Bad Theater Behavior

[mailhandler777]

I don't mind people falling asleep. I've fallen asleep myself. It's not something I plan on. It happens after a long bus ride or car drive.

 

At American Psycho yesterday afternoon two guys in front of me HATED the show. One guy fell asleep which I didn't mind. The other guy was so loud and obnoxious throughout the whole show. At one point when Jenn is singing and it's a fairly quiet slow song he is laughing so loud that Jenn heard him. He was laughing so loud at inappropriate moments that I finally had enough that I smacked him on the head with my Playbill and shushed him. 

[Auggie27]

This afternoon at "King and I," the woman next to me had an Apple Watch or the equiv that was every bit as bright as an iPhone, which she checked at the start of every song.  I silently flashed my program insert, which LTC uses in all of its houses, that admonishes against the use of electronics. I put it next to her wrist.  She hissed "Don't touch me!"  And I again just held up the printed adviso.  She bellowed "DO NOT TOUCH ME!" in the most threatening voice imaginable. People turned, I'm sure the actors could've heard here. I wisely ceased to engage, fearing a contretemps that would've made more than theater boards. I had hardly breached the understood boundaries of adjacent seats (and never even touched the armrest).  She checked the phone one more time in the first act, albeit for a long time, and then stopped.  But it was my worst experience at simply trying to keep the theater dark.

I've had similar encounters at movies, particularly when parents of children seem to think they are entitled to use phones simply because they oversee someone else's kids.  They often say some version of "Look, I'm responsible for these 4 kids!" As if they justifies a constantly lit smart phone. Such is the new normal, the need for ongoing contact with some privately held exigency of personal business trumping others' enjoyment.  What's new to say about any of this, except it's ruining shared experiences in darkened theaters. The fact that the LTC ushers had to patrol with flashlights and stop a number of people from continuing to check phones at the top of the second act was grim. Solution?  There is none. Apple and rudeness have won.

[Cupid Boy2]

I've gotten similar excuses involving children, Auggie. I shielded my eyes once in response to the light coming from a woman's texting during a show, and she informed me at intermission that she had been checking to ensure that her daughter had arrived home safely. From her tone, it was clear to me that she felt I was in the wrong for merely covering my eyes so I curtly responded "okay" and left it at that. Some of these people aren't even worth correcting. They don't get it.

[theatreguy12]

In addition to telling people to unwrap all hard candies, they need to ask them to finish all their M & Ms, Skittles and everything else they sell at theaters now before the show starts. At Color Purple some guy spent the first ten minutes rattling his candy bag. Then some woman starts noisily chugging her water bottle. So many people nowadays exist in such an asocial vacuum they either don't get it or just don't care. I think you stop selling food in theaters. That's a start. 

[mmh1019]

I, too, had a bad audience behavior incident at Fiddler, mine happened Saturday night, sitting in the mezz. There's almost no legroom to begin with, but I somehow ended up between two large men (different parties), who spoke no English, had no concern for personal space & spent most of the show exhaling, opening & closing their water bottles & trying to explain to the people they were with what was going on in their native language. Additionally, the couple in front of me was whispering & making out during the show, blegh. 

More than once I had to gently nudge them with my elbow & a shhh, but it was to no avail. I was still able to focus on the show enough to revel in Danny Burstein's amazing performance, but I was horrified at the behavior near me & around me. 

[LizzieCurry]

theatreguy12 said: "I think you stop selling food in theaters. That's a start. "

 

When I saw Fun Home in previews, they weren't selling any snacks. I was SO relieved. When I went back again several months later, they were, but I was surprised people were still pretty quiet with them. I still wonder if it's that much of a $ bump for an intermissionless show, but I guess someone could justify it.

[Phantom4ever]

The last few shows I've been to, I was surprised at how the snack vendors stay in the house until the lights go down. They did not finish selling everything to people who wanted stuff before the show started, so they just continued into the show. I would rather have someone standing there selling souvenirs than snacks. Or at least they could use the snack vendor to remind people to turn off phones and to not talk during the show. 

