Why I walked out of Gypsy today- Page 3

[allofmylife]

Posted: 5/25/08 at 3:26am

LePetitFromage

Spraypainting a car, disrupting class. You mark my words, you keep this up and you'll grow up to work in the theater.

Then you'll have nobody to blame but yourself.

[LePetiteFromage]

Posted: 5/25/08 at 3:37am

Updated On: 5/5/09 at 03:37 AM

[blaxx]

Posted: 5/25/08 at 3:41am

Blaxx, to the principal's office right this minute. Mr. Feirstein is NOT going to be amused.

Awww, I thought you were a teacher at the school where Matt Cavenaugh is the principal...boo

[LePetiteFromage]

Posted: 5/25/08 at 3:46am

Updated On: 5/5/09 at 03:46 AM

[uncageg]

Posted: 5/25/08 at 4:05am

Try "Redneck Woman" as a ringtone at "August:Osage County" and a woman in a BIG white fur (It was December) getting up out of her seat to answer her phone. THAT was the last straw!

[Khashoggi]

Posted: 5/25/08 at 4:21am

It is a shame to hear that your theatre experience was ruined by such inconsiderate people. As a house manager and usher, I see behaviour like this frequently, and it is becoming more commonplace as shows struggle to appeal to a broader audience. In your situation, it is a shame to hear that ushers probably didn't handle the situation as well as they could have. They really should have been onto it the minute the group started moving. Any movement in the auditorium is distracting, and should be avoided at all costs. Because it was not dealt with by the ushers, and the house manager himself was not present, it seems he was left with no choice but to offer you some new seats, as he didn't witness the incident.
Hopefully the House Manager had a stern word with his ushers, and they will be more observant in the future.

[My Oh My]

Posted: 5/25/08 at 7:53am

"who not only sang the lyrics to each tune during the GYPSY overture but who thought it was okay to sing along with Patti freaking LuPone. Rude audience members are just intolerable."

Roflmao!! I've experienced that too! During a performance of Carousel, there was this 100+ year old woman sitting next to me who hummed and tapped her nails on the armrest LOUDLY through the Carousel Waltz! And she couldn't even hum! She sounded like she was coughing up phlegm. LOL. COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE!!

[jazzicat]

Posted: 5/25/08 at 11:16am

Wow- thanks for all the support and reality checks alike. Here are a few additional thoughts:

1) I realized last night that I did say something.. to the first woman who made me get up--during SOME PEOPLE.. I said, "Are you kidding.. you are such a (cut myself off)..you are ruining the show".. because not only did she knock my purse over but at the time my Ipod was on my lap so that went flying and I had to let her in and go get my Ipod. Hence the IPod reference. Her response- "No, I'm not kidding." And she WAS a F___ing C_nt. She had on a hideous outfit, helmet hair, was mid-50s and was totally rude. And might I say I love how these middle aged, post-menopausal women think that Patti is their friend and is there just for them. And we all bash Wicked fangirls. I will take a "squeeing" 11 year old over these yentas any day. And I thought the Grobanites with their Josh purses and Josh tattoos at Chess were bad..

2)By the time her five friends decided to join her in her behavior one by freaking one ... I was tired. They were all larger women and if things got to fisticuffs I could have outrun them, but I am not very big. Remember I was by myself, and I kind of wanted to be incognito. They all made me get up, they all knocked me over. I could have moved, but I liked my seat and I never thought it would keep happening. They exhausted me. And as someone so duly noted-- I go to shows to relax, they are cathartic for me.

3) I knew they were tourists because we were spending 30 lovely pre-show minutes together while they yammered away about how excited they were to see Patti and their trip to the big apple. Note--IPOD reference.

4) The house manager was lovely. He wasn't surprised by what I told him and was probably just shocked that I didn't take the seat. He also has some work to do managing the balcony.

5) My biggest issue is that the entire row to my right was empty. A sane person would have plotted the easiest and least disruptive route and just gone in through the empty seats completely bypassing me. BUT no-- these lazy c_nts saw no problem making me get up.

6) For those who wanted to see some scandalous reason as to why I walked out relating to the content.. I will add this. One of the reasons I probably didn't care so much about leaving is because..gasp.. the show (or the twenty or so minutes I saw) feels a bit dated. The one thing I thought about Patti is that she makes the role seem so effortless...possibly meaning that the part is not much of an effort for her. Now I didn't see the build of emotion throughout the show or "Rose's turn", but it just seemed like Mama Rose was so easy to play for her. It WAS her. I didn't really feel as if the actor was "reaching" that hard.

I love Gypsy, I used to have the TV special with Bette Midler as a kid on VHS and freaking wore the tape down. But you could have put Bette or Patti in there and it would just feel like the same old show. I know this is a biopic.. but come on, how believable is it to always see a plump, aggressive Mama Rose capture Herbie's heart. I think I would like someone to take a little liberty with the staging/casting and make it circa 1995 Mama Rose a hot belting beautiful vixen stage mama with a blond bob ..where you'd actually believe that a guy wouldn't mind being saddled with her and her two precocious babes.

