Why are audiences so poorly behaved these days?- Page 2

[abcd12]

Posted: 6/20/25 at 12:38pm

Pre-show announcements seem to be in vain, as well. 
 

I always shiver a bit when there isn’t one, mentally preparing for the inevitable alarm or phone ring. But I’ve been to a bunch of shows lately WITH an announcement (some even with the added reminder of a Playbill slip AND ushers holding signs) and phones are a problem, regardless. 
 

No one gives a sh*t. It’s awful. 

Updated On: 6/20/25 at 12:38 PM

[Phantom4ever]

Posted: 6/20/25 at 2:42pm

This is all anecdotal since we don't have any way of measuring audience behavior today vs any other time. My audiences have been good other than the women at CHICAGO who made me get up to let them out of the row 13 times during the show. 

I try to sit in the first few rows of the orchestra at every show I go to, and a big part of the reason I do that is beause there will be fewer people to deal with and potential bad behavior to annoy me. Of course, I've had plenty of things happen to me in the front row, from a girl texting the entire first act, another one posting to social media the entire first act, and another couple having what I could best describe as an "aggressive make out session" during "All I Ask of You".  But still. Only a few rows of potentail problems vs a whole theater of them.

I also avoidjukebox shows like & Juliet, Moulin Rouge etc, ever since I was told to "lighten up" when I asked a person behind me to stop singing along with the show at Jersey Boys. 

And the pre-show announcements!  Whenever there is a cutesy pre-show announcement I want to get up and leave or at least stand and go "No!  No!  It's a serious thing!  Don't laugh at it!"  Lol.  But for real, the cutesy pre-show announcements do such a disservice because they send the message that the rule is just a suggestion and it's not enforced. I love the ones that specifically say "anything with a light-up screen" or "open your candies before the show".  Specific things like that really help people. 

I took my cousin to see Hamilton with me a couple years ago and she is an absolute Hamiton fanatic and she has the Chernow book just about memorized. Between every scene she would somewhat whisper to me what the show skipped or changed from the book and all I wanted to do was tell her to shut up but I felt bad because she was SO excited. She didnt' seem to be bothering anyone I don't think. 

I have been more often than not pleasantly surprised by how well audiences behave. Especially when before the show starts, and I'm around people who are carrying on and on and asking a million questions and squealing with laughter and I think oh man this is gonna be a tough show but then the lights go down and they're silent.  That is the most common occurence in Broadway theaters for me. 

Updated On: 6/20/25 at 02:42 PM

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 6/20/25 at 2:52pm

The mention of movie theaters just reminds me of the Florida movie theater shooting that started because one person was texting during the previews (not even the movie) and devolved into popcorn throwing and then the shooting. That was 11 years ago. People are terrible, have been for a very long time, and thank goodness for the metal detectors at Broadway theaters. (At least shushing people is unlikely to get you or the ushers shot, which you know would be a real risk otherwise.)

[BentleyB]

Posted: 6/20/25 at 3:09pm

I also blame parents who do not teach their children any type of theater etiquette.  At Boop! there were two teenagers texting and videoing the opening number.  The usher came 3 times during it and told them to put the phones away, the 3rd time the girls looked at their mother and said, "What's her problem?" The mother just laughed and shrugged her shoulders.  I finally had enough and said, "The reason she is doing that is because it is not proper to use a phone during a performance and why everyone around is annoyed."

[KarenValentine'sheadband]

Posted: 6/20/25 at 3:21pm

BentleyB said: "I also blame parents who do not teach their children any type of theater etiquette. At Boop! there were two teenagers texting and videoing the opening number. The usher came 3 times during it and told them to put the phones away, the 3rd time the girls looked at their mother and said, "What's her problem?" The mother just laughed and shrugged her shoulders. I finally had enough and said, "The reason she is doing that is because it is not proper to use a phone during a performance and why everyone around is annoyed.""

What was Mom's response to you? 

 

[BentleyB]

Posted: 6/20/25 at 3:31pm

KarenValentine'sheadband said: "BentleyB said: "I also blame parents who do not teach their children any type of theater etiquette. At Boop! there were two teenagers texting and videoing the opening number. The usher came 3 times during it and told them to put the phones away, the 3rd time the girls looked at their mother and said, "What's her problem?" The mother just laughed and shrugged her shoulders. I finally had enough and said, "The reason she is doing that is because it is not proper to use a phone during a performance and why everyone around is annoyed.""

What was Mom's response to you?

Surprisingly, she just smiled and continued watching the show.  My husband is always worried I am going to get shot for saying something to someone. 

 

[RunnyBabbit]

Posted: 6/20/25 at 4:42pm

I do think it’s gotten worse since covid, but I don’t think it’s because of covid.  I think we’ve been on this downward trajectory for decades.  The way people acted in the teens was so much worse than the aughts, which was so much worse than the 90s.  That’s when I started seeing shows but I’m sure people who saw shows before that would agree.

