So a vent fell on somebody — Page 2

so Patti was supposed to, without knowing what was going on, walk off the stage, stop the show and make everyone else in the theatre panic more than was probably necessary? the woman was being taken care of, so it's not like anyone was ignoring her.

it seems similar to if you have a class full of children and one of them gets hurt. do you completely stop what you're doing, leaving 20 children to gawk and interfere while you yourself attend to the injured child? no, you'd either get another teacher to watch your class and engage them in something while you attend to the injured child or you have another teacher take care of the child while you engage your class in something.

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Err... Wicked stopped for quite a long time when Idina fell, and there was, what, four minutes left in the show? Granted, the halt was unavoidable when the lead plummets through a trap door, but the point I make is that time means nothing to stopping a show. I sincerely hope the stage manager didn't think to himself/herself, "Gee, it's only a head wound, ten minutes of blood loss surely won't make a difference in the long run."

I agree that it's more the stage manager's fault, because they're actually in contact with the ushers and personnel around the theater [right?]. if she's not told to stop, isn't a professional actor supposed to...keep going?

and...I do think there's a bit of a difference between Idina falling and someone in the audience getting injured, but I get your point. I think unfortunately there really is no way to expect something like this, and Patti did what she thought was best.

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a. Implicating Patti in any way is absurd. Even if the entire cast follows her cue, the woman isn't all seeing and all knowing of everything in the theater. The audience could have been making a commotion about ANYTHING. What if somebody just fell down a few stairs and the ushers were helping them back to their feet? That would certainly attract a large part of the section near where it happened and in turn spark the curiostiy of the rest of the theater. Or like the "mentally impaired theater patrons" thread brought to discussion, what if someone were moaning as a result of Down Syndrome and therefore causing a comotion? From all published accounts it doesn't sound like anyone screamed bloody murder at the top of their lungs to "GET A DOCTOR!" so I don't see where Patti's cue to stop the show is.

It seems people don't realize that these actors are on a stage with lights on them acting and not able to see much further than the 7-8th row.

b. Put yourself in the position of the performer. They're basically in the heat of their scene concentrating like there IS a 4th wall present and there is a loud noise somewhere way out of their eyesight and conscienciousness. Nobody is screaming for an ambulance but some moans/crying are heard along with some rumblings in the audience.

Would your first instinct be "Gee, something must have fallen on somebody's HEAD in a full ecquiped theater in 2008 and I'm sure the theater personelle cannot handle it so I'll have to take matters into my own hands and stop the show."

I think not.

c. Insurance-ly speaking (i.e Who's gonna pay up):

Is the physical state of a theater during the run of a show the responsibility of that particular production or that of the actual property owners?

In short, if this woman were to sue, would she be suing the production and money would be coming out of profits or would she be suing the St. James (Organization?)?

(I am sorry and concerned for all involved, just responding to the claims throughout the thread)

Updated On: 3/4/08 at 08:53 PM

I was there when this happened, about 10 feet away. It was very scary and I think we were all shaken, and nobody anywhere near the woman could concentrate on the end of the show. We also had no idea that anybody below us, or the cast, knew something had happened! We couldn't see their faces from the height of the balcony, and we (or at least I) assumed they didn't know anything had happened at all, since the show continued.

It looked a lot like the circular diffuser on this page:
http://www.aervent.com/products/grilles_diffusers_and_louvres.475.html

Updated On: 3/4/08 at 09:15 PM

If the vent was part of the physical structure of the theater itself, which remains there no matter what production is playing, then it's the theater owner's fault.

Now I'm not sure about equipment which has been installed by the production.

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that's b/c it's probably a fairly normal occurance at that show.

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What's with all the stage management bashing?
It is very possible that the noise wasn't heard by the SM. Depending on where he/she calls the show from (ie. it might be harder to hear the audience if they are calling from a booth as opposed to offstage).