Overheard at the Theatre

[mitchern]

Posted: 1/9/26 at 6:49am

I'll start with some gems from last night at Oedipus, Usher Edition:

"Don’t climb over that seat!"

"Sir, what are you eating?"

"No intermission, 2 hours, if you leave your seat you'll have to watch from the lobby", 900 times. 

and, audience favorite "Do you have any idea what the show is about?"

[tthomas76]

Posted: 1/9/26 at 8:57am

Was at Wicked a few years ago.  Sat in front of an elderly couple that talked very loud prior to the show.  The husband asked his wife what the show was about.  She replied: it’s about the “Salem Witch Trials”. At intermission, the husband said: “I don’t think this is about the Witch Trials”. Lol

[fashionguru_23]

Posted: 1/9/26 at 9:01am

Leaving the theatre after a performance of Carrie Fisher's one woman show "Wishful Drinking"...

"It was too much about her. I didn't think it would be all about her"

[Broadway61004]

Posted: 1/9/26 at 9:26am

I don't think it will ever top the couple in front of me at "On Your Feet" (free ticket, I got....) who about 30 seconds into the show, one turned to the other and said "maybe we shouldn't have dropped acid before this......" Honestly, watching them for the next 2 hours was way more interesting than the show.

[tacotheatrelover]

Posted: 1/9/26 at 9:27am

Overheard during cabaret:

"Is this s3x? are we watching s3x?" during willkommen.

That man was my stepfather, that was the first show he didn't pass out in the middle of.

[BwayLover5]

Posted: 1/9/26 at 10:18am

A long time ago I was seated at Steel Pier and overheard a patron ask an usher if they knew what Cats was about.   She responded in her raspy, smoker type voice with “It’s about a bunch of cats that sing and dance then one comes out and sings Memory and then they shoot her through the roof on a tire”.  This one has stayed with me and still makes me chuckle.

[IronMan]

Posted: 1/9/26 at 10:58am

Two stereotypical Matinee Ladies following the curtain call of "Thou Shall Not":

"Well, they could have cut half of that."

"Yeah... but which half?" 

[TheGingerBreadMan]

Posted: 1/9/26 at 11:22am

BwayLover5 said: "A long time ago I was seated at Steel Pier and overheard a patron ask an usher if they knew what Cats was about. She respondedin her raspy, smoker type voice with “It’s about a bunch of cats that sing and dance then one comes out and sings Memory and then they shoot her through the roof on a tire”. This one has stayed with me and still makes me chuckle."

This is the most accurate description of Cats that I've ever heard.

[merrily_we_roar_on.11]

Posted: 1/9/26 at 11:34am

not technically in the theatre, but at the stage door for JPITV I overheard this insane conversation between this mother and son. The son was a fully grown man probably in his 30s, but he was one of those crazy stranger things fans who brought stranger things merch
(multiple posters and a funko pop) for sadie to sign. (she thankfully walked right past him when the time actually came). the mother was getting a bit tired and wanted to leave but he started losing his mind literally shouting at his mother "STOP TREATING ME LIKE RAPUNZEL MOM" over and over again. I obviously don't know what their relationship is like but he was throwing a toddler temper tantrum and was kind of afraid. however, that is my favorite thing to quote of all time.

[schubox]

Posted: 1/9/26 at 11:42am

I sat next to a nice young woman when I saw the Denzel/Jake Othello. At intermission she turned to her friend and said she "didn't realize it was going to be in another language and that hard to understand"

Updated On: 1/9/26 at 11:42 AM

[schubox]

Posted: 1/9/26 at 11:44am

TheGingerBreadMan said: "BwayLover5 said: "A long time ago I was seated at Steel Pier and overheard a patron ask an usher if they knew what Cats was about. She respondedin her raspy, smoker type voice with “It’s about a bunch of cats that sing and dance then one comes out and sings Memory and then they shoot her through the roof on a tire”. This one has stayed with me and still makes me chuckle."

This is the most accurate description ofCatsthat I've ever heard."

My wife loves cats and I...do not. This is fairly close to how I describe it, and she is not a fan of it

[bwaylvsong1]

Posted: 1/11/26 at 1:57pm

The other night at New World Stages:

”I really wanted to see Avenue Q but apparently they moved again!”

[blaxx]

Posted: 1/11/26 at 3:22pm

Apparently Hello, Dolly! is not about the life of Dolly Parton, and Bernadette Peters sucks at playing her. True story. I got those ladies kicked out of the Shubert. 

[uncageg]

Posted: 1/11/26 at 7:10pm

merrily_we_roar_on.11 said: "not technically in the theatre, but at the stage door for JPITV I overheard this insane conversation between this mother and son. The son was a fully grown man probably in his 30s, but he was one of those crazy stranger things fans who broughtstranger things merch
(multiple posters and a funko pop) for sadie to sign. (she thankfully walked right past him when the time actually came). the mother was getting a bit tired and wanted to leave but he started losing his mind literally shouting at his mother "STOP TREATING ME LIKE RAPUNZEL MOM" over and over again. I obviously don't know what their relationship is like but he was throwing a toddler temper tantrum and was kind of afraid. however, that is my favorite thing to quote of all time."

 

I just got a total visual and laughed out loud! 

 

[darquegk]

Posted: 1/11/26 at 7:16pm

IronMan said: "Two stereotypicalMatinee Ladiesfollowing the curtain call of "Thou Shall Not":

"Well, they could have cut half of that."

"Yeah... but which half?""

“Dohhhhh-ho-ho-ho!”

 

[jagman106]

Posted: 1/11/26 at 11:06pm

schubox said: "I sat next to a nice young woman when I saw the Denzel/Jake Othello. At intermission she turned to her friendand said she "didn't realize it was going to be in another language and that hard to understand""

I LOL at this one because I heard something very similar when Denzel did Julius Caesar about 20 years ago. 

Others for me:

The woman sitting behind me at the last revival of Sweeney Todd: "This is disgusting! I had no idea this show was about people!"

At the 1999 revival of Death of a Salesman:

Person A - "Do you know what this show is about?"

Companion - "I'm not sure, but I think it's about the death of a salesman."

[QueenTwinnied]

Posted: 1/12/26 at 4:24am

Saw the premiere of Millions last year. Horrible show. Overheard an elderly woman say at intermission:

“I’m not sure I’m following the story….I’m trying”

[Dreamboy3]

Posted: 1/12/26 at 9:34am

For those who haven’t seen the Wieir, it is set in a bar where the patrons begin to tell ghost stories. The play is long and as the last ghost story monologue begins, a woman sitting in front of us said in a very loud voice during a brief moment of silence  “Ach..not another ghost story”. 

[cmorrow]

Posted: 1/12/26 at 11:15am

I once went to BAM to see an experimental piece by Robert Wilson, The Forest. It was typical Wilson: slow, dense, heavy-going. Not exactly a crowd-pleaser. During Act One, about 15 minutes in, I could hear a buzz of conversation a couple of rows away. It was an elderly couple. It became clear the wife had suggested seeing the play, and persuaded the husband to go along. He hated it. He was saying things like "We coulda seen Big River, but no, you hadda see THIS!" She tried to defend Wilson, but sounded defensive.They squabbled like that all through the act. At the first intermission, they left.

During the rest of the show, I found that I missed them.

[northlandfan]

Posted: 1/12/26 at 1:40pm

Was at theCher show  a few years ago, and two elderly ladies behind me were so upset because they thought she was in the show and  they then left during the show !😂