What shows have you walked out on?

[robskynyc]

Posted: 5/24/18 at 11:26am

Was discussing War Paint with a friend and we got to discussing what shows we have walked out on and at what point/why...

For me:

War Paint - left at intermission, i couldn't understand a word of what Patti was saying with that accent, plus the songs were SOOOO SLOOOOOWWWW. costumes were AMAZING though!

Margaritaville - left 20 minutes in when the savages around me were singing along to every. single. song.

Dear Evan Hansen- left at intermission. i just couldnt get into the story plus it felt a little exploitative. also, i didnt see it with ben, but with Noah Galvin and i found it a bit of stretch to believe he was playing a straight teen.

Spiderman- left at intermission. i saw the second version of it, not Julie Taymor's original idea. the whole "myth of arachne" intro was very cool, but the rest of the show just felt super disjointed.

Avenue Q- left at intermission. i know i know. i loved Everyone is Racist and Internet is for Porn, but i just could not get over the fact that the actors were on stage with the puppets. and then they would switch and a different actor would take over the puppet. :/

M. Butterfly- left maybe 30-45 minutes in? anyone who saw this will understand lol

Junk- left at intermission. just bored out of my mind.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 5/24/18 at 11:51am

Oh, you trust fund kids with expendable play money.  Hahahaha.  

I’ll ride out a show no matter how bad it is.  Even if my tickets were free.  If I paid, p*uck if I’m walking out.  

[TNick926]

Posted: 5/24/18 at 11:57am

I'm with you, Brody!  EXCEPT...ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER with Harry Connick, Jr. It was such a slog, and I hated seeing him look so miserable, especially after he was so great in PAJAMA GAME!  And then I saw him in THE STING at Papermill, which was also a bad slog...oh, well.

Usually, like Brody, I will stick it out no matter what - and I saw MOOSE MURDERS!! :)

[Oak2]

Posted: 5/24/18 at 11:59am

Never. If I paid for it, I'm sitting through the whole thing to see if it gets better. If the major flaw is that it's so boring that it puts me to sleep though, then so be it - they'll just have to throw me out and take some time to think about why their show is so boring that it put me to sleep.

However, I've literally never had to actually do this because I also do my research before going to shows - I listen to cast recordings and read synopses so that I know beforehand whether it would be something I'd enjoy. Theatre is too expensive for me to waste money on something that, with a little research, I can already know if I'm going to find it enjoyable or if I'm going to hate or find boring. If I already hate it from the synopsis and cast recording, I severely doubt my opinion will change from seeing it live - anyone who insists that I "have" to see it in person before making a full judgment better be paying for my seat, because I refuse to pay for something I know I'm going to dislike.

[Impossible2]

Posted: 5/24/18 at 12:06pm

Jesus man you're harsh!

The only thing I've walked out of was Chicago a few months ago, mainly because the cast weren't very good, I had already seen it and absolutely NOTHING had changed in the 10 years since I'd last seen it.

I too HATED War Paint and couldn't stand the screechy voices of either lead performer, but I stuck it out.

I actually liked M Butterfly, but I hadn't seen it on stage before so I had nothing to compare it to other than the film. I thought there were a few odd changes made, but it wasn't enough to make me leave.

I almost walked out of Carousel. I didn't like it and my seat was awful, I had a pillar right in my eyeline the whole show. By the end I wish I had've left...

I was pretty close to leaving The Present. Great acting, but a dud of a play!

Updated On: 5/24/18 at 12:06 PM

[robskynyc]

Posted: 5/24/18 at 12:08pm

BrodyFosse123 said: "Oh, you trust fund kids with expendable play money. Hahahaha.

I’ll ride out a show no matter how bad it is. Even if my tickets were free. If I paid, p*uck if I’m walking out."

LOL i WISH i had a trust fund. or a sugar daddy. :-p if im miserable watching a show, i just dont see the point in sticking it out.

[haterobics]

Posted: 5/24/18 at 12:09pm

robskynyc said: "plus the songs were SOOOO SLOOOOOWWWW. "

They're called ballads, dear.

Maybe theater isn't your thing?

[Impossible2]

Posted: 5/24/18 at 12:10pm

haterobics said: "robskynyc said: "plus the songs were SOOOO SLOOOOOWWWW. "

They're called ballads, dear.

 

PMSL!