7) I think I will go back. I am sad that I didn't see Laura B.. and I can't let those wenches win.

/end novel

[Zeitoujo]

Posted: 5/25/08 at 11:21am

I'm glad ur gunna go back!!

[bk]

Posted: 5/25/08 at 11:59am

etoile, I meet rudeness, and unabashed rudeness at that any way I like. You can be politically correct with your cries of misogyny, and I (and others) will deal with insufferably rude people however we choose. I WAS nice to begin with. Very nice and calm and respectful. When told to shut up - gloves off, I'm afraid, because she would have kept her cell on for heaven knows how long. I'm sure you would have handled it with great dignity though - small penis indeed.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 5/25/08 at 12:32pm

I started going to the theater in 1963. There were no student rushes and , as a high sschool student, I couldn't afford the $10.00 orchestra seats. (Remember, this was 1963!!!!). I gladly paid the $3.00 for the nose-bleed seats and enjoyed the show from there. I still sit up there when my funds are low. Sometimes I may bring binoculars, but I don't find anything wrong about sitting in cheaper seats.

Recently at GYPSY. my guest and I were seated in the front mezz and the two matrons beside us continued their conversation when the overturre started. I simply told them, "Ladies, the performance has begun" and they shut up like clams.

Updated On: 5/25/08 at 12:32 PM

[bundy5000]

Posted: 5/25/08 at 1:36pm

picky arn't we?

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 5/25/08 at 1:40pm

my guest and I were seated in the front mezz and the two matrons beside us continued their conversation when the overturre started. I simply told them, "Ladies, the performance has begun" and they shut up like clams.

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 5/25/08 at 2:19pm

"BK, do you think you displayed civility? You met rudeness with vulgar crudeness and somehow you rationalized that you behaved properly."

Thank you.

bk, I can understand being irritated by rude patrons, and I agree that it's incredibly frustrating. But the way you handled it was just as rude as the persons behavior. If any stranger in a theatre called me something like that, I would slap them across the face, rude behavior or not. Someone else's rude behavior is not an excuse for you to act like a jackass.

[nealb1]

Posted: 5/25/08 at 4:11pm

I can certainly understand and appreciate your position. It's beyond rude to behave the way that they did...thinking that they were the only ones in the theatre, and to get up and down during the show.

What I'm wondering about is why you choose to take it to the next level and leave the theatre? Nobody died, you weren't bleeding, there was no severed limb.......so, what's the problem? By switching seats, the problem would have been over.

We've all had our fair share of people who feel the need to talk during a performance. Usually if you shoot them a glaring look and tell them to be quiet, that will work.

It's like that great Nellie Forbush lie in "South Pacific" - I COULD NEVER IMAGINE MYSELF GETTING SO WORKED UP, TO BE SO LOW.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 5/25/08 at 7:43pm

As someone who doesn't live in NYC, I just want to thank the people in this thread who pointed out that it is not just tourists who lack theatre ettiquette, and also that not all tourists do lack it.

[oohshizz146]

Posted: 5/25/08 at 7:53pm

shut up, blaxx.

[Zeitoujo]

Posted: 5/25/08 at 7:55pm

you totally overracted- take a chill pill dude.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 5/25/08 at 8:15pm

Jazzicat isn't a "dude". She's female--and proabably about 16 years old.

I guess she's a "dudette".

[bk]

Posted: 5/25/08 at 11:21pm

"Someone else's rude behavior is not an excuse for you to act like a jackass."

If they're being rude to ME all's fair in love and war, I'm afraid. You think people should just get away with stuff like that? I'm too old to put up with it anymore - I just cut to the chase and end it. I understand that some of you are dainty and delicate flowers who cannot deal with anything that isn't pretty, but if I ask someone nicely to shut their glaringly-bright Blackberry off and they tell me to shut up, sorry, they will incur my full wrath every single time. If that offends you or your sensibilities, just move along.

[Mealz1042]

Posted: 5/25/08 at 11:32pm

Having human decency does not a dainty delicate flower make.

[wicked_beast4]

Posted: 5/25/08 at 11:38pm

bk, here's a thought: get an usher to TAKE AWAY the Blackberry instead of being absurdly and uneededly rude by calling them a f****** c***. You don't have to be a dainty flower to get offended by being called that.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 5/25/08 at 11:43pm

I think bk's point here is that you're in the middle of watching a show that you paid to see.

Taking the time to get up and get the usher, explain the situation, have the blackberry taken away, as the person fights with the usher will essentially make you miss more of the performance that you've already missed, and that defeats the whole purpose.

I agree with just telling them to shut it the hell off. It's quick and easy, like pulling off a band-aid, makes the point, and you can keep watching the show you paid for.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 5/25/08 at 11:48pm

There were several empty seats nearby. The obvious solution would have been just to move over and enjoy the show from another vantage point. She didn't have to break into tears on the way home. Geeze!

[My Oh My]

Posted: 5/25/08 at 11:59pm

^ Not to mention refuse to give the show itself another try.