Why are audiences so poorly behaved these days?- Page 6

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 12/15/25 at 6:15pm

witchoftheeast2 said: "Has anyone thought of any way to actually get through to people?"

Yes, get security.

[Zeppie2022]

Posted: 12/15/25 at 7:41pm

"America’s Sweetheart, Sutton Ross, must have lodged another complaint and they ran to the little darling’s rescue. As always. "

Have you ever wondered if she is related to one of the mods?

[Matt Rogers]

Posted: 12/15/25 at 7:54pm

Zeppie2022 said: ""America’s Sweetheart, Sutton Ross,must have lodged another complaint and they ran to the little darling’s rescue. As always. "

Have you ever wondered if she is related to one of the mods?"

Yes, or friends of, or dating, although I notice they are not deleting as many anti-Sutton comments as they used to. There was a period when they were instantly deleting any post that the hag didn’t like. Not so much anymore. 

[Zeppie2022]

Posted: 12/15/25 at 7:56pm

"Drinks are available at other performing arts institutions, from the Met to BAM, and you don’t hear much about disruptive drunken audience members at those places"

I know I may get some flak but the audience at the Met is probably a lot classier than the average Broadway theater goer - lol

[Azúcar!]

Posted: 12/15/25 at 8:01pm

Zeppie2022 said: ""Drinks are available at other performing artsinstitutions, from the Met to BAM, and you don’t hear much about disruptive drunken audience membersat those places"

I know I may get some flak but the audience at the Met is probably a lot classier than the average Broadway theater goer - lol"

That is a fact.  

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 12/15/25 at 8:13pm

Zeppie2022 said: ""Drinks are available at other performing artsinstitutions, from the Met to BAM, and you don’t hear much about disruptive drunken audience membersat those places"

I know I may get some flak but the audience at the Met is probably a lot classier than the average Broadway theater goer - lol"


Unfortunately they’re getting worse too. I had to tell a girl twice to stop filming Porgy and Bess and she ignored me. Then an old man behind her leaned forward and whispered in her ear for a solid twenty seconds. She didn’t pick up her phone again.

Updated On: 12/15/25 at 08:13 PM

[Azúcar!]

Posted: 12/15/25 at 8:20pm

TotallyEffed said: "Zeppie2022 said: ""Drinks are available at other performing artsinstitutions, from the Met to BAM, and you don’t hear much about disruptive drunken audience membersat those places"

I know I may get some flak but the audience at the Met is probably a lot classier than the average Broadway theater goer - lol"


Unfortunately they’re getting worse too. I had to tell a girl twiceto stop filming Porgy and Bess and she ignored me. Then an old man behind her leaned forward and whispered in her ear for a solid twenty seconds. She didn’t pick up herphone again."

I hope he told her he is going to kick her a** if she doesn't stop.  Good for him.  

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 12/15/25 at 8:28pm

It was fabulous and I was quite grateful.

[ER765]

Posted: 1/4/26 at 7:37pm

Now what happened here?

[bwaylvsong1]

Posted: 1/4/26 at 8:39pm

I fortunately haven’t witnessed any bad behavior recently in live theatre, but at the last two movies I went to, the seats were full recliners with desks for eating- because the audience felt like they were in their living rooms, they acted as such.

[HBP]

Posted: 3/22/26 at 3:32pm

If the man seated in Row D at Death of a Salesman last night happens to be a reader on this board: please seek help.

During intermission, this person turned around and berated a woman in Row E for crinkling paper during the first act. He put on a humiliating performance and threatened to get an usher to have the woman moved. The woman did nothing but meekly apologize and look shocked. The poor woman began to cry when the man eventually relented and turned around. Everyone in my row remarked about what an a $$ hole he was. For the record, I sat right behind her, am generally sensitive to distracting sounds like wrappers, and heard nothing. 

The performative self-righteousness and ridiculous behavior still has me angry a day later. If Act II didn't start up again soon after, I would have offered the woman to move to my seat just so she could be further away from that horrible person. I hope she was still able to enjoy the show.

[Zeppie2022]

Posted: 3/22/26 at 6:31pm

HBP said: "If the man seated in Row Dat Death of a Salesmanlast night happens to be a reader on this board: please seek help.

During intermission, this person turned around and berated a woman in Row E for crinkling paper during the first act. He put on a humiliating performance and threatened to get an usher to have the woman moved. The woman did nothing but meekly apologize and look shocked. The poor woman began to cry when the man eventually relented and turned around. Everyone in my row remarked about what an a $$ hole he was.For the record, I sat right behind her, am generally sensitive to distracting sounds like wrappers, and heard nothing.

The performative self-righteousness and ridiculous behavior still has me angry a day later. If Act II didn't start up again soon after, I would have offered the woman to move to my seat just so she could be further away from that horrible person. I hope she was still able to enjoy the show."

Any bets the mean person was a "Broadway Legend" on BWW. Just teasing everyone!!

 

[JSquared2]

Posted: 3/22/26 at 6:38pm

Zeppie2022 said: "HBP said: "If the man seated in Row Dat Death of a Salesmanlast night happens to be a reader on this board: please seek help.