[robskynyc]

Posted: 5/24/18 at 12:14pm

Oak2 said: "However, I've literally never had to actually do this because I also do my research before going to shows - I listen to cast recordings and read synopses so that I know beforehand whether it would be something I'd enjoy."

I get that. But i absolutely LOVE the DEH songs. I just hated the story. But I think thats a Benji/Paul thing. their songs work as stand along pop songs. (wasnt that a major criticism of Greatest Showman? they were written as pop gems, but didnt advance the story).

and as for margaritaville, it was more of a "i wanted to see the trainwreck for myself" kind of deal. but people singing along at a broadway show is probably my biggest pet peeve. when lachanze said at the beginning of SUMMER "feel free to sing along" i looked around like "no the f*ck yall better not!" lol and at phantom the girl behind me kept singing along until i turned around and told her to shut up cause this wasnt karaoke and i wasnt paying to hear her sing lol.

i do regret leaving at the spiderman intermission, but my ADD gets the best of me sometimes.

 

[haterobics]

Posted: 5/24/18 at 12:15pm

robskynyc said: "wasnt that a major criticism of Greatest Showman? they were written as pop gems, but didnt advance the story"

On BWW, yes. In the real world, no.

[robskynyc]

Posted: 5/24/18 at 12:20pm

haterobics said: "robskynyc said: "plus the songs were SOOOO SLOOOOOWWWW. "

They're called ballads, dear.

Maybe theater isn't your thing?"

i was wondering how long before the trolls appeared. that show was one ballad after the other and an uninspired boring book (hence no noms for book/musical). i see maybe 4 shows a month, so theatre is definitely my thing, dear. dull theatre, however, is not. (yes, i'm aware its all subjective). however, theres a reason that show closed after barely 200 performances, and it wasn't just Patti's hip. 

[Will3700]

Posted: 5/24/18 at 12:21pm

I would never walk out of a show on Broadway but I have walked out at intermission on two touring shows. Could not get through Godspell as I hated being preached to and Happy Days was just so awfull,

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 5/24/18 at 12:24pm

I've only ever walked out on Elf. Otherwise, I'll always stick through the whole production, even if I'm hating it at intermission.

[robskynyc]

Posted: 5/24/18 at 12:24pm

Will3700 said: "I would never walk out of a show on Broadway but I have walked out at intermission on two touring shows. Could not get through Godspell as I hated being preached to and Happy Days was just so awfull,"

oh jeez totally forgot about happy days... that was like the white bread of musicals. lol

[Jonathan Cohen]

Posted: 5/24/18 at 12:24pm

I've never walked out of a show earlier, but I'm always fascinated in trying to track who does leave. I had a great orchestra seat for Escape to Margaritaville, and was sitting next to an older, super positive German woman who came in with a completely open mind about it. Without applauding, she bolted out of her seat as soon as intermission began, never to return. She wasn't wrong. The first half of the show was just bad, it got worse from there.

I also recently saw Sondheim's Follies in the gym of a church in Astoria, in a production that either just closed or is about to. I thought it was pretty good given the limitations they had, but most of the people in the two rows behind me didn't return after intermission.   

  

[robskynyc]

Posted: 5/24/18 at 12:25pm

BroadwayConcierge said: "I've only ever walked out onElf. Otherwise, I'll always stick through the whole production, even if I'm hating it at intermission."

haha ELF! i used to love sparkle/jolly/twinkle/jingley lol

[robskynyc]

Posted: 5/24/18 at 12:27pm

Jonathan Cohen said: "The first half of the show was just bad, it got worse from there." 

i heard cheeseburger in paradise is the epitome of "WTF are u kidding me right now" in the show? lol

 

[JudyDenmark]

Posted: 5/24/18 at 12:29pm

I've never actually walked out, just because theatre is expensive and I figure I'd rather see if something redeeming happens rather than just rip up money. 

But there were two that I was realllllly close. One was the Bye Bye Birdie revival with John Stamos & Gina Gershon, which was a complete train wreck on every level, with the exception of Allie Trimm who was charming. And the other was the recent Long Day's Journey Into Night revival. I was so incredibly bored, fell asleep in the first part... woke up and looked it up on Wikipedia at intermission to catch myself up on any plot I had missed, only to find out that I didn't miss a thing because literally nothing happens. I stuck it out as a Jessica Lange fan, but man was that show excruciatingly boring. (To be fair, there was nothing wrong with the production itself, I just am clearly not a Eugene O'Neill fan!)

