Police Called at Fiddler Last Night — Page 3

House staff are really put in a no-win situation here.

I say things and do not worry who they might offend. If you say anything , however slight, someone takes offense as we have become incredibly thin skinned.



For the record, my father was a life long teamster and yet he sometimes questioned union tactics like violence and other strong armed tactics. Was my father , longtime union member, an anti union guy in disguise? Thinking in lockstep on anything can be very dangerous.

Yes, I'm absolutely serious. If people are shouting at each other during a show, an usher can and should absolutely intervene within a minute. A minute is not a short amount of time.



My posts were very clear, are you confused? Stage management, and only stage management has a right and responsibility to stop a show. House management deals with audience members.

I *could* cite many examples of actors being reported to AEA for unprofessional conduct such as breaking character and stopping a show, but just like any other type of workplace disciplinary action, they should not be discussed openly on the Internet. An actor can be fired after a certain amount of AEA write-ups (the number varies depending on the contract).

You're leaving only one outcome, which is to accept disruption - from either patron or house staff- as a standard part of theatergoing.

Cupid Boy2: Stories like this are why I'm so hesitant to call people like that out and why I usually ask to be reseated at intermission if possible.

This. Generally the few times people have been so disruptive that I've been moved to say something I've gotten a positive response. But it can still create an uncomfortable tension that can affect the experience of viewing the show. If the immediate response is negative or argumentative like the girl at The Color Purple who said she'd turn down the brightness on her phone but didn't have to stop texting, I back down because I don't want it to blow up into something bigger. Really it's not about ushers or house staff or stage management or actors. It's about these few audience members and their incredible rudeness and entitlement.

Here's a situation I was in. It was still act 1. A woman in the same row I was sitting tried filming the show .....and my friend and I were sitting in the middle of the row and couldn't get out to alert anyone without disrupting a bunch of people.

Here's what my friend did. She decided to turn on her own phone in full view holding it high up so the usher couldn't miss it. Of course, an usher came down to ask her to shut her phone and in the meantime the woman who was filming had to stop her filming...because the usher could see the entire row. My friend did not turn on her phone again but kept it in view making sure the usher kept an eye on our row for the rest of act 1.

At intermission, my friend went to the usher, apologized but then explained why she turned on her phone. The usher laughed and said he would keep an eye out for any filming. Needless to say the woman who tried to film had no luck..

I actually thought my friend was pretty clever..though I don't know if I would have done it myself.

It is not up to the actors. It is the decision of the Stage Manager and House Manager

"For the record, my father was a life long teamster and yet he sometimes questioned union tactics like violence and other strong armed tactics."

Can you cite any incidences of "violence and other strong armed tactics" that have occurred in New York?

"My posts were very clear, are you confused?"

I admit I don't quite understand this post of yours - can you clarify?

"A minute is not a short amount of time."

It isn't?

"I *could* cite many examples of actors being reported to AEA for unprofessional conduct such as breaking character and stopping a show, but just like any other type of workplace disciplinary action, they should not be discussed openly on the Internet. "

That I can respect.

Updated On: 5/16/16 at 11:02 PM

"You made a blanket statement saying I seemed to be anti union because I asked about the overtime issue in union contracts re stopping Fiddler . Where you got to anti union from that I have no clue"

It was an observation from reading your posts over the years regarding unions I've been here that my opinion came from, not your question.

"I just brought up an example of my father decrying certain practices re unions at the time and I simply asked if he would be considered anti union for those thoughts based on your logic"

No, I don't think your father was anti union for being against violence and strong armed tactics. I would like to think, like most union people, he is (was?) a decent man.

"I could care less one way or the other regarding unions good or bad.Quite simple."

I think you meant you couldn't care less.

Updated On: 5/17/16 at 11:28 PM

BenThomas said: "I got home from NY today....and my husband and I were at this performance of Fiddler. We were up in the mezzanine. We didn't hear the entire encounter as described up there, but it did get loud enough and continued long enough that I honestly thought they were going to stop the show. As it was happening there was a pause from Perchik, who never threw focus away from Hodel, but could obviously hear what was happening, and almost seemed from my perspective to be waiting to see if anything was going to be done about it. It may have only been an extra second of hesitation, but in that moment it felt like an eternity to me. We also heard the sirens a short time later and never connected that the sirens were related to the ruckus until reading the original post.



An usher who'd been stationed in the left mezz told me people up there were distracted and some were leaning forward trying to see what the brouhaha was about. I didn't notice Perchik hesitate, but I was distracted by the hubbub:, it's great to have another audience perspective on the incident. Dan Rappaport did say he'd heard the disturbance during that scene. I'm sorry your experience of the show was negatively impacted by this incident, and hope you enjoyed Act II. Thanks for posting your experience!