the EPITOME of tasteless audiences.....- Page 3

[shira467]

Posted: 4/26/05 at 1:48am

I was LIVID when my Dad, during intermission bought popcorn, which is fine by itself. But to eat it, IN the theater, during the second act of EVITA is beyond reprehensible. The loudness, the crackling...everyone was looking at him. I was incredily embarassed and tried to get him to stop, but he didn't see anything wrong...I was mortified, and will not go to the theater again with him, needless to say.

Posted: 4/26/05 at 1:53am

bg2, you didnt tell us what you thought of ASU, what little you managed to watch...

[Icbanannie]

Posted: 4/26/05 at 2:03am

When I saw Ave Q for the second time I was in the Mez, and this family of abour 10 people was trying to find their seats and the usher was helping them. Well one of the girls in the group sat in a seat that was not her ticket, so the usher kept on asking her to move to her right seat so that they could keep track of what seats were taken. The girl SCREAMS out "it doesnt ****ing matter". The scream was so loud the WHOLE theater stopped talking to listen to her. They had to get the manager to shut her up.

It was before the show but still SOOOO rude!

[Icbanannie]

Posted: 4/26/05 at 2:03am

When I saw Ave Q for the second time I was in the Mez, and this family of abour 10 people was trying to find their seats and the usher was helping them. Well one of the girls in the group sat in a seat that was not her ticket, so the usher kept on asking her to move to her right seat so that they could keep track of what seats were taken. The girl SCREAMS out "it doesnt ****ing matter". The scream was so loud the WHOLE theater stopped talking to listen to her. They had to get the manager to shut her up.

It was before the show but still SOOOO rude!

[gertiecummings]

Posted: 4/26/05 at 2:43am

In my last high school performance, these girls came, sat in the very front row (it was a small 3/4 thrust) and talked at normal volume throughout the entire first act. All of us onstage wanted to just go over and kill them. Luckily my mom was there and went over and yelled at them during intermission and they left. Afterwards the entire cast went and thanked my mom over and over again.

[Elphaba]

Posted: 4/26/05 at 10:07am

a theater that sells popcorn during a live performanace of Evita? That would throw-up a huge red flag to me to begin with....

[Elphaba]

Posted: 4/26/05 at 10:09am

I forgot...at the same performance of RENT sitting three seats away from me were two women who started jabbering through Act 1, I waited 5 minutes and looked over and said 'Ladies, I paid to see this cast act, not YOU TWO'
They didn't speak again.....

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 4/26/05 at 10:11am

The whole Texas generalisation is so stupid. I grew up in Houston and the rudest audience members I've ever encountered were native NY/NJ and the English. The older NY/NJ crowd has a tendency to behave as if every theatre is their personal living room because they have been attending shows for decades and they have some sort of right to carry on long loud conversations during their own private social hour. This is quite common and usually includes some variation of how tacky tourists are. In London, during musicals in particular, I notice the English will simply talk through any scenes they don't find interesting (usually dialogue between songs) not caring whether other people wanted to see the show or not. This usually happens as sort of a group effort and gets increasingly louder as the show progresses.

The only instances I've seen involving rude Texans were those who were attending the theatre for the first time, but that's not specific to Texans. That and the rich and tasteless who feel every curtain should be held for them and every show should hold their house seats aside just in case these special individuals should be charitable enough to grace the show with their presence in the audience.

[LouW95]

Posted: 4/26/05 at 10:17am

I have been going to theater for decades and can state that when they started allowing audience members to bring candy/food to their seats, the behavior quickly deteriorated. I know the sale of these items generates jobs and revenue, but perhaps the audience members could finish their snacks before going to the seats. The ushers and house managers must strictly enforce all the rules (from candy to cameras to cell phones).

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 4/26/05 at 10:20am

Mistress,

my thoughts on the show you ask? In a nut shell --

the script is a bit uneven.. some of the somgs and bits work very well, others seem very shoe horned and jailhouse rock stopped the show cold - and not in the good way - you can tell it was there simply to appease elvis psychopaths in the audience - who loudly cheered and clapped along during as though at a concert.

The cast is uniformly strong.. sharon wilkins is simply incredible and i adorded nikki james and curtis holbrook. cheyenne and jenn - no comment needed.. it has all been said before... though i will say that even from the balcony, cheyenne is stunning!

I felt that the second was more enjoyable and easier to watch than the first. The highlight of the first act, for me, was cheyenne's first number.. with the costumes slowly progressing from drab to fab and finishing off with that great effect involving nikki m james.

the set definately has rockwell's very distinctive and unmistakeable style and i thought it worked very well...the motorcyle's traveling effect was great...

all in all, while the script could use some future hammering out, the PRODUCTION itself is first rate and I DO think it deserves node from the outer critics circle and others... the nod for best musical is not about the script itself or the writing - that is what the best score and best book of a musical awards are or... the nod is for the overall production itself - cast, sets, lighting, direction, choreography, etc and how they meld together.... and it definately deserves recognition for that!

[Elphaba]

Posted: 4/26/05 at 10:37am

wow, I guess I've been lucky as when I've gone to the theater, I've not seen anyone bring food or drink in.......that would REALLY set me off.........

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 4/26/05 at 10:43am

Most theatres tell people not to bring the food into the theatre, but usually nobody listens. Usually, the only thing they will let you bring in is a bottle of water---most theatres won't even allow that.

