Hilarious Comments Overheard By Tourists and Audience Members — Page 39

Elton John, Verdi, close enough. I mean, they're practically the same person. I hear they used to have slumber parties and borrow each other's rings.

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From the OiNY website:

Girl #1: Where does Rent take place?
Girl #2: I heard it takes place in China.
Girl #1: Oh, really? Are they going to eat a dog here?
Girl #2: Maybe a puppet.

--41st & 7th

That was a little funny, but it was the title that killed it:

And Then They All Come Out in Cat Makeup and Sing About Hitler
link to OiNY site

this happened to me a while ago.

I went to see the Boys of Syracuse (revival) and at the end, a surprised guest came out (she played the twins mother). I was looking in the playbill to see who it was, but it had no one listed. This old guy next to me, said "Ooo, it's Mary-Tyler Moore." I was young at the time and couldn't really see her face properly and said: " oh really?" and he said yes. We counted the number of people in the bow line and it seemed like there was one extra person and since she was not listed, I accepted his answer. A few years later, I looked online and realized that he was wrong. It was Georgia Engel and she was listed as uncredited. How in the world can you mistake Georgia Engel for Mary Tlyer Moore?

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Back in 2001, when Hairspray first opened, there were visible lines up and down the block to get tickets. I was there with my family, waiting, and Harvey comes strolling up. He starts talking to the crowd, none of whom know who he is. After having a nice conversation with him, he went in, prompting the woman in front of me to ask "who was that?" I reply "He plays the mom." "Oh...."

i'm actually a bit of a HAIRSPRAY junkie and every single time i see the show i always encounter people who don't realize edna is played by a woman...even when they look in the playbill and see blake's headshot...they still think it's a woman. the best were the two elderly southern baptist women sitting behind me who 1) were appalled that someone large was onstage in public and 2) that it was a man in drag. i would repeat some of what they were saying but some of it is pretty offensive...

Updated On: 9/26/06 at 04:08 PM

So nice to see this thread as funny as ever.

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Saw "Jersey Boys" on Thursday night, September 21st. Two ladies behind me were looking through the program before the show started, and Lady #1 said to Lady #2, "Look, that's the guy who won The Tony." Lady 2 said, "Yeah, but is he any good?" Lady #1 replied, "Yeah, I'm reading here in the program and he has been on television."

OH, MY GAWD!!! As if to say that if you're on tv, you have talent and if you win a Tony you don't.

"An acquaintance has matter-of-factly informed me the reason Cats played as long as it did on Bway was because organized tourist groups from Japan would book the show as that trip's theatrical experience. Meaning, they just didn't understand what they were seeing.

I had to laugh.

This friend is known to just make things up. Can anyone verify this?"

Verify what? Speculation as to why Cats ran for 17 years? While I'm sure there MAY have been organized tourist groups from Japan seeing the show, organized tourist groups see shows all the time. In fact, tour bookings make up a good portion of a show's ticket sales.

I have no doubt that tour groups make up a good percentage of sales, but what my friend is getting at is, CATS ran *solely* on Japanese tourists, specifically. It was the most ridiculous thing I'd heard and I'd like to know if there's any truth to it.

"The answer is an obvious "no." "

I must be stupid, then. Granted, I've heard other ridiculous things that turned out to be true (Ashley Simpson in Chicago).

Now someone will post to tell me I'm off-topic.

I read something similar to what your friend said, Maile. But I think it was more for FOREIGN tourists rather than to single out one group.

CATS and Bob Fosse's DANCIN' were two shows that could be appreciated by those who don't speak English, which is one reason they both had successful runs despite not being the most substantial shows ever conceived (to put it mildly).

lildogs,

Thanks for replying too. Wow. So there's some truth to that. Darn. I was so looking forward to pointing out that he was wrong.

I would think Cats would be even MORE lost on people who aren't fluent in English (true, nothing of substance really happens, there's no plot per se, but would they be able to figure out what the hell is happening with the cat on the tire at the end?)

Edit: In the end, I guess it doesn't matter if they understand it or not. If they keep Bway going, that's all I care about! So, yeah for foreign tourists!

Updated On: 9/28/06 at 02:14 PM