During intermission, this person turned around and berated a woman in Row E for crinkling paper during the first act. He put on a humiliating performance and threatened to get an usher to have the woman moved. The woman did nothing but meekly apologize and look shocked. The poor woman began to cry when the man eventually relented and turned around. Everyone in my row remarked about what an a $$ hole he was.For the record, I sat right behind her, am generally sensitive to distracting sounds like wrappers, and heard nothing.

The performative self-righteousness and ridiculous behavior still has me angry a day later. If Act II didn't start up again soon after, I would have offered the woman to move to my seat just so she could be further away from that horrible person. I hope she was still able to enjoy the show."

Any bets the mean person was a "Broadway Legend" on BWW. Just teasing everyone!!

I'd be amazed if the a**hole was NOT a regular on BWW.  My money's on "Sutton Ross"!

 

[TheOtherOne2]

Posted: 3/22/26 at 6:59pm

Most audiences are fine.  

[ER765]

Posted: 3/22/26 at 7:32pm

TheOtherOne2 said: "Most audiences are fine. "

Well that settles it. Lock the thread!

[TheOtherOne2]

Posted: 3/22/26 at 8:47pm

ER765 said: "TheOtherOne2 said: "Most audiences are fine. "

Well that settles it. Lock the thread!"

Ha!  I mean it, though.  I can't remember the last time I had to deal with a problematic audience. 

 

[Zeppie2022]

Posted: 3/22/26 at 10:23pm

TheOtherOne2 said: "ER765 said: "TheOtherOne2 said: "Most audiences are fine. "

Well that settles it. Lock the thread!"

Ha! I mean it, though. I can't remember the last time I had to deal with a problematic audience.

Probably has to do mostly with the shows you attend. People have complained about behavior at jukebox musicals where people feel the need to sing along like it is a concert. There have also been complaints about audience at Disney shows and it is not just the kids. I agree most audiences are fine but behavior in general was much better years ago before you could eat/drink at your seat.

"

 

[binau]

Posted: 3/23/26 at 7:12am

I’m surprised people never see anything. Even at say the first preview of death of a salesman there was a phone going off in a key moment. Things haven’t suddenly resolved. 

[Seb28]

Posted: 3/23/26 at 7:22am

I think it is a consequence of civilization rapidly declining. Norms and values ​​are disappearing. Children learn at home that respect for the society in which they are allowed to live no longer matters. Schools do not intervene but instead participate in this. We are creating a world full of entitled monsters.

[MasterThespian 2]

Posted: 3/23/26 at 8:35am

Think it’s a combo of things: A lot of angry, self-entitled people with “f—- you” attitudes. Many of these same people are slobs, who dress like they just rolled out of bed and act like they’re still at home. No sense of shame or embarrassment, nothing is off limits or too low. Just look at who’s in the White House for Exhibit A on that last one.

[SteveSanders]

Posted: 3/23/26 at 9:52am

Frustrating as these situations can be, they still remain relatively small in scale.  As someone who regular sees large numbers of shows in NYC, Chicago, and London, the vast majority of those performances go by with nothing untoward occurring.  And even when something is amiss, it is very few people out of an audience in the hundreds or 1000+.

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 3/23/26 at 4:26pm

Seb28 said: "I think it is a consequence of civilization rapidly declining. Norms and values ​​are disappearing. Children learn at home that respect for the society in which they are allowed to live no longer matters. Schools do not intervene but instead participate in this. We are creating a world full of entitledmonsters."

"School don't intervene but instead participate in this" is absolute nonsense. Schools intervene all the time. Parents often do not care.

[ER765]

Posted: 3/23/26 at 4:35pm

ErikJ972 said: "Seb28 said: "I think it is a consequence of civilization rapidly declining. Norms and values ​​are disappearing. Children learn at home that respect for the society in which they are allowed to live no longer matters. Schools do not intervene but instead participate in this. We are creating a world full of entitledmonsters."

"School don't intervene but instead participate in this" is absolute nonsense. Schools intervene all the time. Parents often do not care."

Don’t even bother interacting with the racist MAGA trashbox known as Seb. Not worth it. No one even wants them here and half their threads / posts get deleted by the Mods anyway. So embarrassing. Maybe if enough people pretend they don’t exist, they’ll disappear again.

[Back Row]

Posted: 3/23/26 at 5:04pm

I have thought for some time that poor audience behavior is directly related to the entitlement that comes from paying exorbitant prices for theater tickets. People seem to believe that doing whatever the hell they want is one of the perks for paying a lot for tickets. 

[Seb28]

Posted: 3/23/26 at 8:40pm

ER765 said: "Don’t even bother interacting with the racist MAGA trashbox known as Seb. Not worth it. No one even wants them here and half their threads / posts get deleted by the Mods anyway. So embarrassing. Maybe if enough people pretend they don’t exist, they’ll disappear again."

@Moderators, why is this allowed? Constant insults, inciting hatred, personal attacks, lies and never content-related. This user has broken the rules 13 times in a row now. Can you please do something about it? 

The board rules: No personal attacks - we all have different opinions - disagree with the view, not with the person. Insulting individual people, their mental state or intellect, physical appearance, or anything of the sort is not constructive to the type of accepting community that BWW and the theatre community prides itself on.