the EPITOME of tasteless audiences.....- Page 5

[Forester]

Posted: 4/27/05 at 10:21am

"If I'm seeing Rent and wearing a Rent shirt(last night) how can anyone say I'm dressed innappropriately? "

What's this? You're wearing the shirt of the band you're going to see? Don't be that guy.
-Droz

[Carl Magnum]

Posted: 4/27/05 at 10:41am

LMAO Forester you beat me to it. I was thinking the same thing. Don't be that loser. LOL.



Oh and SUMOFALLTHINGS you're not funny. Give it up.


Couple of storys. First time I saw RENT all I could afford was an upper balcony ticket, not the best seats to say the least and I was surrounded by other kids who were obvious Rentheads. Well there was this massively overweight and effeminite kid about oh 15 or so right in front of me. And from the first song he was dancing and throwing his 300 pounds around in his chair and not just singing along but repeating every sing spoken/sung on the stage. Well I took about 15 mintues of this untill I not so polietly told him to knock it off, and I got applause for it. I don't know how he was able to stay after that.

Lion King: I was with my college and seeing it for the second time, against my will. I should have taken those 26 dollar tickets to see The Goat. Either way we were in that horrible balcony in The New Amsterdam. And the man in front of me, who had the front row btw refused to sit back in his seat and this 40 year old man was leaning on the bar the entire time. Finnally second act I couldn't deal with it anymore and he wasn't picking up on my subtle kicks to his chair or my increasingly louder sighing and shifting. So I asked him to sit back, second time or not I at least wanna see the damn thing. SO he sat back and 3 minutes later was asleep.

Final performance, senior year of high school, Guys and Dolls. I was playing Nathan and doing the phonebooth scene. We added some extras and had a bum sleeping on a bench outside the phonebooth. Well right as I reach for the phone a cell phone in the audience goes off and I don't know what possesed me, but the ring was way loud. So I picked up the phone in the booth and said "Hello?" and then looked at the kid playing the bum and said "He's drunk, he'll call you back." Massive cheers from the audience and then I went on with the scene. After the show I got an appology from the man who's cell phone rang.

[darren has a big butt]

Posted: 4/27/05 at 11:04am

I think we saw All Shook up the same night, I was in the balcony too. About 4 girls next to me, deffinitley their first show.. and every time he would make a retorical question they were compelled to yell the answer..FROM THE BALCONY!! It drove me crazy!! There was a big group when I went, loud and obnoxious. I saw it last Thursday, I look forward to seeing it again, but not back there, it seems the loudest people were all over those $19.55 tickets :)

<3 darren

[gavrochegirl]

Posted: 4/27/05 at 11:59am

Well, I don't really remember about anything really, but now that we are mentioning RENT, here goes:

I saw the national tour of RENT for my Christmas present about one and a half or two years ago. So these freakin' idiots stand up during "Seasons of Love" (Or some other number-I can't really remember.) and start dancing to it, and also cheer very loudly. No one did a thing about it, and I would have if I was closer to them. (But I got 7th row center-they had 3rd row towards the right) Come on folks. Seasons of Love is supposed to be a touching song. And what do these idiots do? They dance their asses off while pissing everyone else off!

Reading all these stories is giving me a migraine...

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 4/27/05 at 12:23pm

My friend and I attended a performance of The Secret Garden and were seated in the balcony. A woman in the front row kept leaning over, so anyone in back of her (including us), could not see. My friend politely asked her to sit back because she was blocking everyone's view. She continued to lean forward throughout the show. My friend took his Playbill and threw it at her head and when she caused a ruckus did the ushers finally step in and do something about it. Ironically they told her to sit back or get out!!!

[Forester]

Posted: 4/27/05 at 12:27pm

It really annoys me that many of these problems could've been handled with. Where was the ushers? Sounds like poor house management in many cases.

[keggss23]

Posted: 4/27/05 at 12:38pm

I hate early-leavers too! What bothers me the most is when people leave durring the curtain call. These people have just worked their a***s off for 3 hours for you and you can't stay an extra 3 minutes to clap for them and show your appreciation? Is getting to your car an extra few minutes early really that important? Grrr!!