When I saw Rent in the final year (2008), the people behind me talked throughout the entire show.  I saw Aladdin circa 2013 and the people in front of me took out a full hoagie and proceeded to eat it during the first act.  At Something Rotten in 2015 the woman a seat over from me scrolled through Facebook throughout the entire show.

I can’t remember the last show I’ve seen where someone wasn’t annoying me with their phone, their talking, their food (a bag of chips? really?), their singing along(!!!).

I was at a comedy show at a large venue this week and the second someone took out their phone a security guard came over to them and told them to put away their phone and to enjoy the rest of the show.  I wish Broadway ushers were given the power to take any issues into their own hands.  It was amazing.  (Well except for my friend who has a serious alcohol problem and proceeded to not shut up during the second half despite all of her husband’s efforts because she was convinced a woman in our row knocked over her tiny cup of wine when in reality I think she had just drank it already. And I’m sure the alcohol being sold at Broadway Shows doesn’t help anything either.)

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 6/20/25 at 6:31pm

It’s not just theatre, try being a flight attendant. Some of the crap I deal with. Humans have lost manners, it’s that simple. Parents don’t have them, so how would children have them, you learn what your taught. 

[Idiot]

Posted: 6/20/25 at 7:39pm

I mean, our culture's in the crapper - obviously - and this is just part of it.  Many factors are easily identifiable - the de-socialization caused by digital tech, an influx of 'concert shows' meant to attract a younger audience, wine throwing reality TV, etc..  We're just really tacky these days. 

I can't help but remember how and when I was taught to behave in a theatre.  I was introduced to Broadway in the seventies.  I had to wear a coat and tie and my behavior was on LOCKDOWN under threat of severe repercussions.  That became my normal (minus the tie - ditched that thing).  I'd guess that the primary offender here is precious 'not MY little angel' parenting. 

[KarenValentine'sheadband]

Posted: 6/20/25 at 7:45pm

I see this more at concerts but for the last 10 years concerts are no longer about the artist on stage but the audience. AKA, narcissism. 

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 6/22/25 at 1:51am

What do y'all do when someone’s legs keeps crossing over into your space and they let them rest against your leg unless you move?

It becomes this really obnoxious and uncomfortable unspoken challenge and it seems to be happening more and more on airplanes and at the theatre. 
 

[DAME]

Posted: 6/22/25 at 3:20am

Say something directly and politely.  

[MasterThespian 2]

Posted: 6/22/25 at 5:55am

Luckily, I have never experienced what a lot of you are describing (knock on wood). Saw Glengarry on Friday night. Full house that was enthusiastic, but no phones, no talking. Afterwords, the stage door was jammed. Lots of excitement, but no pushing or yelling. Everyone remained calm and the stars were all very gracious. I go to enough shows…this still feels like the norm. People dress a lot sloppier, but that’s a different discussion. 


Now airplanes on the other hand…

[quizking101]

Posted: 6/22/25 at 8:11am

TotallyEffed said: "What do y'all do when someone’s legs keeps crossing over into your space and they let them rest against your leg unless you move?

It becomes this really obnoxious and uncomfortable unspoken challenge and it seems to be happening more and more on airplanes and at the theatre.
"

I think there is layers to this one and I say this as someone who is painfully self aware of size (6’8, 300+) given that this happened to me last night at RWHC.

I was in the mezzanine in the middle of the row (TDF - great view, but definitely NOT the seats I would’ve picked). As I was trying to settle and get comfortable, the woman next to me became really cross and said “You need to watch your arms because you’re going to hit me in the face!”. I apologized to her and explained that I’m trying my best given that my limbs are long and my space is narrow. After a few more “harrumphs” out of her (because I, again, was trying to adjust to uncomfortability), she got up and went to the usher and was audibly demanding they change her seat because of “that big guy being in my space”.

Thankfully they moved her and I just took her seat and got some extra room - but my advice is to be delicate and gauge your response to it depending on the person. 

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 6/22/25 at 9:48am

DAME said: "Say something directly and politely. "


Unfortunately this is a now a high risk action to take. Like quizking said, people are just ready to pounce and are more than willing to make an uncomfortable situation downright nightmarish, even scary.

[ER765]

Posted: 6/22/25 at 9:54am

TotallyEffed said: "DAME said: "Say something directly and politely. "


Unfortunately this is a now a high risk action to take. Like quizking said, people are just ready to pounceand are more than willing to make an uncomfortable situation downright nightmarish, even scary."

Yup. I’ve been as polite as can be in asking other patrons to please turn their phones off or please stop talking. 80% of the time, the offender whips their head around and snaps. 

