Theatre pet peeves - from the stage!

[jo]

Posted: 6/3/16 at 6:32pm

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/theater-etiquette-donts-35-broadway-899049/item/theater-etiquette-jessie-mueller-899052?utm_source=twitter

 Stage performers share what they have observed from the audience while they are performing on stage.

Some are quite funny...but a few are downright unbelievable

Updated On: 6/3/16 at 06:32 PM

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 6/3/16 at 7:19pm

Harvey Fierstein definitely had the funniest one!


The reading the program during the show even annoys me as an audience member, I feel like it makes it obvious you don't want to be here and keep looking at the songlist to see when the hell you can get out of it.

And the excruciatingly slow candy opening... oof!

Updated On: 6/3/16 at 07:19 PM

[mailhandler777]

Posted: 6/3/16 at 7:43pm

The one about people showing up to the Hamilton stagedoor while the show is going on and singing group songs. That's just weird.

 

Don't they have line sitters for that now that line up at the door hours before the show ends???

[gypsy101]

Posted: 6/3/16 at 7:46pm

mailhandler777 said: "The one about people showing up to the Hamilton stagedoor while the show is going on and singing group songs. That's just weird.

 Don't they have line sitters for that now that line up at the door hours before the show ends???"

People hire line sitters to have a better chance at buying cancellation line tickets, I don't know why someone would pay to line up at the stage door.

 

[Hellob]

Posted: 6/3/16 at 8:03pm

Regarding Yorktown, I totally understand why the audience starts getting up. That is an end of act song! 

Did the guy really faint because of Tovey or just coincidence? I hope he doesn't sit front row of American Psycho! 

[NJ_BroadwayGirl]

Posted: 6/3/16 at 8:11pm

gypsy101: "People hire line sitters to have a better chance at buying cancellation line tickets, I don't know why someone would pay to line up at the stage door."

People actually are hiring line sitters to wait at the stage door for them. 

[slumdogdelaware]

Posted: 6/3/16 at 8:15pm

The ice cubes...good god, the ice cubes.

[gypsy101]

Posted: 6/3/16 at 8:17pm

NJ_BroadwayGirl said: "People actually are hiring line sitters to wait at the stage door for them. "

huh! like I said, I don't know why they would do that, it seems very silly.

[jo]

Posted: 6/3/16 at 8:18pm

I was actually giggling when I read about the roast chicken being passed down the row - LOL!

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 6/3/16 at 8:34pm

I've seen (on separate occasions) people pass around a pizza, a bucket of fried chicken and the worst was a family with styrofoam containers of Chinese take out. The food reeked to high heaven and the styrofoam creaked and squeaked constantly. 

Banning food and drink from the theater would help  correct so much other bad behavior that stems from it. 

[NJ_BroadwayGirl]

Posted: 6/3/16 at 8:43pm

gypsy101 said: "NJ_BroadwayGirl said: "People actually are hiring line sitters to wait at the stage door for them. "

huh! like I said, I don't know why they would do that, it seems very silly."

I know. It's ridiculous to me too. 

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 6/3/16 at 11:16pm

The shade Danza just threw!!! "My audience pet peeve? When they don't come."

[Bwaydide92]

Posted: 6/3/16 at 11:24pm

I disagree with Nathan Lane about no drinks being allowed. I can understand them not liking the noise of the ice, that bothers me too. That's why I get low ice if I get a drink early enough before act 1, it usually melts before the show starts. If I don't get it early enough, I just don't get ice. Sorry Nathan, but a human should not have nothing to drink for 2.5 hours. Food, I agree, just don't eat. When I went to see Straight, I got a cocktail, and they didn't even allow me to have ice (which is fine). I don't see how silently drinking something will disturb the actors on stage to the point of distraction.

 

In regards to Tony Danza's response: Audience member pet peeve for things that happen on the stage:

1. Boring shows

Updated On: 6/3/16 at 11:24 PM

[veronicamae]

Posted: 6/4/16 at 12:12am

This reminds me that when I was at Eclipsed last weekend, twice the actors worked TURN OFF YOUR PHONE! into their angry rants. Lupita did it the first time and Zainab the second.

