"A woman sitting behind me complained throughout the show. She kept saying... Why are people laughing? It's not funny. Then during Changing my major to Joan, she said "this is stupid". "
A discerning woman.
I feel for her.
Thank you for relating this. It's important that people know the reactions of the general public.
Yellow T-shirt (Fun Home), 2 different black t-shirts (one really cool one says "Can you feel my heart saying "hi"), a black hat with rainbow lettered Fun Home, a magnet (I think) and a mug or cup. Original Cd and book. Window card.
Oh After Eight, I know you selectively choose who to respond to on here, but how is only the person who didn't like the show part of the general public? Does no one here who liked it count? Does my Facebook friend who loved the show when she saw it (and wasn't familiar prior) part of the general public?
No one gives a damn if you don't like it, but in the face of overwhelming evidence you can't accept that some people actually like this show. Sad.
I am a firm believer in serendipity- all the random pieces coming together in one wonderful moment, when suddenly you see what their purpose was all along.
This board is its own self-contained universe, a little bubble, hermetically sealed. It is not representative of the mainstream theatregoing public. Those theatregoers don't go around obsessing about the color of Sally's dress, the "subtexts" of Into the Woods, or the lugubrious scores to dirgicals.
"No one gives a damn if you don't like it,"
For some reason known only to yourself, you seem to give quite a damn. And based on the invective I've received on this board, so, it would seem, do others. You should all just block me and stop ruining threads whining about me.
I reiterate my thanks to the poster who cited that woman's response to this show. It was both refreshing and immensely gratifying.
You approve of someone speaking apparently loudly enough that others could hear her throughout a show?? I thought, even if you hated the show, you of all people would not approve of such behaviour in the theatre.
I don't approve of the behavior, but I certainly do of the sentiment, which I wholly share. And I most certainly understand her pain, which I most keenly felt myself.
But as you well know, we now live in a different theatregoing climate than that which you and your kind look down upon as archaic, and God only knows what else. And I don't seem to hear objections from any of you when the "whoo-whooers" or "look at how sensitive I am" slobbering sobbers disrupt the enjoyment of those seated around them. So maybe it's now equally time for the dissatisfied to express THEIR feelings just as loudly, and to give the fanboys/girls a taste of their own medicine.
What's good for the goose is good for the gander, right Eric?
"^ I don't approve of the behavior, but I certainly do of the sentiment, which I wholly share. And I most certainly understand her pain, which I most keenly felt myself. But as you well know, we now live in a different theatregoing climate than that which you and your kind look down upon as archaic, and God only knows what else. And I don't seem to hear objections from any of you when the "whoo-whooers" or "look at how sensitive I am" slobbering sobbers disrupt the enjoyment of those seated around them. So maybe it's now equally time for the dissatisfied to express THEIR feelings just as loudly, and to give the fanboys/girls a taste of their own medicine. What's good for the goose is good for the gander, right Eric?"
That's a straw man argument if ever I've heard one. We've disagreed on many things before, but I never imagined you would actually applaud rude audience behaviour. You certainly have not stocked my posts as heavily as I thought if you haven't seen me complaining about audiences "whoo-whooing" instead of applauding after songs, etc. When did me "and my kind" (am I suddenly Christopher Isherwood?) ever say that polite, respectful audience behaviour was archaic and "God only knows what else?"
"but I never imagined you would actually applaud rude audience behaviour. "
Try to read carefully. I expressly stated that I do not approve of it. But if certain bad behavior is now considered acceptable, then that woman's is no less.
"You certainly have not stocked my posts as heavily as I thought"
Psst..... Eric. This may come as a surprise to you, but I don't read all your posts. The ones I do read are bad enough. Don't be so vain.
But you don't approve of the whoo-whooers? Excellent. I commend you.
Speaking of reading carefully, are you just going to ignore my mention of someone not on this board who did like the show? If people here don't count as the general public, what does that make her? Or several others, again on Facebook, who commented on the recording to say how much they enjoyed it? Again, what counts as the general public in your criteria- because it seems to me it's only people who agree with you.
I am a firm believer in serendipity- all the random pieces coming together in one wonderful moment, when suddenly you see what their purpose was all along.
I think what everyone is missing is that After Eight is a fictional character - a mildly entertaining melange of Alexander Woollcott, George Saunders, Clifton Webb, and Quentin Crisp.
Enjoy him as such; but only the slightly mad try to enter into a conversation with a fictional character.
""A woman sitting behind me complained throughout the show. She kept saying... Why are people laughing? It's not funny. Then during Changing my major to Joan, she said "this is stupid". "
A discerning woman. I feel for her. Thank you for relating this. It's important that people know the reactions of the general public."
She was definitely the exception. Sitting in the round, you can easily see everyone's expressions. The audience was loving it.
I didn't find her "discerning". More like rude and obnoxious... With possibly a bit of homophobia shining through.
The news that the former head of iOS (Apple iPhone operating system) is a producer of FUN HOME has meant the show has reached publicity in some unusual outlets, such as this Apple forum. Someone made this:
http://i58.tinypic.com/i22050.jpg
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
Was there tonight-sold out house. People waiting in cancellation lines. Audience went wild. This is this seasons Next To Normal-a musical that will speak to people's hearts about finding oneself amid dysfunction. Word of mouth will keep this going. It's a small house like N2N. I got my ticket from Audience Rewards for free and was front row in the 200s. Amazing seat. This show is gonna clean up. Tesori is a genius.
"The sexual energy between the mother and son really concerns me!"-random woman behind me at Next to Normal
"I want to meet him after and bang him!"-random woman who exposed her breasts at Rock of Ages, referring to James Carpinello