Seeing a show when you're not feeling great

In my twenty-something years of theatre-going, I can recall a couple of times when I sat through a show despite not feeling too well. I have endured a number of Act 1’s while experiencing an upset stomach; on at least two occasions I’ve gone to the theatre hungover; there have been a few times I watched a show when I wasn’t in a great place mentally/emotionally; back in February I saw The Seven Year Disappear while recovering from a cold (which, due to thee fact that I rarely ever get colds anymore, knocked me out the day prior). Thankfully it’s never so bad that I had to leave at intermission or mid-show.

My most memorable experience (which also includes Cynthia Nixon) comes from when I was 16. It was a Friday in (I want to say) early March and, about three days prior, I came down with what remains the worst fever I ever experienced. My family had tickets for an Off-Broadway play called Distracted (we were Roundabout subscribers at the time); though I was starting to feel somewhat better, the last thing I wanted to do was get on the Staten Island ferry, go to dinner, and sit through a 2-hour two-act play. To my surprise, however, I found myself increasingly focused on the play and completely present; I remember enjoying it well enough and, for those 2 hours including the intermission, I may have even forgotten that I was unwell. Of course once the show ended and we got into a cab, I started to feel drained again and all I wanted to do was crawl into bed.

I think we can all agree that however you’re feeling when you see a show affects the way you experience it. Personally, even if it's not the first thing that comes to mind, I can’t remember a certain play or production without remembering how I felt while watching it. There are also certain shows (Tommy being a recent example) I can’t imagine sitting through feeling anything less than okay.

Does anyone else have any memorable experiences seeing a show unwell - whether you were sick or experiencing allergies, had a small headache or were recovering from an injury, hungover or just not in a good state of mind. Did it effect the show for you at all? Did you power through or did it take your mind off things?

Updated On: 4/21/24 at 01:44 PM

Let me try and answer without being too nasty. First, no sympathy at all for you going to a show hungover. A hangover is self-inflicted and you did this to yourself knowing you were attending a show. Next, you went to a show with a cold and or fever a couple of times and had no regard to others around you that you may have gotten sick. There are options like selling a ticket when you are sick or maybe exchanging it for another date. You said you attended a show at 16 with a fever, did you go with your parents? If so, why did they let you attend?

Yes, I have attended a show with a headache but that is not affecting anybody with me. For the most part, I take two Excedrin and it is gone. It has sometimes lingered but I have been able to still concentrate and still enjoy a show.

Updated On: 4/21/24 at 02:37 PM

Last night at Stereophonic the woman next to me started blowing her nose and coughing . By intermission it was very evident she was congested . She should not have been there. I know I will have her cold in a few days. There was nowhere to move and I had a friend with me sitting in a separate section.

I don't see a reason for the thread to be deleted. You asked an honest question. I am sure a lot of people have attended performances in one or more of the "states" you mentioned.

I personally stopped having a drink before or during a show a while ago. About 4 years back I got a ticket to a hot off-Broadway show. Had the ticket for a while. The night before I was at an event and had maybe one too many. I didn't get drunk but I was feeling good. The show was a matinee and I woke up feeling the night before. It was a sold out run so I wasn't going to try to exchange my ticket, I did think about it, so I just powered through it. To this day I could kick myself because I was not focused and missed an important part of the play. I also did not expect to feel that bad the next day. Yes, a hangover is self inflicted but we are humans and it happens.

I have cancelled going to a show once or twice because of a cold. If I have one and am not coughing or sneezing, I will go. But I don't get colds a lot, thank God.

Just my random thoughts.

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "As an audience member, especially in a post-covid era, there are few things more distracting –– and disrespectful to the actors and fellow ticketbuyers –– as someone attending who is coughing or sniffling during the performance.

Medicate within an inch of your life or stay home!"

Some people have chronic coughs, and sniffing can also be attributed to allergies. Get a grip. 1

Only once as I rarely get sick. I went to see Village Light Opera do HOW TO SUCCEED.. many years ago. I didn't leave as I assumed it didn't get done that much. But I did go see it again when the Goodspeed did it a few years later.

"To be honest, it did cross my mind how this question might come off after posting it (especially in the post-Covid world), which is why I chose to include mental health and such; that, however, seems to be an incredibly dumb miscalculation on my part. I sincerely apologize if this question came off as insensitive or inconsiderate in any way."

