#1
Posted: 10/29/13 at 2:18pm
Usually I am pretty laid back about audience behavior at shows prior to the start of the performance and do my best to mind my own business, but there was apparently a platoon of Texans in town and attending the 10/19 show of Kinky Boots and surrounding my party, who succeeded in reminding me why Texas will not be high on my travel itinerary any time soon. In the off chance that any of them read this board (which is a real off chance), they might like to keep in mind for future trips/performances any of the following:
1. While it is nice to have pride in your birthplace, it is really not necessary to announce louder than everyone in the room that you are from Texas...and then repeat it at the same ear-shattering decibel roughly every 6 minutes.
2. If there are replacements at your performance and NONE of them are for the lead roles or roles of any major substance, that is not a call to start having a loud argument about demanding your money back because "the original cast" is not performing and you have understudies.
3. It is bad enough to be reminded every few moments that you are from Texas, but it is even more unnecessary to announce to all and sundry that you are "Conservatives from Texas". Trust me, no one cares.
4. No one need also hear in ear-shattering tones that you cannot possibly discuss what play you saw and will need to lie to acquaintances back home because as "conservatives from Texas", no one would understand you seeing a show prominently featuring a drag queen. With all due respect on this point, since several of you indicated you had seen the film on which the show was based, I am hard-pressed to understand why the ticket buyers for your party would have selected a Broadway show to see that you then felt you could not discuss openly and needed to lie about seeing. But then that is just me.
5. Further to the announcement of being "conservatives from Texas", no one is similarly interested in one of the male members of your party who felt compelled to partially rise from his seat to announce in full bellow how he thought Ted Cruz was the greatest statesman in the world and then stop to pan around the mezzanine to see if anyone was paying attention to him. When it became obvious that he was blatantly being ignored, he felt compelled to return to his sitting position and announce to his comrades that he had hoped he had "upset some liberals". If this gentleman's sole reason for attending the theater is hoping to "upset some liberals", his comrades may want to leave him at the hotel (or best back in the sainted Texas) because it seems such a waste of energy to put that much effort into something so silly and then not get any reactions at all from the people around you.
And on that note, I would like to thank Broadway World forum participants to allow me my rant regarding pre-theater etiquette.
1. While it is nice to have pride in your birthplace, it is really not necessary to announce louder than everyone in the room that you are from Texas...and then repeat it at the same ear-shattering decibel roughly every 6 minutes.
2. If there are replacements at your performance and NONE of them are for the lead roles or roles of any major substance, that is not a call to start having a loud argument about demanding your money back because "the original cast" is not performing and you have understudies.
3. It is bad enough to be reminded every few moments that you are from Texas, but it is even more unnecessary to announce to all and sundry that you are "Conservatives from Texas". Trust me, no one cares.
4. No one need also hear in ear-shattering tones that you cannot possibly discuss what play you saw and will need to lie to acquaintances back home because as "conservatives from Texas", no one would understand you seeing a show prominently featuring a drag queen. With all due respect on this point, since several of you indicated you had seen the film on which the show was based, I am hard-pressed to understand why the ticket buyers for your party would have selected a Broadway show to see that you then felt you could not discuss openly and needed to lie about seeing. But then that is just me.
5. Further to the announcement of being "conservatives from Texas", no one is similarly interested in one of the male members of your party who felt compelled to partially rise from his seat to announce in full bellow how he thought Ted Cruz was the greatest statesman in the world and then stop to pan around the mezzanine to see if anyone was paying attention to him. When it became obvious that he was blatantly being ignored, he felt compelled to return to his sitting position and announce to his comrades that he had hoped he had "upset some liberals". If this gentleman's sole reason for attending the theater is hoping to "upset some liberals", his comrades may want to leave him at the hotel (or best back in the sainted Texas) because it seems such a waste of energy to put that much effort into something so silly and then not get any reactions at all from the people around you.
And on that note, I would like to thank Broadway World forum participants to allow me my rant regarding pre-theater etiquette.
Updated On: 10/29/13 at 02:18 PM