Worst Broadway Audience Ever? — Page 3

Ooh, how could I forget this??? A couple weeks ago at Curtains, we had the mother of all Wednesday matinees. As the show started, I noticed there were two big bunches of seats in the mezz that were open. Barely a minute later, an entire busload of nursing home residents, most of whom could barely walk up stairs, arrived. The manager would not let us seat them until the first seating cue, so they had to stand and wait for a few minutes. This, understandably, was difficult for them and they complained at me full volume. "WHY CAN'T WE SIT???" Finally, after 20 minutes we had helped them up the stairs one by one (they all had to lean on us), and the last little woman absolutely refused (full volume) to go up to her seat. She pointed at various empty seats around the house and asked why she couldn't sit in those. We tried to explain, but she was pretty hard of hearing. Finally, we ended up getting a chair and letting her sit off to the side near the exit doors. She slept through most of the first act. Then there was the matter of getting them out of the theatre - that took 45 minutes or so. We had to get them all downstairs, then get all their walkers downstairs. No idea why their chaperones didn't think to buy better tickets. Also, a few of them were sitting in the orchestra - they were supposed to be the first, say, four seats in the row. However, there was a middle-aged couple sitting smack in the middle of their seats who absolutely refused to move to their own assigned seats and let the elderly folks in. They would not even let them past to the empty seats. I think that's pretty much the worst I've ever had. But Lise easily takes the prize.

...at Jersey Boys in LA.

tobiasragg, same thing happened when I was there. I'm guessing these people turn their phones back on during intermission? The perpetrator was not asleep but took his or her sweet time shutting off. The audience around me groaned collectively, which I enjoyed, but we were in the first five rows. There's no way the cast didn't hear it. Did your show just go on as normal?

Like Midoria, I also had one bad audience when I saw Mary Poppins.

On my second time at the show, there were these young men (past teenagers) behind my mom and I, chatting and shoutting random stuff about the show, which annoyed me a lot. Most of this happened before the show and when Ms. Poppins herself popped out of the stage trap door. >.>

I only been to New York twice, so I can't explain many experiences myself, but I must say: bad audiences suck.

When Phantom came to my city, it was clear that a lot of old ladies who liked to drink tea decided to see it.

There were two ladies behind me, and halfway through "Music of the Night" one of them drops her glasses. They shriek about it in full voice and ask me to look under my seat to see if I can find them, and tapped me again as the Phantom was riding the angel during "All I ask of You". I got really upset because this was my first time seeing it, and I had to look for someone's glasses.

Then during the second act, someone's cell phone down in the orchestra rang about five times throughout the performance.

I was seeing the Julius Ceaser, and was seated next to a single older middle aged lady. At first glance, she seemed totally normal, a little over dressed for the theatre (she was wearing a pink formal gown) but she seemed nice enough and introduced herself to me and my mother, telling us this was her first show and that she was a CPA. When she turned and started talking to the people around us, I started looking closer at her and I realized that first, she had a very noticable price tag sticking out the back of her dress, complete with one of those ink/shoplifting devices, second, she was wearing a red, davy crocket raccoon-style hat, and had a stuffed animal cat in a plastic beach bag next to her.
5 minutes later she introduced herself again, like she'd never met us, and pulled out the cat, which was not a stuffed animal, but a REAL DEAD CAT she'd had stuffed (totally true!!!!) and named "Mr. Tibbles", who she said she'd found run over on the side of the street 10 years earlier. My mom and I decided it was best to go and ask an Usher what we could do about changing seats, but the show was just starting, so we figured we could make it through intermission.
WRONG. The lady talked to her cat throughout the whole show, fed it cat food, and during every scene break would stand up and swing the cat up over her head by the tail. The longer the show went on the more aggresively she would swing the cat. One time she lost control and it landed in my lap. EVERYONE in the audience was staring at her, not watching the show, and I'm sure the performers noticed her too. She also, periodically, would change her RED raccoon hat for a WHITE raccoon. It was quite the ceremony. At intermission we changed seats.
To this day it remains the most bizarre experience of my life, theatre-related at not. When the show was finally over, it was like the parting of the red seas- everyone in the audience moved aside and watched her march out of the theatre, dead cat in tow.

Lizzie, yeah, I read that on her blog recently. That makes me sick.

I would've thrown a large pitcher of ice water on them.

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Why dont they simply do an announcement at the start of the show that all cell phones should be turned off?

They do. People ignore it.

Setting it to vibrate can be just as bad. I once sat through an entire performance of "The Phantom of the Opera" with the floor around my feet buzzing like dental drill. Turned out it was a cell phone.