[SteveSanders]

Posted: 6/22/25 at 10:06am

I've had some limited success in a comparable legs touching situation with this:

"Man, we are really packed in here.  I wonder if we can figure out how to create enough legroom for both of us."

It has yet to provoke a confrontational response, but it hasn't always led to any meaningful change.

Updated On: 6/22/25 at 10:06 AM

[SmokeyLady]

Posted: 6/22/25 at 10:25am

ER765 said: "TotallyEffed said: "DAME said: "Say something directly and politely. "


Unfortunately this is a now a high risk action to take. Like quizking said, people are just ready to pounceand are more than willing to make an uncomfortable situation downright nightmarish, even scary."

Yup. I’ve been as polite as can be in asking other patrons to please turn their phones off or please stop talking. 80% of the time, the offender whips their head around and snaps."

Oh then, I would get verbally aggressive.  I know it is not right for some.  But I don't mind a scuffle. I prefer it to sitting there fuming.  These tickets are too much money. Most of the time they get scared of me and straighten out. And when they don't it makes for an unforgettable evening.. for them.   Not for everyone but it works for me.

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 6/22/25 at 10:31am

Wanna be my date, SmokeyLady?

[east side story]

Posted: 6/22/25 at 11:18am

The young woman sat in front of me at Sunset BLVD yesterday afternoon was texting throughout most of the entire first act, visibly upsetting the people beside her. She had her screen brightness turned way down, but that light is still visible in the dark, as any individual with a modicum of self awareness would know. I eventually kicked the back of her seat, and the phone was immediately put away.

[FolliesCabaret]

Posted: 6/22/25 at 11:23am

At Redwood I had to share half of my seat with the leg of the patron next to me, who shook said seat the entire time. At Gatsby I sat next to and in front of two straight couples who loooooved giving commentary. I turned around once and kindly asked the couple behind me if they could stop talking, and the man of the couple laughed in my face and talked louder. 

Our president is a narcissist, our mayor is a narcissist. Why wouldn't our theatergoers be? It's allllll about them. This is THEIR theatregoing experience, not mine or yours. They're learning what's acceptable and testing limits through our leaders, who are very unconcerned with any kind of decorum or kindness. I also can't imagine the pandemic helped. I so enjoyed going to the theatre and seeing movies much more before the pandemic.

[MB124]

Posted: 6/22/25 at 11:44am

I have countless stories, but at the first post-Covid reopening performance of Phantom, the woman next to me spent minutes on end texting from her Apple Watch. 

She was using the feature where you have to draw each letter in your reply, so it was not only distracting and rude, but it was also incessant. 

I finally asked her to stop and she gave me the dirtiest look possible. She continued to talk about me at full volume to the rest of her family who labeled me as “miserable,” loudly enough for me to hear

Frankly it ruined the entire experience for me.

If house staff isn’t stepping in at a performance like THAT, then they’re just never going to do it. 

I truly don’t know what the answer here is. 

And back to the OP’s post, did anything ever come from that audience altercation at Gypsy from a few months ago??

[Mark Waltz]

Posted: 6/22/25 at 12:34pm

When I have good theater experiences like some posters indicate, I asked myself if I woke up in a parallel universe that morning. I had stated in a thread on the same subject about six months ago that I had stopped going to the theater because of the situations people mention here, but I did go back and in the period of 3 months saw about 15 shows, including a few where the understudies for the leads were on and thus cancellations meant that there was space between people. Of those dozen plus shows, I only saw phones out in a few, and one incident where the woman behind me in the second act wouldn't stop talking, obviously because she had a beverage at intermission.

Minor issues compared to what other people are talking about, but a few that did irritate me lightly. There were worse incidents way back of course, but it's a crap shoot when it comes to audience, and is indeed far worse on planes which is why I do not fly anywhere anymore regardless of circumstances in my life. Now that I've got my fix, I'm limiting my show choices to just once a month, and it has to be something that I have to see, not just want to. But I say this is a subject that should be broached about every 6 months just to remind people that they are not the only ones in the audience and their ticket doesn't mean that it is all about them. It's stressful enough to get there and get home without having a situation inside the theater that ruins a $100 plus experience. 

The worst memory has to be the young woman at an Off Broadway play who ate a whole chicken dinner that stunk up the Mitzi Newhouse, unfortunately seated right next to me. I hope people who commit these atrocious behaviors read these threads and realize that one of the comments on them is referring to something they did. 

Updated On: 6/22/25 at 12:34 PM

[Luscious]

Posted: 6/22/25 at 3:10pm

Whatever happened to Class?

[Marway44]

Posted: 6/22/25 at 8:32pm

Is is 100% the phone. You put the phone away, or silence it and people need to move their hands, eat, talk, whisper. They can’t function without the phone.