"If I'm seeing Rent and wearing a Rent shirt(last night) how can anyone say I'm dressed innappropriately? "

I agree with Forester, don't be that guy! =)

[JbaraFan1]

Posted: 4/27/05 at 12:43pm

[disclaimer: all in fun] okay, so I was reading and sometimes posting in this "EPITOME of tasteless audiences" thread on BWW, along withe several others, and this member named "SUMOFALLTHINGS" kept coming in and posting these posts -- funny to some, no doubt; not so funny to others -- that recounted all these outrageous scenarios about various performers reacting to disturbances from audience members (including Phylicia Rashad's hair apparently spontaneously combusting, followed by her devouring an annoying audience member) ... so anyway, finally other posters on this thread, myself included, had our avatars gang up on SUMOFALLTHING's avatar and beat the living crap out of it. But I doubt that'll stop 'em.

[KelRel]

Posted: 4/27/05 at 12:43pm

At least at my local theater, the ushers seem scared to confront people. It is there job. I was an usher at a baseball stadium in high school and I had to deal with drunk rowdy sports fans. If a 16 year old girl can tell a 300+ lbs man who had had about 15 beers to settle down an usher can surely step up and tell grandma to stop digging in her purse for more candy.
I am sick of rude people at the theater. I took my mom and she began to rumage and talk and be one of "those" people. I shushed her and when the lights went up for intermission I had a serious talk with her about theater ettiquette. I had paid for her to come with me and she enjoys going to broadway shows, but if she won't be poliete and not embarass herself I won't take her. I know that sounds harsh, but if I misbehaved as a child in a resturant she would take me home immediately- the same goes with her and theater- fair's fair right?

[WindyCityActor]

Posted: 4/27/05 at 12:57pm

One of the things I loved about the Sydney Opera House:

They do not seat latecomers! Even high government officials have found themselves pacing the lobby.

My biggest pet peve: late curtains.

[theatrobug]

Posted: 4/27/05 at 12:59pm

I'm with Dame Edna on this one:

* EJECTABLE SEATS *

I don't even wanna start with some things I've seen... And who decided candy and snacks should be allowed in the seats now?

A quote from "The Wrong Pursuit":

"Cattle, my dear... CATTLE!"

[keggss23]

Posted: 4/27/05 at 1:01pm

What annoys me about all of this rude behavior is that theater etiquette is common sense, or should be, - to everyone. It's not like these are some kind of secret rules that only theater insiders know about. People just don't use their heads.

[JbaraFan1]

Posted: 4/27/05 at 1:09pm

It seems as if a lot of people behave at a theatre ... whether at live theatre or in a movie theatre ... as if they're sitting in their living room at home watching a tv show. I get to see a lot more movies than I do shows, and people talking during a movie just drives me bats. At live theatre, distractive noises are much worse because in many cases, this will be the only time I get to see that production, so if I miss out on enjoying a line, a scene, a tune, because of that distraction, that moment is simply and sadly lost for me.

[justme2]

Posted: 4/27/05 at 1:29pm

Back to the point about dressing for the theater. My belief is that if you dress appropriately for an occasion, you are more likely to behave appropriately DURING that occasion.

Example, you say?

Well, if you are dressed for the theater in DECENT clothing, you are less likely to put your feet up on the seat, take your shoes off to examine your feet, eat candy and let it spill all over your decent clothes, or lounge around and talk conversationaly to your friends.

If you arrive to the theater in the clothes you wear to say, clean the car or sit in class all day in, you are more likely to feel like you can just sit back, put your feet up, slip off the flip flop and examine yourself, eat the candy and hell, who cares if some of the chocolate melts into the clothes!

And I say again, you wouldn't show up to a beach party in evening wear and you wouldn't wash your car in a nice outfit, so why do you feel it's ok to show up to the theater in clothing you would wash the car in?

And to the point of whichever poster said "not everyone has paid $100 for their ticket", it's not the price you paid for the ticket, it's the experience of seeing a live performance that should count for showing some respect to not only the performers, but the patrons around you.