 

[slumdogdelaware]

LizzieCurry said: "theatreguy12 said: "I think you stop selling food in theaters. That's a start. "

 

When I saw Fun Home in previews, they weren't selling any snacks. I was SO relieved. When I went back again several months later, they were, but I was surprised people were still pretty quiet with them. I still wonder if it's that much of a $ bump for an intermissionless show, but I guess someone could justify it.

 

"

I think Fun Home remains one of the quietest shows I've seen, absolutely no disturbances. Especially at the end, some of those more emotional moments it was so still and silent you could hear a pin drop.

I wonder if it has something to do with the intimacy of that specific theatre, whereas in bigger theatres people feel like they are detached somehow when they're sitting farther away they can make noise, however minimal, and it won't bother anyone. But I guess ignorance is the prevailing issue here, no matter the size of the place.

[LizzieCurry]

I think it's also that it's a show with very little bombast, so there's little opportunity to use the noise of the show to cover your own noise -- and you have to remain quiet to figure out what's going on. Also the intimacy factor, as you mentioned. Nearly anybody sitting across the theatre from you can see you.

 

The most distracting things that happened last time I was there was the person behind me crying up a storm (forgivable) and the person across from me wearing a scarf with a lot of sequins on it that caught light occasionally. So in the grand scheme of Broadway distractions, pretty minimal. Bravo Fun Home!

[Anakela]

Huh, I just always thought the better audience behavior at Fun Home was because a lot of people don't get cell service down there.  

[LizzieCurry]

I thought so too at first, but the third (last) time I went, I did get cell service -- wasn't great, but it was there. I was closer to the stage and not in standing room this time, but not sure if that makes a difference.

[DramaTeach]

When I saw Fun Home, a woman was on her phone for most of the performance, and I was too far away to say anything.  Tried to focus on the show (I was successful for 95% of the time), but I found myself getting aggravated by her rudeness.

[Christoph]

I have to say that some of these are so darn funny (admittedly not if you experience it) and makes me realize how fortunate I have been in theater going.  I did have a few instances of minor annoyances with only one of them qualifying as major.

 

At Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, there was a woman sitting across the aisle from me that was engrossed with texting.  I figured she would stop after the announcements and the lights went down.  She did not and never once looked up at the stage during the entire first number.  I was sitting there thinking "Who pays the price of a Broadway ticket to sit here and text through the whole show," when suddenly an usher came up to her and told her she would need to shut it off.  She did.  Unfortunately, she resumed texting through intermission and the same thing repeated for Act II, with the same usher having to approach her again and request she shut off the phone.  Wouldn't these people be better off staying at home to do this rather than pay hefty ticket fees?

 

At On the Town, we were seated next to an aged couple (probably 70s/80s) who predictably spoke entirely too loud and were one of those couples who seemed to be in a perpetually annoyed mood.  She kept complaining about how close to the stage her husband got the tickets.  Then, when the Star Spangled Banner began and the audience rises, we get "We got to stand! Do I have to stand! Oh Lord, what a waste of time!"  Isn't she part of the "the greatest generation" that is supposed to appreciate patriotic gestures like this?  She complained for ten minutes about having to rise and announcing "they better not expect us to do it again!"  They were largely silent through Act I with an occasional disgruntled retort to something hubby would say about their personal business.  At intermission, Ms. Personality announced that she couldn't follow the show (On the Town is hardly King Lear for Pete's sake).  Hubby asked if she wanted to leave and she shrugged, but they stayed and mercifully said little more.

