Do you go to a show....

[Julie Yard]

Posted: 6/4/15 at 10:54pm

if you think you won't like it? SO ... if there's some new musical/play and just the vibe/story/whateva feels wrong to you but you know it will be a big deal in the season.. do you go anyway (and hope)? I used to go to a lot more of those, but I've sort of surrendered to my hunches and stay home with Netflix. But I'm interested in what other theater fans are doing.

Is a bad night on Broadway better than a whatever night somewhere else?

[JoseLee_]

Posted: 6/4/15 at 11:00pm

Live theatre is my escape. I try to see something even if I have to repeat, once a week. I don't care if I know nothing about the play or musical. I still go.

[Cupid Boy2]

Posted: 6/4/15 at 11:02pm

For me, the answer is absolutely as long as the price is right. I'd rather spend an evening in the theatre than be anywhere else. You never know what you might end up loving.

[RaiseYouUp]

Posted: 6/4/15 at 11:02pm

"Live theatre is my escape. I try to see something even if I have to repeat, once a week. I don't care if I know nothing about the play or musical. I still go."

 Beautifully put! I wish I had the resources and time to see a show once a week! I probably see a show a couple times a month (sometimes more). 

[RaiseYouUp]

Posted: 6/4/15 at 11:03pm

"Live theatre is my escape. I try to see something even if I have to repeat, once a week. I don't care if I know nothing about the play or musical. I still go."

 Beautifully put! I wish I had the resources and time to see a show once a week! I probably see a show a couple times a month (sometimes more). 

[JBroadway]

Posted: 6/4/15 at 11:07pm

It totally depends on the individual, partly because different people have different way of looking at situations like this, but mainly because not everyone has the same access to theatre. If you live in new York and have the time and money to see lots of shows, then you have little to lose by seeing a show you might not like. But if you're a tourist, you have to be much more selective if you want to feel like you made good use of your limited time.

Now that I go to school in NY and have lots of time to see shows (and because I'm able to rush shows) I take more risks than I did back when I took my annual theatre-seeing trips. I like to keep an open mind, and I often am pleasantly surprised. Even so, I rarely feel that my time and money are wasted, because every new theatrical experience under my belt is precious to me, even if I don't end up liking the show. 

[dramamama611]

Posted: 6/4/15 at 11:30pm

Not usually.  If I can't muster a glimmer of hope that I might enjoy it, it's not worth going. That's not to say I haven't been surprised by a show, because I have.

 

I'm too old to piss away my time -- on a book I'm not enjoying or a play in which I have NO interest.

 

I certainly take chances...when I'm uncertain or with others making the choices....but more often than not, my gut is right.

[JPeterman]

Posted: 6/4/15 at 11:35pm

"Live theatre is my escape. I try to see something even if I have to repeat, once a week. I don't care if I know nothing about the play or musical. I still go."

I completely agree.  I do the same. 

Additionally, I have proven my intuition wrong more times than right when it comes to my first impression about a show.  I remember when I first heard about Hedwig, I thought it sounded horrible .... well, I have changed my tune on that one many performances later! 

And more recently, when I heard about Hamilton and saw the first clip, I decided not to buy tickets for the beginning of the Public Theatre run.  When they extended and another block of tickets went on sale, my intuition still told me it sounded lame, but I bought tickets any way and saw it in March.  It is in my top three show experiences of all time and I am seeing it again this winter.  So for me, I just love going to the theatre and I try to keep an open mind, because sometimes I surprise myself and love something I did not expect to.

[SweetLips]

Posted: 6/5/15 at 12:45am

My brother-in-law is an amazing guy---can go to the football in the afternoon and then the opera in the evening.

If he feels like a movie[only when my sister is not with him] he goes to the cinema complex and whatever is about to start when he gets there--he will go and see.

His decision is made for him.

I deliberate too long about everything and when I finally decide---everyone has gone home--party over !

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 6/5/15 at 1:13am

I'd say there are three categories. There are only a few things I know I'm going to love (e.g. The King and I). Almost everything else I'll take a chance on if I have the time and I can find a ticket for a good price even if I have my reservations. (I wasn't sure about the Side Show revival comparing their voices to the original album. The word of mouth on Doctor Zhivago was so bad. I didn't like the music for OTTC listening to the original album.) That said there are things I completely write off if I feel like I've seen/heard enough of to know I won't like it. Examples include Once, Memphis, Newsies, Gigi. I sometimes have regrets about these shows down the line but generally I don't. If I were reviewing these shows or getting comp tickets it'd be a different story but there's just too much sometimes. You can't opt in to everything. 

