pet peeves in theatre- Page 4

[MaronaDavies]

Posted: 6/23/06 at 1:42pm

1. Large school groups where the kids are out of control and the teachers don't do anything to stop them.

2. People who smell--either from drowning themselves in perfume/aftershave or forgetting to bathe. Either way it's disgusting.

3. Men who have to sit with their legs sprawled out at 180 degree angles, taking up all the legroom on either side of them.

4. People who use their cell phones in the theatre--even if it's silent texting, it's distracting.

5. People who bring kids to the theatre when they're way too young, and then don't do anything when the kids are bored and kick the seats/whine/talk/etc. Sorry, your five year old really doesn't need to see Inishmore or Lestat...

6. People that can't be bothered to wait to be seated, and shove right past the line of patrons who *are* waiting patiently.

7. High ticket prices.

8. Actors who phone in their performances, or take off every other day.

[madbrian]

Posted: 6/23/06 at 1:52pm

I have to agree completely with your #3. As a tall person, I try hard to avoid this because there is little room for my legs, so I have little patience with those who abuse the space. However, I must mention that this is not limited to men; I see more and more young ladies who do not know how to sit properly (even in skirts or dresses).

[uncageg]

Posted: 6/23/06 at 1:54pm

Marona, I am with you on the large school group thing! At the June 14th matinee of Hot Feet, the entire upper balcony was full of out of control kids. I couldn't take it and asked the usher if I could move down. She said no problem. (She actually told me that I could move to the dress circle but I didn't) I had almost an entire section in the lower balcony to myself during the second half.

Posted: 6/23/06 at 2:50pm

When people call cast recordings "soundtracks."
When people call rehearsal "practice."
When people call auditions "try-outs."
When the cast list is posted and your non-theatre friends ask you who you got and then ask if that role is the lead. Why bother asking if you don't know **** about the show?
Techies who have no idea what they're doing.
People don't show up to rehearsals "because I didn't feel like it."
Casting freshman as leads.
Directors picking favorites.

[raulfan]

Posted: 6/23/06 at 2:53pm

I hate people who take a half hour to open a sinple candy wrapper!

[NathanLaneStalker]

Posted: 6/26/06 at 2:03pm

I need a comfortable seat. When I saw The Odd Couple I was in the rear mezzazine and this woman sitting in front of me kept leaning back in her seat and it kept cutting my knee. I didn`t say anything......I should`ve.

PHONES RINGING IN THE AUDIENCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GOD!!!!!!!!!!!

I hate when people eat things like peanuts and hotdogs. One person actually brought in those smelly green peppers and ate them while chugging water! I DID say something then!......to the Usher.

[latheatrelover]

Posted: 6/26/06 at 2:29pm

I think most of my pet peeves involve the audience.

1. After carefully selecting my ticket online or at the theater boxoffice in order to get the best possible view, having some big tall person (who is usually next to a small person) sit right in front of me, blocking my view.

2. At Mamma Mia, I knew the woman next to me (a large woman whose heated fat spilled over into my seat) was going to be trouble when she started gyrating in her seat to the overture and later started singing to the songs. If that wasn't bad enough, she was chewing gum with her mouth open and I could keep seeing her jaw making these huge movements.

3. Yes, knees in the back or a seat ahead being so close that it damages my knees.

4. People who are sick and cough a lot.

5. Flash cameras.

6. Mothers who manage to squeeze their way through where you are waiting outside the stage door and get their kid in front of you.

7. Obnoxious fans who shout out stars' first names like they are best friends with them.

8. People who get multiple items signed, and you know they are going to end up on ebay.

I also have peeves regarding Broadway theaters:

1. No elevators to get to the top mezz. (And why do they put the oldest ushers way up there?)

2. Tiny, cramped seats.

3. Some have nasty or cold personnel.

4. Getting a ticket from online or the boxoffice and being assured it is the best possible, but when getting to the theater find there are plenty of seats more center and closer.

5. Ushers who don't take away flash cameras.




Updated On: 6/26/06 at 02:29 PM

Posted: 6/26/06 at 2:52pm

Going one step further with sick people-----People who sit behind you and cough so hard that your hair parts. (PS---I got her cold the next day).

Also----smelly food----We sat next to a woman who served her child salami!!! The kid waved it around----under my nose---
Come to think of it------some kids in general shouldn't be at certain shows.

And---one more: Big tall people who sit in front of you and weave back and forth in their seats.

[little_sally]

Posted: 6/26/06 at 3:57pm

This past week I saw both The History Boys and Shining City and both times I heard feedbacks from those hearing devices. It's annoying having to hear everything TWICE.

And why on earth are theatres so damn cold? I know it's the summer but c'mon!

[rosiecabaret]

Posted: 6/26/06 at 4:08pm

People singing along. I had a guy next to me at the Les MIs tour singing along to On My Own... I elbowed him a little bit and he stopped haha!