Sort of related, but last night I saw My Fair Lady and was sitting next to an elderly couple who were humming along for the entire first act. (I swear... that blue-haired audience was more disruptive than Frozen and SpongeBob combined.) So the second the lights went down on Act 1, I booked it to claim an empty seat I had my eye on, and was thankfully able to watch Act 2 in peace. But I'm pretty sure the people around me must've thought I truly despised the show to take off like that, haha.

Updated On: 5/24/18 at 12:29 PM

[UncleCharlie]

Posted: 5/24/18 at 12:32pm

Going to shows like Margaritaville, Summer and M. Butterfly that were widely panned as being awful shows and then having to leave early cause they were awful shows would seem to indicate that going to trainwrecks to see how just much of a trainwreck they are may not be an entirely winning strategy.

[haterobics]

Posted: 5/24/18 at 12:33pm

robskynyc said: "that show was one ballad after the other and an uninspired boring book (hence no noms for book/musical)."

So the speed of the songs doesn't seem to be the real issue then.

Sounds like you need better vetting then:

You leave a puppet show since you can see the people, which is shown in nearly every promotional picture. You go to Margaritaville because you want to see a trainwreck, but leave Spiderman? You find a three hour drama about junk bond trading boring? You bring the baggage of missing the original Evan and the sexuality of Galvin into bear while seeing the Tony Winner for Best Musical? Seems like all of these issues were easily identifiable known quantities in advance.

 

[robskynyc]

Posted: 5/24/18 at 12:35pm

JudyDenmark said: "woke up and looked it up on Wikipedia at intermission to catch myself up on any plot I had missed, only to find out that I didn't miss a thing because literally nothing happens.”

 

 That is HILARIOUS. Wikipedia LOL but I agree NOTHING happened

 

[broadwayboy223]

Posted: 5/24/18 at 12:37pm

I'll never get the War Paint hate. I saw it in Chicago and NYC and while it wasnt a perfect musical there were plenty of great moments and BEAUTIFUL songs. Also Christine Ebersole screechy? She has a beautiful crystal clear soprano.

[robskynyc]

Posted: 5/24/18 at 12:37pm

UncleCharlie said: "Going to shows like Margaritaville, Summer and M. Butterfly that were widely panned as being awful shows and then having to leave early cause they were awful shows would seemto indicate that going to trainwrecks to see how just much of a trainwreck they are may not be an entirely winning strategy."

That’s not the strategy. You misunderstood. I was geniuiney interested in M. Butterfly since I loved the opera, but couldn’t get into the show. And I enjoyed Summer. All I said about summer was her quip about people singing along, which they didn’t” 

the only one I went to see knowing it was a sh!tshow was margaritaville.

[robskynyc]

Posted: 5/24/18 at 12:45pm

haterobics said: "robskynyc said: "that show was one ballad after the other and an uninspired boring book (hence no noms for book/musical)."

So the speed of the songs doesn't seem to be the real issue then.

Sounds like you need better vetting then:

You leave a puppet show since you can see the people, which is shown in nearly every promotional picture. You go to Margaritaville because you want to see a trainwreck, but leave Spiderman? You find a three hour drama about junk bond trading boring? You bring the baggage of missing the original Evan and the sexuality of Galvin into bear while seeing theTony Winner for Best Musical? Seems like all of these issues were easily identifiable known quantities in advance.

"

Im Assuming you’ve never given a chance to a musical you weren’t sure if you’d like but it had good reviews and you maybe wanted to open up yourself to something new? I didn’t mention anything about baggage over Ben, I added that as a disclaimer since most people seemed to think he was carrying the show.

ive seen your other posts/replies on the board and a solid majority of them are you being a troll or an instigator. It must suck being such a negative person that all you can do is suck the life out of everything you see. I pity you. 

[blaxx]

Posted: 5/24/18 at 12:46pm

I walked out of Phantom because it was all about a masked man and not a phantom, and  it had too much opera. They didn't advertise it was so much opera. 

I also walked out of Wicked at intermission because the lead was good and not wicked until the very end, and it had a big dragon and clocks and it was confusing.

And also I walked out of The Lion King because it had puppets but you could see the person handling the puppets, and I know it has hakuna Matata and all those songs but I could see the people and I left.