Seeing shows alone?

[EvelynNesbit1906]

Posted: 6/14/05 at 11:46pm

Do any of you ever see shows alone? I've seen a ton of movies alone in my lifetime, but I'm more hesitant to pay $50-upward for a theater ticket without company. There are quite a few shows I want to see but (sadly) my friends in NYC are either too poor or only interested in the most popular shows such as Avenue Q. I really want to see Ragtime in NJ, The Pillowman, and My Sweetheart's the Man in the Moon... so badly that I'm willing to go alone. However, I think a theater experience is most enjoyable if I have a friend to talk to during intermission.

Anyway, what's up with my friend who is so interested in Avenue Q but simply refuses to see Ragtime or The Pillowman? Someone needs to knock some sense into her. What's worse is that she is living in Manhattan now and I'm only coming to visit. Yet she is not willing to accompany me to shows we'll both probably like. She has never seen Ragtime but LOVES The Prologue, which is the only part of it she has heard. Again, I don't understand her!

[insomniak]

Posted: 6/14/05 at 11:48pm

I'd definetly feel awkward going alone. You can only pretend to be engrossed in the Playbill for so many of the intermission's minutes before you get bored.

[bythesword84]

Posted: 6/14/05 at 11:48pm

Yes, I go see shows by myself sometimes. To be honest, I don't always want to be with someone. I like being able to sit there alone and just be me and the show.

[Pinguin]

Posted: 6/14/05 at 11:49pm

I totally see shows by myself on a whim sometimes, just rush something or get a cheap ticket to an off broadway theatre. I love seeing theatre and movies without distraction.

The only frustration comes when you see something and you really want to talk about it but none of your friends has seen it yet!

[dancinfan]

Posted: 6/14/05 at 11:50pm

I see shows alone all the time (though I'd rather go with my hubby, our schedules rarely jive). It can be pretty interesting to eavesdrop on the conversations of others or strike up a chat with your neighbors at intermission. I have even talked up the tourists around me beforehand, who love meeting locals.

[Jwei123]

Posted: 6/14/05 at 11:51pm

I've gone to shows alone, and it's really not that bad if you've wanted to see it bad enough.

[Madame X]

Posted: 6/14/05 at 11:51pm

I'd rather go to a show alone than drag someone who 1) doesn't want to go or 2) can't afford it and worry about what they're thinking the whole time.

And there is nothing wrong w/ Ave Q! Your friend doesn't sound like a theatre FANATIC (like us) so it's a bit unfair to guilt your friend into paying for shows s/he doesn't really want to see. Some people just aren't into theatre and that's the way it is sometimes.

Go alone and have a marvelous time. It's not as bad as you think.

[timote316]

Posted: 6/14/05 at 11:51pm

I thought I'd feel the same way about going alone, but when none of my friends were able/wanted to see Sweet Charity a few months back, I decided to go by myself. I actually liked it. I got to enjoy the show completely, without being influenced by my friends' thoughts.

However, I still like going with friends... I like both lol

[morosco]

Posted: 6/14/05 at 11:52pm

LOVE seeing shows alone. And if I'm in standing room that's all the better!

[iflitifloat]

Posted: 6/14/05 at 11:53pm

No problem going alone.

[EvelynNesbit1906]

Posted: 6/14/05 at 11:54pm

Good God do I want to see this production of Ragtime, but to catch the train to New Jersey alone for it? I don't know. I've already seen three different productions of the show. I would hope that after the first viewing, each successive one would be about sharing a wonderful show with someone else -- which is why my friend's unwillingness to go with me further baffles me. She is willing to shell out $100 now for Avenue Q, a show that will probably be around for several more years (if not longer), rather than see a production [which is in limited run] of a show I've been raving about since the late '90s.

[ProducersFan]

Posted: 6/14/05 at 11:54pm

I usually see shows with my parents, where we come up to NY for the day and make a whole trip around seeing a show. The past 4 weeks when I've been living here in NY, I saw 4 shows by myself. It's really not that bad at all. True, before the show and intermission are a little lonely but other than that I have a great time.

The only really bad thing is, as mentioned, when you want to talk about the show and no one else has seen it. I've been raving to my parents about DRS - they need to see it too so we can discuss it and listen to the CR without me giving away the ending!

~Jessica

[Blair]

Posted: 6/14/05 at 11:55pm

When the touring shows come to my city, I usually wait too long and if I see it with someone, I'd be in Row Z or something. But I can almost always get a front row ticket a few days before the performance if I decided to see it alone. So, it's better in that aspect.

I've never seen a Broadway show alone, though.

[iflitifloat]

Posted: 6/14/05 at 11:55pm

oops

Updated On: 6/14/05 at 11:55 PM

[Madame X]

Posted: 6/14/05 at 11:56pm

Put it this way, for the amount of theatre I see (quite a bit), I only go with friends maybe 2-3x a year. I just can't be bothered coordinating schedules and trying to convince them WHY they should want to see The Pillowman, for example. If I had to convince someone to come with me for every show I wanted to see and then wait and see if they'd actually follow through with it, I'd only see 3 shows a year which is clearly not enough.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 6/14/05 at 11:57pm

I often see shows by myself. No one I know is interested in seeing two and three shows a week like I do. Every three or four shows I may invite someone along, a date or a friend, if it's something that I have a sense that they'll enjoy. But, frankly, it doesn't bother me in the slightest to go to shows solo. It's not as if I'd be talking with another person as the show is going on anyway and I hardly ever need anyone else to help me sort out my thoughts and feelings about what I've just seen afterwards.