[keggss23]

Posted: 4/27/05 at 1:33pm

justme2 - Exactly! Believe it or not, the way you dress changes the way you carry yourself and the way you behave. It isn't about the price you paid to get in, it is the experience.

[justme2]

Posted: 4/27/05 at 3:02pm

Thanks Keggs!

I just can't believe people treat the theater as their living room! You are outside the home, people! Have some personal dignity!

[Charlotte Von Mahlsdorf]

Posted: 4/27/05 at 3:34pm

Oh wow! People just get ruder and ruder!! No matter whether it's a Broadway show or a concert, I always seem to have the rudest, most obnoxious people near me. The taking off the shoes reminded me of the woman who was two rows in front of me at the 2003 Tony Awards. She was all decked out in a gown and quite a bit of diamond jewelry, yet about half an hour into the show she took off her shoes(of course was barefoot) and put them up on the ledge in front of her. My mom and I couldn't believe what we were seeing. No class!!

Posted: 4/27/05 at 3:39pm

i agreed that someone who is dressed down might be more likely to do the other rude things, but i dont think its the best measuring stick.

[PB ENT.]

Posted: 4/27/05 at 3:42pm

My butt is in theater seats far more than I prefer at times. I've seen and heard it all! From drunks to talkers, to sing-a-longers, to cell phone chats, from kickers, to seated lunches (tuna salad). I could care less if you're dressed in your birthday suit as long as you don't annoy me.

I will tell you this: 1.if anyone is annoying me for any ligetimate reason and doesn't stop, I quietly let them know what they are doing that's impolite. 2. If they do it again, I tell them I will call the usher and report this if they continue.

If that doesn't work, I will and have approached the usher, explained the problem and my attempts and I insist that they either speak to the offender or move my seat to a spot where I can enjoy the rest of the performance. It works! You should not pay from $50-$100 for 2 hours of annoyance!

Updated On: 4/27/05 at 03:42 PM

[justme2]

Posted: 4/27/05 at 3:42pm

No, the best measuring stick is the one you can take to the theater and beat the annoying people with!!

[KelRel]

Posted: 4/27/05 at 3:54pm

AMEN...We need theater sticks to beat annoying people with lol...

[carymetorent2]

Posted: 4/27/05 at 4:34pm

Last night, I saw ASU ... I was in the second row of the balcony and the row behind me was I sat in my seat and there was this really humungous guy next to me. I decided to move over one seat because it was empty and I could see better. In the middle of the first act, this guy climbs over our row into the row behind us and spreads himself out all over the row. It was distracting and rude.

Thankfully, I was allowed to move down for the second act.

Not to mention, there were these kids ewwing everytime someone kissed.

As for the dress code, I feel it depends on the show. I wear jeans to Rent all the time because i feel the atmosphere of the theatre allows it but I tend to wear something nicer to a show like Phantom.empty.

[Sumofallthings]

Posted: 4/27/05 at 4:53pm

You're never gonna believe this one! I was at a performance of Long Days Journey Into Night and I see this woman in the audience let out a little sneeze. Not much of a sneeze, but a sneeze nonetheless. Suddenly the ushers tensed, the lights onstage flickered and Vanessa Redgrave rose from one of the trapdoors of the Plymouth, she had toothpicks in her hand. Redgrave walks over to the woman who sneezed and politely asks

"Do you have a bit of a cold?"

Mildly terrified the woman nodded her head.

"Oh...what a pity."

And in the blink of an eye Redgrave stabbed out the womans eyes with the toothpicks and threw them into the cheering audience.

Needless to say I thought Brian Dennehy was overrated after that.

[Carl Magnum]

Posted: 4/27/05 at 5:06pm

Sum: SHUT UP!

[playbill_signer_05]

Posted: 4/27/05 at 5:12pm

I saw a high school production of "South Pacific" a few years ago during which these two little girls right in front of me were chatting, giggling and even trying to balance on the balcony railing. Their mother did NOTHING! It was sooo annoying.

As far as dressing goes, I try to wear a nice skirt and blouse or at the very least khacki pants with a nice shirt. I think it shows more respect and it also helps to put you in a more theater-y state of mind.