Whenever you go see a show with a friggin field trip. Damn kids. I went to see Phantom in the front row but of course, the field trip took up all the three rows behind me. They were old enough to know how to behave, but did what they could to piss off everyone around them.

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ShbrtAlley, are you saying that the middle-aged couple at Curtains were sitting in the wrong seats and refused to move? That's ridiculous. Did they move at intermission, at least?

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Lizzie, yeah, I read that on her blog recently. That makes me sick.
Two days ago, seated in the front row were a man and a woman. And they gave us a show of their own.


Do you know if the seats are cleaned between shows?

I'm no longer so concerned about Drew's spraying into the first row.


p.s. From the same source:

As for Brian, you know I adore him. I actually plan my Les Miz visits to make sure I get him as Gavroche. Now, it seems he's no longer in the company, which makes me very, very sad.

I don't think that's correct. Brian was on vacation last week and therefore not listed in Playbill (Drew was not listed at all for the three weeks before he returned as Valjean). Zach Rand was the only Gavroche listed, with no understudy. If he needed to miss a performance over the weekend, Carly was set to fill in.

Updated On: 7/31/07 at 09:03 PM

So, just a couple of weeks ago my parents and I saw 4 shows in 3 days, three of the shows had rude people!

First night was Les Miserables, my first time seeing it, sitting front row. Before it started I heard a mother saying to her kids something like "You guys are lucky to see this musical, not many kids see this musical, they won't get anything out of it anyways." The kids weren't that young (maybe age 10 and 12) and they both had on jeans sitting second row. And the kids knew so much about it but the mother still felt it necessary to explain what was happening at least three times. And then once act two started a couple who sat front row to the left came in after On My Own! And then at the very end like no one was standing for the curtain call. I was personally blown away by this show, I was just in awe. I kept leaning forward to stand up for a while. After a while people got the hint to stand up. I was mad to find out I missed Lea Salonga's bow although it was more my fault, but still! Dad told me as we were leaving that I started that standing ovation. I should have just shot up when they started to bow. Next time I will.

Next show was A Chorus Line manitee. We were sitting second row aisle seats on the right. I don't remember the exact place, but in act one a guys cell phone went off right across from us. He answered it, but at least he whispered, but still! Sitting second row, you can't do that! I then noticed through out the performance he kept leaning his head on his arm sleeping. Thank God he's not a snorer.

Then the last show we saw was Curtains. We were in the mezz this show. Literally in the first song a girl got kicked out for trying to record it!! How stupid can you get? She had the camera (not a little one) sitting on her lap in a bag and all you could see was the blinking red light. And there was an usher standing in the box seats facing her, so it was kinda noticable. So then like three ushers felt the need to run over to her and kick her out, they were quiet but it was still very distracting. The girl was mad, and the guy kept telling her to leave but she wouldn't. That went on for maybe a minute. Once she left the ushers were working over time to see if anyone else was doing that. Throughout the first act I saw different ushers walking by. Very annoying.

Surprisly enough Legelly Blonde was the only show that nothing like that happened. Although we did see that show the day the water pipe exploded just a few blocks from the theatre, the lady sitting next to us was worried so she kept her cell phone on. But she told everyone sitting around her that she's not trying to be rude, she but she gave the police her cell number and they will call her if it gets worse. It did go off in the first act but it was so quiet. I don't even remember hearing her talk. But that was a different situation and at least she explained to everyone around her that she's not being rude. My dad talked to her a lot before it started and during intermission, she was a nice lady. So, I'll give her a break.

~Darci

millie ~ Someone got caught trying to record the last performance of Beauty and the Beast. Testing saw the whole thing better than I did. I just saw the ushers' flashlights going and one of them circling someone across the mezz from me.

My parents were impressed with the flashlight communication thing when they were here. We saw Curtains and at the end of intermission, someone had put stuff on the mezz rail. The usher on our side flashed to the usher on the other side to signal her to go and ask them to remove it. They're taking that idea back to the ushering crew at Tenness Performing Arts Center where they usher.

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By the way, I bought on ebay not long ago some industrial noise blockers like what airport workers wear over their ears and if I finally see Jersey Boys I may try wearing them over the thtr assist. listening device to block out the middle-aged/older people singing along that I've heard about.
Oh, that reminds me of another wonderful story.

A couple of weeks ago, I was ushering JERSEY BOYS, and had decided to sit on the stairs in the mezz during the first act to watch the show. There were some ladies who laughed a little loudly and seemed a little drunk, but I thought they were okay - not speaking too loudly or anything. Then "My Boyfriend's Back" comes, and these women are singing, quite drunkenly. I asked my fellow usher what I should do, as it was my first shift and I didn't know if it was rude or not to tell them to keep it down, and she went and told them for me. The women were pretty pissed at me for "ruining their fun".