 

At Kinky Boots, we had the dubious pleasure of being surrounded by a group of tourists from Texas, who had to be louder than anyone else in the vicinity while announcing repeatedly for no apparent reason that they were from Texas.  Most of the entire conversation was all about how conservative they were and how none of them could possibly tell anyone back home in Texas what kind of show they had seen in NYC with a drag queen in it.  It came out that the married couple who planned the trip for everyone and bought the tickets had seen the film Kinky Boots was based on and were among the loudest about how they couldn't tell anyone back home in Texas about it.  And all I could think was: If you already knew that the subject matter of the play was so personally disagreeable to you and your friends, why the hell would you buy tickets to it when you could just as easily have seen something else?

 

The Lion King was my worst experience.  I have attended many kid-friendly shows (often with friends and their kids) and never had a problem.  I have to admit I am in the minority and hated The Lion King.  The kids with us with bored to death, but thankfully stayed quiet.  Not so with a set of parents next to me, whose kid started bellyaching loudly at how bored she was, then dove to the floor and started crawling up and down the aisle under everyone's feet, jostling everyone along the way.  Instead of Mommy Dearest telling her little darling that this was unacceptable behavior in the theater, she started looking at her on the floor and saying "What are you doing down there?  Does sweetie want to play a game?  What kind of game are you playing down there?  Aren't you just precious?"  Sorry, but I don't think a child ramming into people's feet as she crawls up and down the aisle during a Broadway performance is especially precious, and I doubt her mother would have found it precious if someone accidentally stepped on her and injured her in the process.  Sometime, these parents really have no idea of common sense when bringing their children to shows.

[Marianne2]

Was at School of Rock tonight.  Great show, but someone pulled out lotion or something during the show and I could smell it from my seat. Have no idea who around me did it. 

 

And I think the show want over the head of a kid next to me.  He kept asking his mom what things meant.  And he seemed shocked by some of the worse language.  I will give his mom credit though because she did keep reminding him not to talk. 

[fan1bsb97]

I saw The Nutcracker in December and I swear, why do I always get stuck by these people? The little girl next to me was talking to her mom the whole time about the show - I understand, she is a child, but it's her mother's responsibility to say, "Shhh ask me at intermission."

When I saw Aladdin in January, ugh that was the worst experience. There was a family behind me and a little girl...not sure if she was actually 4 or not (seemed younger) who was kicking and yelling the entire show, and playing with her little flash/light/ring thing, who knows. The whole beginning she kept asking, "Where's Jasmine?????" very loudly and her mother kept saying, "She's coming baby!" During A Whole New World she was moaning. 

At the end of the show as we were leaving I think her mother said something to someone (maybe her sister/the aunt of the child) like, "Those girls were really annoyed," because I heard, "TOO F*CKING BAD."

Well, actually, maybe don't take your toddler child to an expensive Broadway show. And if they are disruptive, LEAVE until they can handle it. 

[BOM]

I remember seeing Billy Elliot back in 08 or 09. Some mother brought her 6 year old kid who was obviously way too young to understand anything. He kept talking throughout, the mother has to keep explaining things to him. After multiple sushes they still wouldn't keep quiet. It wasn't until an usher talked to them at intermission, did they stop talking. I hate saying this but if your kids aren't at least 8 or 9, don't bring them to the theater. 

[dramamama611]

You can't put a pre-determined age on these things.  Some kids at 4 or 5 CAN sit quietly through a show (or minimally quiet) and others still cannot at even 10.  The problem here isn't the age of the kids, it's the parents that don't care about anyone else...after all, their child is wonderful or don't EVER teach their kid manners and appropriate behavior.

 

My daughter WAS ready to sit through some shows at 4ish.   My son? not until 6 or 7 - so he didn't go until then.  Now, granted, I'm a director and they've been coming to MY shows (the ones that were appropriate) since they were little.  Until they were 4 or so, my husband would just leave when/if they got antsy.  They learned pretty quickly that if they wanted to see the whole thing, they needed to behave appropriately.

 

 

[theatreguy12]

Considering the close, intimate quarters at Circle in the Square I'm surprised that this was allowed to happen. If not someone who was close enough to her to say something, the house staff anyway. 