Your question involved physical sickness and that can affect others which is why I wrote what I did in my post. You also included going with a hangover and that is as I mentioned self inflicted so little sympathy unless there was major issue causing you to drink too much. As for mental health, I would think if you were depressed and not in the mood for a show but went anyway, having something to take your mind of your problems for a few hours may be a very good thing. There is no reason for you to apologize.

dramamama611 said: "Also: I was playing Gueneviere in Camelot (a billion years ago). Had no understudy. Had no real choice. My fever broke during the Lusty Month of May. I sweat it out. Was fine the rest of the run."

I had to call Seussical while touring with TheatreWorks while vomiting, so I know your pain.

I also had a stomach bug hit me hard during the first act of Junk while selling merch. Because my company sucked and I had no other sellers to call in (the fact that I was there that night showed how understaffed we were since I was supposed to only be the office manager at the time) I rallied and made it through both intermission sales and post show, but I’m sure I looked terrible while doing it.

I sadly had the pleasure of seeing the non-eq tour of chicago last may on my first two show day after getting horribly sick at the first show (10AM student mat of MDQ at ASF.) and didn't start feeling it until two hours prior when I was in my school library waiting for my mom to get off work and drive that glorious hour to the last show of my subscription package.

During our car ride I had snot coming out of my nose and violently coughing, I wanted to say f*ck it and go home, but we were already 30 minutes into this and 40 mins from home, that wasn't happening. I took a ton of Mucinex and put on 3 masks and layered up just incase even though the May heat in Alabama was already hell, thankfully the theatre was cold.

I distanced myself from people as best as i could, i tried not to cough and i desperately tried not to open my mouth for anything else beside water. thankfully i was in an isle seat and there were no people sitting in front, beside, or behind me.

I am so sorry about this, and I'll try not to go sick again.

Zeppie2022 said: ""Do shows offer refunds for ticket buyers with a sniffle or cough? "

My guess is if you tell the box office you are not feeling well and don't want to get audience members sick, they may be accommodating. I don't think they will question the degree of your illness. I am not positive about this, others on this board may have the answer."

I tried to get a refund for a performance in 2022 (at Lincoln Center) because I had COVID and the box office fought me tooth and nail. Truly, it was shocking, especially since the ticketing email said “stay at home if you feel ill.”

Zeppie2022 said: "Your question involved physical sickness and that can affect others which is why I wrote what I did in my post. You also included going with a hangover and that is as I mentioned self inflicted so little sympathy unless there was major issue causing you to drink too much. As for mental health, I would think if you were depressed and not in the mood for a show but went anyway, having something to take your mind of your problems for a few hours may be a very good thing. There is no reason for you to apologize."



Thank you. I was concerned I had painted myself in an unintentionally inconsiderate way/approached a potentially sensitive topic inconsiderately, hence my apology. Again, those were reasonable questions and I'm glad you brought them to my attention.

With regard your other two points: 100% the rare hangovers I have ever had were my fault; it's just something I try to learn from. Luckily the play I saw was easy enough to sit through and perfectly enjoyable (again, I can't imagine sitting through Tommy with a hangover/headache), so I was able to take my mind off it.

As far as mental health/depression go, in the spirit of sharing experiences: my most memorable instance comes from a few years ago when I saw an NT Live screening of Amadeus. I won't go into detail as to why I was feeling the way I did, but it was truly, internally miserable (feeling completely empty, heart-aching). I still wanted to see the screening and I thought perhaps it could take my mind off things for a while. I enjoyed it well enough, but there were definitely times when my mind wandered off to some external issue and I had to force my attention back to play. I'm glad I saw it, but I'll never be able to think about that production (and maybe that play) without remembering how I felt at that moment.

I tend to do lotto or rush tickets most days so I don’t usually worry about missing a show. However, the fact that Telecharge and Ticketmaster did away with the worry-free exchanges and flexibility that they had immediately post-COVID was a horrible move.

Personally, I had tickets to Ain’t Too Proud I had to exchange as I had an endoscopy ending up on the same day (and they say do nothing for 24 hours after anesthesia). I was so happy I could just log in and move my ticket around without issues.

One thing I found on accident when moving my seat for Stereophonic for May was that the promo code EXCHANGE seems to work on Telecharge across the board. So if you’re ever in a jam, give that a shot

George in DC said: "Until Broadway ticket services allow late minute cancellation and exchanges, you are going to get sick people going to the theatre. Nobody is going to lose a couple hundred dollars if they have a mild cold.

This is why most of my theatre money goes to subscriptions in the DC area. With any of my tickets I can call as late as one hour before curtain and they will exchange , no questions asked"

The tickets for Stereophonic in my section last night were $40. It was a performance they sold at this price . But I get it.

Updated On: 4/21/24 at 06:43 PM