[asmith0307]

Posted: 6/4/16 at 12:27am

Admittedly, I will look at my Playbill during the show. Sometimes I check the song list (though rarely), but mostly it is to figure out where I know people from. Me trying to figure it out by myself will usually just end up distracting me more. For example, I was at The Father and I was staring at the lady playing Langella's daughter. I could not for the life of me figure out from where I knew her and her voice. It hit me mid-scene and I had to double check my playbill to make sure I wasn't crazy. She (Kathryn Erbe) was Ms. McKay in D2: Mighty Ducks in case anyone wants to know... 

[Hellob]

Posted: 6/4/16 at 12:37am

^^^

It is so interesting that's where you think of her from. I think the majority of people would say Eames from law and order CI or possibly Shirley Bellinger from Oz. 

[astromiami]

Posted: 6/5/16 at 10:53am

Bwaydide92 said: "I disagree with Nathan Lane about no drinks being allowed. I can understand them not liking the noise of the ice, that bothers me too. That's why I get low ice if I get a drink early enough before act 1, it usually melts before the show starts. If I don't get it early enough, I just don't get ice. Sorry Nathan, but a human should not have nothing to drink for 2.5 hours. Food, I agree, just don't eat. When I went to see Straight, I got a cocktail, and they didn't even allow me to have ice (which is fine). I don't see how silently drinking something will disturb the actors on stage to the point of distraction.
 

A human should not have nothing to drink for 2.5 hours? Where do you get this stuff? 

 

If you have some medical condition that makes you need liquids that frequently, you should NOT be drinking anything alcoholic, since that will dehydrate you.


 

 


 

In regards to Tony Danza's response: Audience member pet peeve for things that happen on the stage:

1. Boring shows

 

"

 

[schubox]

Posted: 6/5/16 at 11:09am

Mr. Nowack said: "Harvey Fierstein definitely had the funniest one!


The reading the program during the show even annoys me as an audience member, I feel like it makes it obvious you don't want to be here and keep looking at the songlist to see when the hell you can get out of it.

And the excruciatingly slow candy opening... oof!

 

"

I sat next to a woman yesterday at Hamilton that kept doing this. She kept flipping to the program and seeing what song they were on and seemed bored. And this was in a premium seat. It seemed so odd to me that she was sitting in a seat people would kill for and she couldn't wait to leave. Blew my mind and distracted me more than I would have thought 

[smidge]

Posted: 6/5/16 at 11:16am

I couldn't understand Bwaydide's drinking theory either. Either it was a joke or a cry for help. You're at a theatre,  not a bar or restaurant. You can survive the duration of the show.

[trentsketch]

Posted: 6/5/16 at 4:27pm

If I'm allowed to, I do keep a bottle of water with me at a show. It is for medical reasons. I drink if I have to and hold the bottle between my feet so I know where it is at all times. When I used to act, I'd have to have water set in both wings and backstage to counteract the dehydration effect of all my prescription medications.

If I'm not allowed to keep water with me at a show, I load up at the water fountain before the show, at intermission, and after the show. Not ideal, but I can get by if I need to. This is also why I will always buy myself an aisle seat if I can help it. Worst case scenario, I sneak out quietly, get a drink, and wait for permission to reenter the house.

[jo]

Posted: 6/6/16 at 5:10pm

I've just come across this one, from a Roundtable discussion for THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER --

 

"On stage, do you get distracted by people? Have you stopped to address the audience?

Close: I did in Sunset Boulevard. The big entrance down the stairway, I was coming down the stairs, and I heard all these flash cameras going off from up in the balcony, and as I was singing the song, I thought, "Do I stop?" It was so distracting. I just stopped, and I walked to the edge of the stage, and I said, "We can either have a photo shoot or we can do a play." "

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 6/6/16 at 5:14pm

source:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/actress-roundtable-258419