What's with the marriage proposals??

[itsahopi]

Posted: 5/31/11 at 9:37am

I get it when both people are in the company (cast, crew, etc.) I even MAYBE get it when ONE person is in the company. Now we're bringing up random people just because it's Fleet Week, he's a Marine, and Anything Goes takes place on a ship?

It's a sweet thought I guess, but I feel like now there are three times a year with a curtain speech. Gypsy, Bonnet, or obligatory marriage proposal.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 5/31/11 at 9:41am

I actually just posted about this. I think it is sweet too, but I have a feeling this is soon going to be overdone.

[OhTossums2]

Posted: 5/31/11 at 9:46am

I send every video to my boyfriend... Just so he knows it really is possible....
Haha it's a joke of ours in a way, I'm not creepy I swear.
But seriously, I think it's cute. I don't think it's overdone, it's too cute to be critcized!

[ahhrealmonsters]

Posted: 5/31/11 at 9:57am

There was one last year at Memphis by 2 random people who seemed to not have any connection to the show. I was wondering if the guy made a hefty donation to BC/EFA or his friend was a producer or something. It seems like unless you are in the show or, you know, the Navy, it's not the easiest thing to accomplish.

[wonkit]

Posted: 5/31/11 at 9:59am

It will stop as soon as the first woman says no in front of 2,000 people.
Updated On: 5/31/11 at 09:59 AM

[Eris0303]

Posted: 5/31/11 at 11:02am

It's not the first nor will it be the last. It just seems like a lot because we've had two in a matter of a few weeks. But really these happen maybe once a year (if that).

I recall someone trying to set up a proposal on stage and was turned away. The reasoning was that they weren't in Equity so insurance didn't cover them being on stage. Obviously that was BS. It's all about who you know or who you pay.

[sally1112]

Posted: 5/31/11 at 1:02pm

I say if you have more rights than other citizens you should flaunt it in their faces as much as possible!!!

[best12bars]

Posted: 5/31/11 at 1:40pm

The moment I read about the Navy proposal at the end of Anything Goes I thought it was a stunt. And I don't just mean prearranged, I mean staged from scratch. Not that the couple isn't really getting engaged now, but that they were "encouraged" to do this by someone connected with the show (probably on the business side). Then I watched it. Shot with a pro-sumer HD camera, with great lighting and sound and a handheld feel to add "realness."

This wreaks of a PR firm stunt. It wouldn't surprise me if the couple was paid or given comps and other perks (free dinner, etc.?) to do it. A small payout, relatively speaking, for the video, in hope that it will go viral, at least among the Navy and their relatives and friends.

I'm not saying I know anything. I'm just saying it looks incredibly fishy.

Speaking of staged ... I could imagine the whole thing being set up like this ...

BUSINESS OFFICE WORKER: Hey, my best friend's in town with the Navy for Fleet Week. Can I have the afternoon off to see him? He's going to propose to his girlfriend this weekend.

ANYTHING GOES PR PERSON: Really? He should bring her to see the show. Wait! He should actually propose to her on stage. We can arrange the whole thing for them! We'll even comp their tickets and give 'em a free dinner. They just have to agree to let us film them and use the video for our promotions!

BUSINESS OFFICE WORKER: Wow, I don't know ...

ANYTHING GOES PR PERSON: Oh, come on. Just ask them if they'll go for it. What harm can it do, right? And yes, then you can have the afternoon off.

(Roll video.)

Updated On: 5/31/11 at 01:40 PM

[bk]

Posted: 5/31/11 at 1:51pm

I kind of agree with this post. There was nothing spontaneous about it.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 5/31/11 at 1:59pm

Either Besty is right, or they are treating the captive audience as their bitches.

Besides, I rather watch a couple of guys proposing to each other.

[jovie27]

Posted: 5/31/11 at 3:17pm

I wonder if this is just an easy way so the person does not get rejected...beacuse who would say "NO" in front of a cast and hundreds of screaming audience members?

[Gothampc]

Posted: 5/31/11 at 3:24pm

It's all Patti LuPone's fault. Didn't she get married at Lincoln Center when she was doing Anything Goes?

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 5/31/11 at 3:29pm

Everything is the Pone's fault.
Straight people, what are they thinking?

[Gothampc]

Posted: 5/31/11 at 3:37pm

LuPone was the reason the Glee finale sucked so bad. Her salary was so exorbitant that they had to cut Kristen Chenoweth completely out of the budget for that show. And LuPone got to take home all the doggie bags from Sardis.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 6/1/11 at 3:10am

And it continues...

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 6/1/11 at 4:21am

I blame Glee.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 6/1/11 at 4:50am

I know I'm going to sound REAAALLY cynical here....but I hate these things. Aren't proposals suppose to be intimate moments between two people? This is just another way society has proven the ME ME ME issue, yet another thing that has to be "documented" and put on YouTube and FB. If it's not documented electroically, it didn't happen.

And what happens? The next b'way fan whose beau doesn't propose this way, will feel cheated when her boyfriend ONLY proposes on the site of their first date with beautiful words.

And I agree to feeling kept captive -- why would I care about strangers getting engaged? I mean, good for them and all, but whooppee....I have things to do, places to go, a drink to down and a catty review to leave here at BWW.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 6/1/11 at 10:24am

Baseball proposals have been going on for a loooong time. When I was in college I used to go to games a couple times a week when the Phillies were home and I swear I saw one at least every other week. Broadway proposals are fairly new compared to baseball ones.

Mama, did you know that public proposals are considered bad luck and foretell a doomed marriage?

[Gothampc]

Posted: 6/1/11 at 12:19pm

The theatre is a temple to display the joys and losses of the human condition. To cheapen the theatre by holding the audience hostage for a very private affair such as a marriage proposal is primitive. I abhor public marriage proposals in every form.

Phylicia Ayers-Allen Rashad in her Tony Award Acceptance Speech

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 6/1/11 at 12:31pm

I agree that it pretty much forces the other person to say yes, which is problematic.