How do you feel about theatre-goers who rush the same show constantly? — Page 2

If they're seeing the show as respectful audience members, and if their excitement happens to encourage others to attend and help fill the house, then they are great.

This generation, it's Mean Girls, or DEH, or Newsies, or insert-name-here... Years ago, people surely did the same for Mame, Applause, Spider Woman, Millie, etc.

How do I feel?
I feel a lot of respect. That's a lot of dedication. I wish I lived in New York to see a show I love several times and figure out new details every time I see it. The most I've seen a show I love is TWICE, and it breaks my heart.

I don't think it affects you at all, OP.

I'm a minority here, but my personal rule is no more than once, and 2 times if lottery is involved. But for her?
I know a girl who has rushed Hansen 8 times and each time seen it. She eventually got bored and stopped seeing it. She used her own money, sold playbills to see it again and was extremely sweet about it.
If in theory this lady has seen Mean Girls 20 times, and each ticket was $50 with fees, meaning she has spent $1000 on the show in total. As long as she is not maliciously doing this, such as cutting the line, stalking actors home, or harming MANY other people, she is technically in the correct, even if I view it as morally wrong. Not only that, but since I'm assuming she's a teen or millennial just like the cast majority of the fanbase, that's just what they do.
But I would also like to mention the case of a Spongebob fan who had ALSO seen the show 39581947482 times, but her behavior had been to record and stream during the show, stalk actors home in their cars, and Stagedoor daily. Is she doing this? I know that is an extreme case but if that is the case she should be banned from premises. Otherwise, as I said before, it's legal, just not too kind.

Let people enjoy things

---

To the OP, I don't understand why this is something to worry about. On the other hand, how many times has Patti Lupone FANatic seen Chicago?

A Director said: "To the OP, I don't understand why this is something to worry about. On the other hand, how many times has Patti Lupone FANatic seen Chicago?"

And didn't Dollypop see Hello Dolly! 93 times during both runs combined? They never stagedoored, but I can barely afford to see it once in a good seat!

BPfan81 said: "I think it borderlines something close to an unhealthy obsession of some sort. However, I would also take into account the person's age in order to really call it 'unhealthy.' If this person is relatively a teen to an early twenty-something, then I would say it's an 'age thing,' meaning, a young person who has no responsibilities or obligations and just 'does' these things as a result. Anything older, obviously, would indicate the unhealthy obsession characteristic. True, people can do what they want, but logic and maturity should kick in at some pointin someone's life."

You mean you can do this if you are young but if you are older, you are sick? Well that’s completely ridiculous. Maybe an older or younger person just enjoys a particular show and enjoys seeing it more than once. Or they are gong through a hard time (death,illness, loss of some type) and seeing something familiar is a comfort. Or maybe they are just rich and they can. Who knows.

Unless you stand in someone else’s shoes, judging seems a bit harsh. Who is to say that logic and maturity says you can’t see a show multiple times?

dashingdaisies said: "This might be a touchy subject and I apologize if so, my intention is certainly not to offend anyone but honestly to see if I'm alone in thinking this and need some sense knocked into me!

There's a girl I'm aware of who's a huge fan of "Mean Girls," and has seen the show over twenty times since it opened. This show is regularly sold out - I was lucky enough to get tickets for a performance even nearly a monthin advance. As far as I know, tons of people line up to rush - so not really a case where if you show up, it's easy to get a ticket last minute. This particular young woman rushes at least once a week, sometimes multiple times, showing up before 4 or 5 am to ensure that she gets a ticket. She's also entered and won the lottery at least once. Any time that an understudy goes on for a principal role that they haven't performed before, she *has* to see the show.

I just can't shake the feeling that there's something...a little icky about this. I know she has every right to see the show as many times as she wants and there's nothing wrong with that, but it gives me kind of a sour feeling that she's likely beating out people who have never gotten the chance to go. Yeah, they could have gotten thereearlier or whatever, but it just makes me feel a little bad to think that the first person to not score a rush ticket was beaten out by someone who's seeing the show for the 25th time. If "Mean Girls" wasn't selling out so quickly I probably wouldn't feel that way.

I don't know, I'm just conflicted in my feelings on this and am curious to see how other people feel. The word "unfair" seems super childish, especially since obviously there's nothing that can be done about it, but that's the word that keeps coming back to me. I will also readily admit that this person also does things like send gifts (egEdible Arrangements) to cast members on a regular basis, and act like she's on a "friends" basis with the cast, so it's possible my viewpoint is skewed because that behavior is creepy to me as it is."

