Do you ever leave a show during intermission? — Page 4

I saw "Titus Andronicus" at the Globe in England and a bunch of people with our group left at intermission because we had standing tickets and we had been walking ALL day and everyone felt like they were going to die, but a few of us decided to be hardcore and stay because we assumed the second act would be shorter. Sadly, it was not, and I'm still not sure how I managed to stand for three and a half hours of what is often called Shakespeare's worst play...

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I've never left a show at intermission, though I've been tempted a few times.

Tarzan and Lestat were two where I wish I'd left, but was happy I stayed to see the whole thing. If In My Life had an intermission, I'm sure I would have left, but I'm glad I didn't. If I pay $$ to see something, I'm not leaving.

There was one show where, if it hadn't been for my theater-going companions, I would have demanded my money back during the intermission. It was Hot Feet. To this day, I regret staying for the biggest waste of my life, besides a nasty 24 hour layover in Tokyo on my way to China.

Intresting story from the uk

I think it was last year me and my partner went to see Jeckyll and Hyde on tour at the Manchester Palace Theatre.
We told a freind of ours who had just seen it(in another city )that we were going and he just laughed and said you will have a shock,i tried to get more info out of him but he said just see for yourself.

So off we went and took our seat's on the front row of the 2000 capacity theatre and noticed only about 500 people were there ,so they closed the grand tier and just left the circle and stalls open.
The music started and the curtain came up on the cheapest looking set you have seen(2 stone walls and a bridge)but i thought hey it's a tour.

It got to about mid way through act 1 and i wanted to kill myself because paul nicholls who were playing the title role was so bad it was untrue.Now when i say bad i mean we wated for him to hit a single note and when This is the moment finished something happened ive not seen happen ever(and i work in theatre).
People began to booo him YES ACTUALLY BOOO HIM since he killed the song dead(he made the Hoff look like a tony award winner).Act 1 dragged on and the 2 leading ladies were the only saving grace as they out did him everytime they walked on stage,and then came the interval.

I turned to my partner and just looked at him and he laughed,so we went to the bar to get a drink.People in the bar were outraged saying this was the worst thing they had ever seen and people were gen angry.
The bell went for Act 2 so we went back in ,but when we got back in i noticed something odd(this is no word of a lie)almost 300 of the audience had left leaving the 2000 capacity building looking empty,but it gets worse.

As act 2 started with murder murder(which the ensemble did a great job on)i thought it might pick up,Then came the next strange event .When paul sang his next song my jaw hit the floor HE WAS MIMEING TO A PRE RECORDED VOCAL TRACK and it was soooooo obvious ,who the hell does that in live theatre?

This wassn't just in 1 song but it carried on song after song and more people noticed because they got up and left saying they should have just listened to the CD(and said it loudly).
I said to myself that i was gonna see it through because as a performer i would hate to see people walking out whilst i was on stage.
The 2 girls belted out In His Eyes and all the audience(about 150 at this time)gave them a standing ovation(it was as if to say that your doing great we dont mean any disrespect to you).

The finale came and involved some man jumping out of a mirror dressed like jeckyll(supposed to be hyde)and then came the curtain call.All the cast got cheers and applause(especialy the 2 leading ladies)but when Paul came out he got boooed but put on a brave face.

I got home and was in shock at what i had seen and then my freind called me and said

so how many people were left in the audience at the end of the show.

The reviews were awfull and the West End transfer it was hoping for never happened and i doubt (thanks to him)it will be back again.

sorry about the grammer im sooooooo bad at it hehehe Xxx

Updated On: 8/2/06 at 09:51 PM

My parents once left a show during intermission at a dinner theatre.

The show was a huge pile of garbage sitting on the stage with the house lights on.

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"i know a lot of people who have left shows at intermission. last time rent came to atlanta i noticed a lot of people (including the people next to me) left at intermission."

Why would A LOT of people leave at intermission. Were they offended by the material? I can understand a few but, why a lot?

Updated On: 8/2/06 at 10:18 PM

If I paid for it, I will stay. :)

There are only two shows in which I halfway thought about leaving during intermission: Chicago and Perfect Crime (which was almost funny in a sad kind of way).

I'm a firm believer in staying until the cast leaves the stage after curtain call; I'll gladly be the last one to leave the parking lot! The only time I have ever left at intermission was the Porgy and Bess tour. I wouldn't have left although I didn't like the show at all, but the people I was riding with insisted on leaving. In fact, it looked like half the audience was leaving.

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i would have during Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (sorry..norbert wasn't there that day anyway!!), but we had a friend who's not from New York with us and it was only like her 2nd broadway show. otherwise, def would have

When I was 6 my grandmother took me to Cats and I threw up at intermission. Needless to say, we left.

I see no problem with leaving at intermission, for all the reasons discussed in this thread. That said, all shows that I've seen that were bad enough for me to want to leave were morbidly fascinating and I couldnt bring myself to leave since they were so bad they were somewhat hilarious.

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The only time I ever left was at the intermission of "Will Rogers Follies" at a local theater. It was just bad.

I was VERY very close of walking out of Miss Saigon... and I'm mad at myself for reading reviews of Lestat before I went. I heard the second act was better, but another godknowshowlong of suffering?

I was also very close to walking out the first time I saw Jersey Boys. I could not stand the first act of that show, though I can say it does get better. I've walked out of...

Tarzan
Chess
Hot Feet
Taboo (and then went back to see it again... my friend got the tickets)

I think that's it... that's all I remember, anyway. Most of the time I can stick it out... just so people don't say "YOU DIDN'T EVEN SEE THE ENTIRE THING". I must suffer to stay stubborn and b*tchy.