[WhenURScrap]

Posted: 6/26/06 at 4:32pm

I don't believe I have ever heard the term "phone in a performance". Can someone please explain?

[circusliz]

Posted: 6/26/06 at 4:38pm

Its used to refer to actors when they don't seem to be putting their "all" into a performance. They're just up on stage reciting the lines and going through the blocking.

Also known as "dialing it in."

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 6/26/06 at 7:25pm

In regards to tall people:

It annoys me if I move to the left or right to see around the tall person, and then as soon as I do that, they shift in their seat, only to block my view again!

[latheatrelover]

Posted: 6/26/06 at 7:30pm

On the bright side, because you will now be moving to see around the person in front, the person behind you will be doing the same to see around you, lol.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 6/26/06 at 8:31pm

Yes. I meant to mention that before. It becomes a chain reaction.

[bwaymizfit]

Posted: 6/26/06 at 8:56pm

During the recent performance I saw of the Les Miz tour, I had the honor (ugh...sarcasm) of having several of my pet peeves occur in rapid sequence. Near the end of the prologue, I see the flash of light from the opening door and usher's flashlight. Uh oh...a whole group of people come in and file into the row in front of me...they then proceed to talk kind of loudly about random stuff (I was trying the ignore them). As if that weren't bad enough, one of them decides they should move into the row of empty seats in front of them. So they all get up and climb over the seats and into the next row, we're they continue to talk (fortunately I could no longer hear them), shuffle through playbills etc. They finally settled down, but by this point, the show was well into "At the End of Day" and I was fuming...

Well, I'm glad I got that out...thanks for bearing with me.

[kate2]

Posted: 6/26/06 at 9:20pm

I hate armrest hogs. The seats are cramped enough, I don't need another limb to be squeezed in there.

[luvtheatre11]

Posted: 6/28/06 at 8:58am

all good ones..Add to it women wearing heavy perfume. It makes me feel nauseous and gives me a headache..it's just not a good place for it.

[Charlayne Vivika]

Posted: 6/28/06 at 5:06pm

I hate it when people eat fast food right next to me! It happened last week. I had the smell of Subway to my left for the first 30 minutes at least. But it made me want to grab a bite!
CV:)

[ItWasStanek]

Posted: 6/28/06 at 9:54pm

1)Tall people who sit awkwardly.
2)People who feel the need to fidget the entire show.
3)Talking/laughing because you don't like the show (this one pisses me off the most)


Fortunately, I have yet to encounter any singing audience members yet.....

[courtnyj]

Posted: 6/28/06 at 11:36pm

A general (and yes, some may think irrational) pet peeve of mine is when people are clapping along with music to the wrong beat. (Like on the up beat rather than the down beat.) The two women sitting next to me during Jersey Boys clapped along to every song on the wrong beat. Drove me nuts! It just grates on my ears and ruins songs for me! Sorry, maybe I'm a bit crazy and unreasonable. I don't know why it bothers me so much.
Updated On: 6/28/06 at 11:36 PM

[ElphabaRose]

Posted: 6/28/06 at 11:48pm

I have to third the problem with strong perfume. I am alergic to a lot of scented lotions and perfumes, and I can't use them, I can usually cope in a space like a theatre, but when I saw Three Days of Rain, there was a woman who had the strongest perfume I have ever smelled. I had a throbbing headache and was so stuffed up I could barely breathe by the end of the first act. Luckily, my grandmother was sitting separately from my cousin and me, so I could switch for the second act, but I still felt ill for much of the night.

[WickedGeek28]

Posted: 6/29/06 at 12:00am

Nasty Ushers

[filmgirl325]

Posted: 6/29/06 at 12:11am

This one actually has to do with the TKTS booth...people who go up to the window and go through a laundry list of shows that are not on the board...two teen girls infront of me a few weeks ago...."do you have anything for Wicked....how about the Lion King..." There is a reason they have a board listing all the shows!

As for in the theatre....no leg room...people thinking that when they say no cameras they don't mean cell phone cameras as well...and loud, annoying coughing fits!

[Noo]

Posted: 6/29/06 at 12:54am

Maybe not a legitimate critisim, but a 'peeve'...

I think it sucks that there is only one real thrust theater stage on Broadway (or, I think this is the case...) at Lincoln Center. I really dislike proscenium theaters because I would LIKE to sit at the back of the orchestra, but hate having the mezzanine above my head and cutting off the view of the entire stage. I also like the idea of looking down on the stage better than looking up at it.

My favorite stage in NYC configuration-wise is the Delcorte in Central Park - where even the bad seats are pretty decent.

I guess Broadway theater is so expensive to produce, they have to cram as many people into a limited amount of space as possible - but for a city which is supposedly so devoted to theater - I think a lack of more thrust stages is really lame.

My sincere apologies to all you proscenium theater lovers out there!