Worst Theatre Experience — Page 5

When I saw Legally Blonde on tour there were two girls directly in front of me (I was in the balcony) who were texting non-stop throughout the first act. It was very annoying cause their cell phones would light up like every 30 seconds and you could hear the little tapping noises they were making.. Thankfully one of the ushers said something to them during intermission and they stopped.

When I saw The Little Mermaid, the family next to us had two kids who decided to sing along and talk loudly during the show. Their parents did nothing to silence them. I understand the whole introduce-your-children-to-theater thing, but if you're not gonna teach them how to behave properly during a show then what's the point?

I saw a regional production of Urinetown and the guy behind me I guess was trying to be a know it all because he kept a running commentary during the show.

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Updated On: 9/23/09 at 10:52 PM

Falling asleep during Maury Yeston's PHANTOM at Papermill. Plus the show stopped because of a set malfunction. I dunno, it was either the Phantom's mask piercing the audience through the lighting or the lack of AC in the theatre. Or maybe it was my excitement for Donna McKechnie's preview performance in ANNIE WARBUCKS that left everything else sophmoric. What a time to be seeing shows. "But You Go On" anyone? Brilliant.

All these stories about people singing reminds me of when Hairspray the movie came out in 2007. Someone on a message board that I visited for the movie suggested that we all go to see the Broadway show on the same day, dress up and sing along, just because we loved the movie. I definitely refused and told them it was rude, as did other people.

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BABY IT'S YOU was just AWFUL and I'm glad it's closing.

People. Drunk Seniors no less. Singing EVERY F*CKING SONG. OUT LOUD.

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My companion at Wicked was a lady who does not suffer fools gladly. A woman and her adult daughter took their aisle seats behind us just as the performance was about to begin. The house lights dim and they dig into their over-sized handbags, bringing out a complete meal. Now I don't mean a candy bar or bag of chips. I mean a chicken dinner with all the trimmings - we can smell it. Of course they're making all sorts of noise as they unwrap the meal, decide who's eating what, get out the napkins, and...wait for it...open cans of soda! My lady friend turns back to them and curtly asks them to quiet down while I'm wondering why an usher hasn't gotten wind of this. The women are now talking along with eating. Again my friend turns to them and, loudly, says, "Put the food away until intermission and shut up!" Now others are looking our way and I'm pretending to be invisible. But the women persist and now my friend tells them, "Shut the **** up and put the food away!" "We're not done," says the younger, indignantly. My friend jumps to her feet, takes the food right off their laps and throws it on the floor in the aisle. "Now you're done!" she says and sits back down. An usher now appears and asks my friend to leave the theater because she's disrupting the performance. Never have I been so humiliated as walking up that aisle with everyone glaring at us like I'd just taken a whiz in the orchestra pit. Lesson: the moment that food came out of the bag I should've gotten an usher.

Spider-Man.

Sold out show on Saturday. I was siting in Row K center with a friend. This is my favorite show, so I was so so sooooo excited. I noticed a center section aisle empty spot. About six seats.

The lights dimmed- I was thinking GREAT they are going to wander in, a huge group with shopping bags-

oh they did. Ushered to their seat during Bullying By Numbers.

Fine fine I get it, benefit of the doubt.

A woman in front of me keeps talking to her husband in a foreign language.

A row behind me is another separate group of foreigners. They were LOUD. Seriously loud, laughing at their own conversations, they were drunk.

GREAT. They kept talking. I was TRYING to block them out of mind. We gave them some polite but PLEASE STOP looks.

Then the late center group suddenly stands. Two girls go running to the aisle, along with a woman with a cell phone. They run to the back as the male figure crouches in the aisle.

The two in front of me keep talking until a lovely lady leans forward and stabs the woman with her eyes.

Behind, the drunk party get the signal though the looks most have been throwing them.

The center two girls and the woman with the cellphone return to their seats.

The husband in front is texting. Intermission, it is quite clear he has no idea of the plot so the others are trying to fill him in- obviously a language barrier. But seriously, if you can't understand the language I wouldn't text.

A companion to the wife in front of my friend is sitting on the back of his chair, texting. The music begins for Act Two. He texts. The lights fade. He does not move, even when the Act Two drop flies out.

Still blocking our view. I finally tap him on the shoulder. He sits and soon puts his cellphone away.

During Freak Like Me Green Goblin walks into the house and escorts a man to his seat (afterward, I asked Patrick Page and he said he saw the man up and leave and decided if he was to return, he would walk with him)

The final scene begins to fly in, and the fourth row on the side sections stands. A larger woman and two boys get up, and walk up the aisle. They STAND in the aisle and talk a bit. An usher walks forward. The boy forgot his sweater- so as the Goblin is performing close stage right, the boy is busy climbing over people to get his sweater only some little feet away.

I *LOVE* PHANTOM and I have seen it many, many times. But each time I go, the audience does it's best to ruin it. I have dealt with multiple cell phones going off at the same time, picture taking, drinks being spilled on me, food being eaten, non-stop talking... not at the same performance, of course, but still *lol*

When I went to see HOW TO SUCCEED... the fan-girls who had NO desire to be at the musical itself or care they were in Broadway house seeing a great show, tried very hard act as if it was a concert and that Mr Radcliffe could hear and would personally return their cat-calls and shouts of undying love.

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Updated On: 9/14/11 at 07:25 PM

I took my sister's family to see '1776' and as the overture began, several agitated people began screaming at each other in Russian. My sister said "What's wrong with those people?"
I said "Maybe they thought they were going to see "1917"

but they did quiet down....

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LES MISERABLES revival, a few days after opening. I'm sitting in excellent center orchestra seats, about ten rows back. To my left is an annoying couple with an unspeakable amount of candy. I'm talking BAGS. Hard candies, bags of stuff like Sour Patch Kids, chocolates--all of it. Directly in front of me are three guidos who can't keep their mouth shut. Here's how it plays out: The guidos are talking throughout the performance, but apparently they're personally offended by the old couple crinkling their candy wrappers. One of the guys turns around and loudly tells them to cut it out. In response, the older man takes his bag of candy, holds it right up to the guido's ear after he turns around, and crinkles it loudly. The guy turns around and nearly smacks the man. Both the talking and the crinkling continue throughout the entire first act.

At intermission, I politely asked the couple to stop eating the candy as it was distracting and cutting into my enjoyment of the show. They apologized and didn't eat any more candy. The guidos were a lost cause, though. They talked from one end to the other.

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