 

DramaTeach said: "When I saw Fun Home, a woman was on her phone for most of the performance, and I was too far away to say anything.  Tried to focus on the show (I was successful for 95% of the time), but I found myself getting aggravated by her rudeness.

 

"

 

[perfectlymarvelous]

dramamama611 said: "You can't put a pre-determined age on these things.  Some kids at 4 or 5 CAN sit quietly through a show (or minimally quiet) and others still cannot at even 10.  The problem here isn't the age of the kids, it's the parents that don't care about anyone else...after all, their child is wonderful or don't EVER teach their kid manners and appropriate behavior.

 

My daughter WAS ready to sit through some shows at 4ish.   My son? not until 6 or 7 - so he didn't go until then.  Now, granted, I'm a director and they've been coming to MY shows (the ones that were appropriate) since they were little.  Until they were 4 or so, my husband would just leave when/if they got antsy.  They learned pretty quickly that if they wanted to see the whole thing, they needed to behave appropriately."

 

I agree. I've seen some very well-behaved young kids at shows, and some ill-behaved older kids and teenagers. I've been seeing Broadway shows since I was 4 years old, but my mom made sure I could sit still and be quiet before she started taking me...and if I hadn't been able to, she would have taken me out and that would have been the last time until I had gotten older. 

[BroadwayConcierge]

Misbehaving kids are are always a reflection of the parents and their judgment to bring said child(ren) to the theatre. 

[rebeccmam31]

perfectlymarvelous said: "dramamama611 said: "You can't put a pre-determined age on these things.  Some kids at 4 or 5 CAN sit quietly through a show (or minimally quiet) and others still cannot at even 10.  The problem here isn't the age of the kids, it's the parents that don't care about anyone else...after all, their child is wonderful or don't EVER teach their kid manners and appropriate behavior.

 

My daughter WAS ready to sit through some shows at 4ish.   My son? not until 6 or 7 - so he didn't go until then.  Now, granted, I'm a director and they've been coming to MY shows (the ones that were appropriate) since they were little.  Until they were 4 or so, my husband would just leave when/if they got antsy.  They learned pretty quickly that if they wanted to see the whole thing, they needed to behave appropriately."

 

I agree. I've seen some very well-behaved young kids at shows, and some ill-behaved older kids and teenagers. I've been seeing Broadway shows since I was 4 years old, but my mom made sure I could sit still and be quiet before she started taking me...and if I hadn't been able to, she would have taken me out and that would have been the last time until I had gotten older. "

 

Yes. I started taking my daughter to shows (in Pittsburgh at the Benedum) when she was four. We actually had "Theater Rules" that we would rehearse on the ride to the theater: 1) We stay in our seats at the theater 2) We do not kick the seat in front of us 3) We never talk when the actors are on stage. I never had a bit of trouble with her. In fact, once when she was just shy of five, some people beside us got up to leave right at the final notes of the last number. As the song ended, my daughter turned to me and asked, "Mom. Isn't it RUDE to leave during curtain call?!" I guess she internalized those rules.  

 

[Call_me_jorge]

Hate it when people show up high in honor of this ^ #420 post.

[rebeccmam31]

Call_me_jorge said: "Hate it when people show up high in honor of this ^ #420 post."

 

I....have no idea what this means.  I'm trying to figure out if I should be offended...

[Call_me_jorge]

rebeccmam31 said: "Call_me_jorge said: "
I....have no idea what this means.  I'm trying to figure out if I should be offended..."

Your post number was 420

[rebeccmam31]

Call_me_jorge said: "rebeccmam31 said: "Call_me_jorge said: "
I....have no idea what this means.  I'm trying to figure out if I should be offended..."

Your post number was 420"

 

Well, yes.  Apparently that has some significance of which I am unaware.

[Call_me_jorge]

420 is extremely important to society except when the theatre is involved. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/420_(cannabis_culture)