I don't bring anything I purchase at intermission in with me. If I bought a candy bar and was only halfway through it when the bell started to toll, I would throw it out before I would bring it in.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 4/26/05 at 11:41am

Too many tasteless audience memories...(had to berate several women during original cast perf. of Les Miz - I dont put up with much, especially mocking the performers) but one of my fave memories was with a stupid rude couple from "out of town" who sat next to us at Titanic. She rustled, talked, kept going into her noisy purse for stuff all thru the 1st act, but before the show started, the curtain was a drawing of the ship with the statue of liberty next to it to show scale...and she turned to her husband and said "I didnt know the Titanic hit the Statue of Liberty!"

They left after intermission...probably because Loeonardo and Kate hadnt shown up yet...

I am known as embarrassing to sit with because I'll tell anyone off...

Big pet peeve is people talking through the Overture, like it isnt part of the show...

[ShbrtAlley44]

Posted: 4/26/05 at 11:47am

I went to see a Gilbert and Sullivan show (probably Pirates, but it may have been the Gondoliers) at City Center with my then-best friend. For some reason (maybe she had an oncoming cold), she was breathing really loudly throughout the second act and making whistling noises through her nose. People kept staring at her and I was utterly mortified.

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 4/26/05 at 11:51am

The guy sitting next to me at DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS coughed every five seconds. At intermission, I turned to him and said, "Honey, if you're sick, you should go home!"

[DTBG2]

Posted: 4/26/05 at 11:53am

I HATE THOSE WHO COUGH DURING A SHOW!! Especially when someone does it, and then another, and another...pretty soon its a wave of obnoxious coughing...and you know sometimes people are just being assholes, thinking that its funny..Ruined Cabaret for me.

[justme2]

Posted: 4/26/05 at 12:19pm

hrh_annette....

Get off the board, woman!!! Start cleaning out your kitchen like you are supposed to be doing!!

And, I couldn't remember if it was Sonia or you sitting next to that woman with the feet...that was, by far, the worst experience I had ever had.

[keggss23]

Posted: 4/26/05 at 12:35pm

Doodle - I hate when people talk during the overture too!

I also hate that people wear jeans and sweats to the theater. Grrrr! There used to be a dress code at the Civic Theatre in SD and they would not let you in if you didn't dress appropriately, but now they just let everyone in, regardless of how they are dressed.

[marlomanners]

Posted: 4/26/05 at 12:50pm

Why do you care what someone else wears to the theatre? Does it really distract you from the show?

[exedore]

Posted: 4/26/05 at 1:06pm

"During the national tour of JCS I sat next to a woman who insisted on singing along to the entire show, (she was accompanied by a scary-looking man, so I said nothing...) "

The same thing happened to me at the Hippodrome in Baltimore last December (same show). I was next to a drunken (beer beforehand, beer brough in) redneck couple who did the same thing before my companion and I gave them enough nasty glares and shushings that they left during the temple scene...and knocked over the beer they had sitting on the floor...

[Elphaba]

Posted: 4/26/05 at 1:09pm

keggs, ....this is So Cal......not Covent Garden or La Scala.....it IS perfectly acceptable to wear jeans to anything in San Diego.........although sweats is a bit much. I always wear jeans to any theater event in this country, although they are always black, and look new.......
At Lyric Opera in Chicago, or Opera Houses in Europe, I do not wear jeans.......but in San Diego, sure........I probably would not on opening night
I lived in San Diego for 8 years, and no one would bat an eye at jeans........unless perhaps totally faded, and holey, or nasty

Updated On: 4/26/05 at 01:09 PM

[justme2]

Posted: 4/26/05 at 1:10pm

I care because it's an oxymoron to pay $100 for a theater ticket, then show up in cargo pants, flip flops and a t-shirt!

It wouldn't be right to show up to a beach party in slacks and a tie, would it? In my opinion, you should dress for the occasion you are attending.

[Elphaba]

Posted: 4/26/05 at 1:12pm

oh how silly......if I wanted to wear a tie to a beach party I would. Who made up these sill rules, anyway........I am not dressing to impress, I am dressing for comfort, and because for $100 I should be able to BE comfortable.....
but to each their own

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 4/26/05 at 1:17pm

marlo, someone's appearance does have an effect on the show. If people are wearing sweats into the theater, that's going to bring down the entire atmosphere, making people think it's okay for them to talk and eat during the performance.

I've actually stayed home from going to a show because I was getting over a cold and didn't want to make anyone else have to listen to me hack and sneeze and sniff through the show.

I saw Follies a few weeks ago and was about to tell off this girl sitting 2 seats away from me. She was coughing loudly, sneezing, sniffing, got up twice to rush to the bathroom...basically she looked horrible. At that point, I wasn't so much annoyed that she was distracting me from the show, I was pissed at her for exposing the entire audience to her germs! If you're that sick, you shouldn't even leave your room, let alone go to a theater performance.

[AndiV]

Posted: 4/26/05 at 1:24pm

Little Women...last Friday night...must have been Girls Scout night or something. little girls whispering all throughout the the balcony. ushers whispering just as loudly asking for quite...and not getting it. at intermission 'chaperones' in confrontations with ushers and each other. horrible. i asked to move and did. much better after we did moved.

AND thank you Matt...glad to know that i wasn't the only one offended by such foolish generalizations... not all Texans are rude or uncouth, not all Southerners are slow or racist, not all New Yorkers are a** holes...shall i go on? obviously you haven't ventured into much of the world to still have such a limited scope.