That said, a bad night on Broadway is still better than a whatever night somewhere else.

[Emma MK]

Posted: 6/5/15 at 3:11am

With Broadway im more selective as i dont wanna travel 3500 miles to see a show that i might not like. Everyone is raving about Fun Home and it doesnt sound like it would appeal to me, so i didnt see it on my last trip. However sometimes i do go in blind, like we had tickets to see Doctor Zhivago 2 days after it closed, so we had to find something to replace it with that had tickets available and was cheap. We went with Gigi, not knowing anything about the show, only that it looked pretty and might be fun. We loved it! I sometimes dont mind going in blind if i have a cheap ticket as it doesnt matter so much if we dont enjoy it.

In London im less fussy in what i see as its all about a good night out at the theatre for as little money as possible. Im lucky that im just under 25 so i get £5 tickets to the National Theatre, so i try and see everything thats on there, regardless of whether i think ill like it or not and sometimes ive been pleasantly surprised!

[dramamama611]

Posted: 6/5/15 at 7:30am

Going in "blind" is very different than going in with the feeling its not for you.  

 

I had no interest in Rock of Ages.  Everything I heard about it said it wasn't for me.  My sister really wanted to go, so I was happy to join her.   Even the first few minutes of the show I was excited for the possibility.   But withing 10 minutes I was in complete loathing.

 

 

 

 

[South Florida]

Posted: 6/5/15 at 7:45am

You lasted 5 minutes longer than me Drama.  My wife was so excited to see it on tour.  I left her 5 minutes in and told her to take a taxi home.

 

[South Florida]

Posted: 6/5/15 at 7:47am

When you get to see 2-3 Broadway shows a year you may be selective, and know the music and story too well by the time you see it.  It's one of the downers about being an out of towner.

 

[KathyNYC2]

Posted: 6/5/15 at 8:24am

Since there are discounts, lotteries and rush tickets out there - I go a lot more often than I used to. I do pay full price once in a while but I know I would not do that for a show I really have no interest in seeing.

But I am happy to take chances even if I think I won't like something. But sometimes, I just want to see a particular actor and so even if the show is bad, I will still go.

And I like to repeat as well - I would rather spend $30 for a cheap seat of live theater than go to the movies twice for $15 - when that movie is going to show up on video or TV soon anyway.

I am lucky I live about a mile from the theater district..so I can take chances for cheap seats and if it doesn't work out, I just go another day. It depends on how busy I am but I usually go on average about 3 times a month...

But there are shows i have never seen (Rock of Ages, Phantom) that I have never seen and have no interest in seeing and might not even go with a free ticket. I am not as fussy as some but when I KNOW I am not going to like something, I don't bother.

[ebontoyan]

Posted: 6/5/15 at 9:06am

I don't, especially in the last few years.  For me, it is not worth it to waste time and money for something I will not like.

i do research and listen to cast recordings (if available) to prepare.  In May (third visit to NYC) the only new show I watched (which was the only one I was interested in) was Something Rotten, which I enjoyed a lot.  There is a lot of hype with FH (which its cast recording did not do anything to me) and AAIP (I watched a similar show in Jan, was bored and left at intermission) Now I have the cast recording of AAIP and I don't regret my decision.  I could not even get past the first song, I'm already bored.  FH and AAIP may win a lot of Tony's this year but I'm fine with the decisions I made.  And I may still catch them when they go on tour.  In Iowa, we get quite a few of shows that opened the last couple of years (in 2014-2015 season, we are getting Gentleman's Guide, Cabaret, Bridges from last season)

On the other hand, I love On the Twentieth Century and has seen it 3x this year!

Updated On: 6/5/15 at 09:06 AM

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 6/5/15 at 9:13am

Occassionally I'll get comps or a dirt cheap ticket to something, and in that case I'm willing to see pretty much anything. But even though I've seen a lot more since moving to New York, I still have to budget myself in such a way that I can't afford to see everything, even on rush prices. So if I'm paying, I want to be fairly sure I'll enjoy it, because my chances of seeing something are fairly limited.