It’s really not any of your business how someone else chooses to spend their money. Why do people feel the need to judge and criticize other people for doing what they love? You don’t know why she sees it so much, or what’s going on in her life, or what the show may have helped her through personally. This post screams jealousy on a lot of levels. When a show is sold out or close to, if you truly want to see it, you do what it takes to rush earlier, or save up and buy a full price ticket. Seeing a sho is a privilege, not a right, and everyone has equal right to be there. No matter how many times this girl has seen it, she has just as much right to be there as anyone else. Also, since when does giving gifts imply that someone thinks they are friends with a cast memeber. Fans give gifts to performers all the time. You shouldn’t be questioning her motives. For someone who made such an angry, jealous sounding post, but keeps saying you don’t care, when you clearly do. You seem to know an awful lot and have a ton of insight on this girl’s motives. Maybe you’re the obsessed.

^But that is completely the opposite of the person this thread is about. The person the OP is trying to shame due to petty jealousy has done absolutely nothing worthy of being deemed insane. Has she seen the show many times? Yes. Does she consider herself friends with the cast? No. The gifts she has given them were little things that were congratulations on going on in a role or on the Tony nominations and weren't that big of a deal. I will never understand why people feel the need to judge people they don't know and toss around terms to generalize everyone as if they're all the same.

---

Cat Guy said: "How do you know so much about this person? Perhaps you are the one with an obsession."

I can't speak for OP or the person OP is talking about, but I have a few people in my life who will make damn sure everyone knows their business whether they want to know it or not. Unfollowing them when I got tired of their shenanigans worked for a few, but a few others had a habit of asking other people (that most people I know do want to follow) to share their Facebook posts and such, so it actually took considerable effort not to know their business. Not necessarily related to this topic, but just something I wanted to point out because knowing a lot about someone that annoys you doesn't necessarily mean you're obsessed.

As for people who constantly see shows and rush them and such, for me it depends on how they are doing that. I've encountered three different types (I'm not going to touch on the people who think they are friends with the cast, because I don't know any of those).

Type one: They rush/see the same show over and over because they have the money and like it. They talk/post about it sometimes, but it's not a constant thing and they mainly just go about their business. That's awesome! I'm glad they enjoy it so much and are having fun.

Type two: They rush/see the same show over and over and you assume they have the money, but then they complain about how broke they are and beg other people for money. Sorry, I'm not going to contribute to your GoFundMe. You can skip your weekly DEH cancellation ticket this time around.

Type three: They see shows over and over again and go out of their way to brag and make sure everyone in their life knows just how much of a Broadway expert or whatever they are. They love to blatantly point out how "blessed" they are that they see so many more shows than anyone else they know, and try to bring that up any chance they get. Given that studies have shown that people who brag a lot are typically insecure, I just assume these people are trying to overcompensate for something gone wrong in their life and are desperately trying to escape into the world of fiction.

From what I've read in this thread, it sounds to me like the girl OP is talking about falls into category one.

And that's awesome! As long as she has the money and she's not bragging incessantly in a weird attempt to make other people feel bad for seeing it less, then its great that she has found a show that has resonated with her so much. Hell, even if she doesn't have the money and is deeply in debt, it's no one else's business as long as she isn't making it their business by trying to guilt them into covering her bills.

Personally, it's not something I would do even if I lived close enough, because those cheap tickets do add up and I'm frugal in most areas of my life. Also, I feel like if I saw a show that many times, it would get boring for me even if I lived it to begin with. But if everyone had the same opinions and preferences, the world would be a boring place.

(Insert Clever Name) said: "There is a girl like this in the Come From Away fandom, she has seen the show over 200 times. She thinks she is friends with the cast and tells other fans not to send gifts to them. She blocks other members of the fandom when they get recognized by the actors. And the fandom is tiny! She says that she knows actors better than other fans, and messages the fan accounts of actors in the show, telling them to delete the account because the actor doesn’t like it, even when the actor is interacting with the page and follows it etc. She really brings toxicity to the small fandom."

I know about this girl and I’ve met her at the stage door, but I had no idea that she’s this viscous to other people trying to enjoy the show. When I met her, I expected a friendly conversation about our mutual love for the show and the cast, but she acted like I was invisible the entire time. There was also a point where it really seemed like she was trying to get a lot of the cast to skip me and go straight to her. It was just a weird and awkward situation and really put a bad taste in my mouth, especially when the show is about accepting others and just being genuinely kind to one another.