

[musicman_bwayfan]

Posted: 4/8/15 at 10:15pm

Jordan - I appreciate your BROOKLYN reference.  I just finished playing a 2 week run of the show with more 2 show days than what would be in a normal theatre week.  Half the time the rest of the pit and I (we were backstage) were wondering what in the hell was going on.

[Kad]

Posted: 4/8/15 at 10:17pm

"Are they marketing this as a kids show?"

It appears decidedly family-friendly. "How Peter became Pan!" A whimsical logo that's a boy's head with a star for his eye!

[Auggie27]

Posted: 4/8/15 at 10:38pm

It is not a family show, in some ways just as "Hunchback" isn't (now) for young children, despite its animated roots.  Merely incorporating elements of children's literature or a softened (tragic) story in a cartoon do not a multi-generational theater experience make.  "Neverland" comes from a dark, ultimately sad story, its joys and thrills unsustainable, and its central conceit far too cerebral for children to embrace let alone be entertained by, unless carefully explicated by parents. The theatrical referencing of "Pan" tropes and indeed iconography doesn't offer storytelling access to very young children.  It's preposterous to sell this as a family night out, and in time, that will get out.  These horror stories about behavior reveal far more than the glowing reports on theater boards.  Parents listen to other parents, and taking a van of kids to this show costs a fortune. 

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/8/15 at 10:40pm

Damn, that was well put. 

[Robbie2]

Posted: 4/8/15 at 10:45pm

^ Well, A concierge friend of mine is saying that tourists with kids want to see the new musical about Peter Pan with the idea it is a show for families. He said they are all asking about it since they already saw Lion King & Aladdin and some are not interested in Matilda or already saw it so in their eyes it's the only other-new show for parents to bring theirs kids to see on Broadway.