The Gospel According To Scott Rudin- Page 2

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 5/10/16 at 10:27am

We did speak to the house manager. We were told to go to the bar downstairs and have a cup of water. Problem is this does nothing if you are coughing at your seat. As far as tangible proof, she thought a very visible scar where her thyroid used to be would suffice. It did not, Even though the rest of our row on our right was totally empty, if my wife had to go downstairs for water and come back, she still would not have been able to return to her seat. She would have bothered no one but that did not matter. She also has back issues she had to injections for - one worked and one did not. We try and get out to forget our problems and enjoy ourselves. Unfortunately, that was not to be

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 5/10/16 at 10:31am

Can't imagine this particular play was great for forgetting troubles, either.

 

 

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 5/10/16 at 10:35am

No just getting out and enjoying theater makes us forget our troubles.We do not do it as much as we used to so every time we go it is to be savored

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 5/10/16 at 11:09am

Anything is possible

[kdogg36]

Posted: 5/10/16 at 2:37pm

christinelavin said: "Speaking of water -- for you travelers -- you CAN take your water bottle through security IF you freeze it the night before.  All you have to do is drink the melted water -- the rest is considered a solid and by law they have to let it go through.  I have done this in at least 20 airports in the US (don't know if it works internationally).  No one tells you.  I found out by accident when I froze my water before a trip and was trying to drink as much as I could before having to toss it.  A security guard noticed me and told me it was OK because it was ice.  It worked!  Remember that the next time you are about to fly."

That's pretty cool, and a fascinating fact! However, I always just bring my empty water bottle and fill it up after going through security. This seems more convenient to me, though I realize it won't be as cold. :)

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 5/10/16 at 9:11pm

Mr. R, if you and Mrs. R enjoy the theater, I hope you will continue to go whenever you can.

You may have to be more assertive with the FOH manager. As I said, bring a letter from her oncologist. Explain why drinking before the show starts is not a solution, just as you did here. If you have to, politely threaten to call the Federal agency in charge of enforcing the ADA.

No, people with disabilities shouldn't have to work so hard to secure their legal rights, but many people have to work just to get existing laws obeyed.

***

As for the bathroom issue, I don't know what to say. Neither my husband nor I have a problem as long as we don't drink too much before a show, which we are careful not to do.

I do know I wear size 13 shoes and getting past me in an aisle in the dark is not something one can do without creating a distraction. I'm also 6'3", so standing up to let someone pass is even worse for those behind me.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 5/10/16 at 9:14pm

Nothing would have changed last night

May  have to avoid  a Scott Rudin show in the future. Nothing is worth her health especially a show.

Updated On: 5/10/16 at 09:14 PM

[AnnieBlack]

Posted: 5/10/16 at 10:01pm

Curious - does Scott Rudin have this policy in effect for Book of Mormon as well?

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 5/10/16 at 10:11pm

We sat upstairs and no hassle re water or going to the John. No idea why but not a big fan of the show.

[NYCblurb]

Posted: 5/10/16 at 11:40pm

follow the rules in Rudin's house.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 5/11/16 at 12:05am

I no longer go in Rudin's house.

[ChiTheaterFan]

Posted: 5/11/16 at 12:38am

I don't believe it's right that there was no accommodation made in this specific case. Someone who needs water should not be prevented from going to the theater for a medical reason, and I don't think they should have to go so far to bring a letter from the oncologist. 

 

However, I find the rules as a general matter laudable. The ice clinking in the glass is AWFUL and even the crinkling water bottles are so annoying. And unless you have a medical accommodation (in which case you should request an accessible seat) you should be able to stay through an act of a play without going to the bathroom. The only way to get into and out of a seat (unless it's on the aisle) is to have every person stand up, and in some theaters with little leg room, realistically you have to get out and let the person in. That disrupts everyone and I think the theaters are justified in making those people wait. 

 

I was at Hamilton a few weeks ago and had a single aisle seat I bought months and months in advance. The people sitting next to me showed up after Wait for It. Not only did I have to let them pass, the usher barked at me to go back to my seat because she thought I was in their seats. People should not be entitled to do however they please just because they paid a lot for a show. I paid a lot too and it's not right that my experience was totally disrupted when I was the responsible one. 

 

It seems everyone wants better theater behavior, yet when it comes to them, so many people feel they should be accommodated at everyone else's expense. (Again not referring to your wife's medical situation Roxy...  This just is a general thing I've noticed and isn't in response to you.  There is certainly a way to accommodate someone who needs water.)

[gypsy101]

Posted: 5/11/16 at 12:47am

They bought tickets to see Hamilton and didn't show up until 45 minutes in? how dare they.

Updated On: 5/11/16 at 12:47 AM

[ChiTheaterFan]

Posted: 5/11/16 at 12:56am

They had a long, loud discussion about it at intermission to make sure everyone else heard. It wasn't their fault clearly. It was whoever secured the tickets for them. Because no one is ever responsible for their own actions. You'll be happy to know whoever was responsible got them "Broadway tickets" for the next night. 