Updated On: 6/15/05 at 11:57 PM

[Broadway_freak]

Posted: 6/15/05 at 12:01am

I would rather see a show with someone, then go alone. I feel left out, and get dperessed. I'm not used to being alone and I can't really concentrate on the movie when I'm thinking about why no one went with me!

[nmartin]

Posted: 6/15/05 at 12:02am

I have seen many shows alone, and it did not in any way lessen my enjoyment.

[EvelynNesbit1906]

Posted: 6/15/05 at 12:02am

You all make some great points -- especially Blair about getting a better (and possibly cheaper) ticket if you go alone. Madame, I'm not guilting my friend into paying for a show she doesn't want to see, and she can definitely afford Ragtime... The problem is that she is pushing for me to see Avenue Q full price (just to make sure that we get the best tickets) even though I'm coming to Manhattan to see her. She can see any of these shows whenever she wants. I can't. And I have no doubt she would enjoy either Pillowman or Ragtime. Given that she is a Republican who doesn't respond well to explicit humor about her party and Asian-American, the one show I'm not counting on her to like is Avenue Q. She is only interested in that show because other people raved about it without actually telling her the content.
Updated On: 6/15/05 at 12:02 AM

[Madame X]

Posted: 6/15/05 at 12:03am

I think you're just scared to go to NJ alone. Depending on when you go weekday/weekend/matinee - the train can be a straight shot from Manhattan. Once you get to Millburn, NJ, I hear it's a very easy walk to the theatre.

And Ragtime, rightly or wrongly, does not have the name recognition of Ave Q. Your friend's choice has nothing to do w/ how long Ave Q vs Ragtime will be around.

[BwayStraightBoy]

Posted: 6/15/05 at 12:05am

I go alone to some shows, but thats mostly community theatre shows. But it is kind of awkward, but I get used to it.

[musicnmath]

Posted: 6/15/05 at 12:06am

I go alone alot. I used to have a consulting job where I was in cities where I didn't know anyone. Theatre was such a great way to spend an evening doing something I love without the need for companionship. I mean, how much do you *really* interact with people you go with except intermission and before and after the show.

Plus...there always seems to be someone (often in the orchestra section) whose husband or sister couldn't come and they have an extra ticket. Sometimes they give them to me for free...sometimes just for $20. This is how my parents and I saw Lion King on a sold out night -- we split up and met back up after. The couples that were there in the cancellation and needed to sit together were ultimately left out in the rain after curtain.

Of course I *like* to have someone with me...but if they don't share my enthusiasm (which is at a level that actually frightens some people, I think), then it's not as much fun for me.

[Liz_Bennet]

Posted: 6/15/05 at 12:09am

I go to shows alone fairly frequently. I don't live very near NY and most of my friends aren't able to put in the considerable effort and time it takes to get to the city (which I can't even do very often). Going alone was a little weird at first, but I've come to enjoy it a lot. You can meet cool people- don't be afraid to reach out. And you can see whatever you damn well please. Actually I'm kind of afraid to ask my friends to go ti the theater sometimes because none of them are as big fans as I am and I'm afraid they won't like it and then I'll feel guilty. So we always go to classical concerts instead.

That being said, I was glad I saw Pillowman with my mom because we stayed up half the night talking about it afterwards (she's a psychologist, so her view was really interesting). Not that that should stop you.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 6/15/05 at 12:10am

I concur with Madame X's sentiments -- it's frankly more trouble than it's worth to try and coordinate schedules with my equally busy friends for every show I want to see. If I waited around to only go to shows with a friend, I'd probably see a tenth of what I do now.

[ChrisLovesShows]

Posted: 6/15/05 at 12:10am

I see quite a few shows alone, and I have taken the train out to Papermill alone if I wanted to see a show there badly enough, but I do prefer company given the choice. For my first few trips to NYC, I went alone because I wanted to see TONS of shows and couldn't imagine dragging someone to so many (14 shows in 9 days for one trip, for example). I do often find the experience lonely, however, and miss having someone to discuss the experience with at intermission and afterward. Fortunately, I have made friends with some New Yorkers who are also theatre lovers and I have a couple of friends, plus my Mom, who like theatre and New York enough to acompany me on some trips. Now I usually won't plan a trip to NYC unless a) I find someone to share the trip with me (friend or Mom), or b) I know my New York friends can attend at least one or two shows with me.

I have a friend here in Austin, Janet, and we travel to NYC together very well. She loves theatre, but isn't as big a fanatic as me. If we go for a week and I see 6 shows, for example, she will attend 3 or 4 of them with me. This always makes the trip so much more enjoyable.

Oh, to find a threatre-loving, travel-loving husband! Then everything would be coming up roses for me. FOR ME!

Edit: Re. Papermill, it is VERY easy to get there by train from Penn Station (about 40 minutes--just bring a book or magazine) and the theatre is right by the train station--literally a 5-minute walk. It's an easy trip if the show means a lot to you.

Updated On: 6/15/05 at 12:10 AM