 

If people want to pay secondary market prices and not show up, that's their business. But just because you couldn't check the schedule of a show on the publicly accessible Internet and make it to a show on time that doesn't mean I should be disrupted. (and nearly kicked out of my seat, forced to dig through my purse for my ticket mid-show.) It's like the more expensive the secondary market gets the more ridiculously entitled people feel. (I know they were secondary market because I saw the seats on ticketmaster resale.)

 

not to mention, of course, the fact that this was the second row where CLEARLY the actors can see!  I just don't understand why this is allowed. 

[ClumsyDude15]

Posted: 5/11/16 at 3:20am

Curious - does Scott Rudin have this policy in effect for Book of Mormon as well?

I've never seen anything quite like what Roxy spoke about happen at Mormon. If such restrictions had been upheld at Mormon, the very drunk people behind me I had to put up with once wouldn't have been such a major issue. However, that's a different story for a different thread, but I've been fine with going into Mormon with a water bottle in my bag and I've never seen anyone be unable to return to their seat or leave it for that matter. 

Updated On: 5/11/16 at 03:20 AM

[ClapYo'Hands]

Posted: 5/11/16 at 3:44am

I really don't understand the issue with water.

I am a regular theatregoer here in London, and I always have a bottle of water with me for the performance. It is a thicker plastic, not the kind that would make that crinkling sound, and I only ever drink from it in blackouts/scene changes/applause.

I've never encountered this as a problem with ushers, and regularly ask for the bottle to be refilled at the bar post-show. If one relied on the bar for a glass of water in the interval, one would miss the second act. Jugs and cups are positioned at the end of the bar, but the bars are generally too crowded to even get to these in time before the interval ends.

I'm not sure if it would be possible to enforce such a rule in the UK. Something about people having a right to drink water etc.

In any event, I understand that the problem with drinking water would probably arise when it is not done as above (i.e with a crinkling bottle, and at any point in the show), but, as I said, I see no problem with it, if it's carried out as I described. 

Updated On: 5/11/16 at 03:44 AM

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 5/11/16 at 3:50am

No Broadway house will even give you a glass of ice water like they do (in my experience) in the West End. Cuts into the business of $5 bottles of water. 

 

(Can you BUY water at a Rudin show? Is that all this is about? Making you pay for the privelige of H2O?)

[HarveNYC]

Posted: 2/15/18 at 8:54am

We attended a performance of Hello Dolly last night and as mentioned above, the security guard said we could not enter the theater with a water bottle, though it doesn't appear to say so on their website?
He also said if I needed water, I could get some from the Bar, though what he might have said was "If you're Choking and Need Water, you'd best have your Credit Card Handy"
I'm surprised that people have been putting up with this for so long.
Last night, when my wife started coughing toward the end of Act One, the Bartender would NOT provide me with a cup of water and wouldn't even give me one of the paper cups he had sitting in front of him.
He said "There's a Fountain in the Lobby" so I was FORCED to BUY NYC Tap Water for $5.00.

I was under the impression that any establishment which serves alcohol CAN NOT Deny you a Free Glass of Water .. I get that the noise from water bottles is annoying, as is the unwrapping of candy, crunching of potato chips, Cell Phones, and people who don't know how the hell to shut up during a performance, but if you're only confiscating my water and then Refusing to Provide any, how is it anything but a Money Grab? 

But then I guess they have to make a buck, considering how they're practically giving the tickets away (yeah right) Can this even be Legal? Can there be any justification for this? I say NO to both question.

[Theater3232]

Posted: 2/15/18 at 10:12am

When you're treated that nasty, the best way to handle it is to just keep coughing.  If you keep coughing and coughing and coughing, they might get the hint.  Perhaps someone will pass out in the aisle and need medical attention due to the lack of water.  Wouldn't it be too bad if they had to cancel the whole show because some nasty rules caused a medical incident? 

This is theater, not a prison.

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 2/15/18 at 10:15am

Wait, what? Harve, if you were directed to a water fountain, how did you have to pay for that water?  

Also, prohibiting water bottles from coming into the theatre isn't a Rudin-specific thing. 

[haterobics]

Posted: 2/15/18 at 10:15am

HarveNYC said: "He said "There's a Fountain in the Lobby" so I was FORCED to BUY NYC Tap Water for $5.00."

What was wrong with the fountain?

[newintown]

Posted: 2/15/18 at 10:21am

How did people ever survive a Broadway show before bottled water?

[Theater3232]

Posted: 2/15/18 at 10:28am

Perhaps someone will keep coughing and coughing and disturbing the show, and may need to scream out "someone bring me water; my water was confiscated at the door".  Perhaps then the usher can run to get the person water in the middle of the show.  People need to stand up for themselves when they are being bullied.

[haterobics]

Posted: 2/15/18 at 10:29am

newintown said: "How did people eversurvive a Broadway show before bottled water?"

Or not figure out how to sneak bottled water in...

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 2/15/18 at 10:29am

Is the threshold for being "bullied" that low these days?