Bad Theater Behavior

[Phantom4ever]

From my theater experiences this summer, it seems that taking out a phone to check messages, notifications, or the time, for just a few second, is now acceptable. I still find it disruptive, especially if it's someone in front of me and I can see their phone and know that any minute now it will come out again. 

The worst offender was at Finding Neverland.  I was about 10th row center and two girls 3rd row center had their phones out for most of the show, sharing each other's instagrams. They even slouched down in their seats and held their phones up over their heads.  I don't know why the people directly behind them didn't ask them to stop. But I was able to see all of their pictures clearly and easily. 

At Waitress, on the other hand, people took out their phones to take pictures of the bows, and you would have thought they took a gun out or something. Ushers screaming and swarming and running,even jumping over people to get to the middle of a row. It was great to see. I found the house manager on the way out and complimented his ushers. 

[sondheimboy2]

And I wonder if future actors are even being taught theatre manners is college!

A few years ago, I saw a performing arts college production of "Reefer Madness: the musical".  It was the last performance, a Sunday matinee, so all the kids who couldn't see it earlier came to see it.   They were making so much noise during the opening number, cheering their friends and hooting and hollering, that I almost left the theatre!

I mean, it's a Sunday matinee.  You can see your friends after the show.  You don't have to hurry off to a class or anything like that.  Show some manners!

[Mike Bevel]

My favorite Bad Theater Behavior experience was at "Therese Raquin" earlier this year. It was a Saturday matinee, every senior citizen in Manhattan was there, and when a character says he's moving everyone to Paris, a woman in the audience said, loudly, as if she were in conversation with the actors, "Paris? They'll LOVE Paris."

And that's when I adopted her as my grandmother and want only good things and soft foods to happen to her.

[KathyNYC2]

Phantom4ever said: "From my theater experiences this summer, it seems that taking out a phone to check messages, notifications, or the time, for just a few second, is now acceptable. I still find it disruptive, especially if it's someone in front of me and I can see their phone and know that any minute now it will come out again. 

The worst offender was at Finding Neverland.  I was about 10th row center and two girls 3rd row center had their phones out for most of the show, sharing each other's instagrams. They even slouched down in their seats and held their phones up over their heads.  I don't know why the people directly behind them didn't ask them to stop. But I was able to see all of their pictures clearly and easily. 

At Waitress, on the other hand, people took out their phones to take pictures of the bows, and you would have thought they took a gun out or something. Ushers screaming and swarming and running,even jumping over people to get to the middle of a row. It was great to see. I found the house manager on the way out and complimented his ushers. 

 

"

Just for the record, the Lunt where Neverland plays is a much larger theater than the Brooks, where Waitress is. I know ushers who work in both theaters (because they work for the same Nederlander organization so you may see some of the same ushers at both)  - and its just going to be more of a challenge to see things in a larger house than in a smaller one. You are talking about a house with approx 1500 seats vs 1000.

Nice to hear you found an excellent experience at the Brooks for sure.

[Dancingthrulife2]

I don't know if there's any solution to this, but what I find very distracting in both live theaters and movie theaters is that if you sit alongside senior citizens, you're very likely to hear them asking their partners "What did he / she just say?" This is understandable considering, but nevertheless distracting.

 

EDIT: Grammar

[morosco]

I usually say: " I don't think you realize how disruptive ( or distracting) you are. Could you please be quiet?  Thank you.
 

I've often thought about having cards made or slips of paper with a note like above printed on them to give to an annoying audience member in a discreet manor.  Sometimes when people are told discreetly they respond better.

You probably don't realize that what you are doing is distracting to other audience members.  Please consider refraining and instead join us in enjoying the show.  With all due respect, thank you.

[MichelleCraig]

I never seem to see bad theatre behavior in Los Angeles, but I think I know why. Theatre doesn't bring tourists to Los Angeles, but it's definitely a draw in New York. I think the Los Angeles theatre audiences are locals for the most part. Broadway's far more subjected to tourists at a certain point. I don't think all tourists to Broadway are bad...but it only takes one to get posted here!!

[Mediamaven2]

Related pet peeve:  Why do people sit with their glasses on top of their heads during an entire theater performance?  Honestly, if you need your glasses, by all means wear them.  But as a decorative accoutrement on your head in a Broadway theater house, it is quite obnoxious and inconsiderate to those behind you.

I spent a few minutes of my third visit to The Color Purple the other day deciding whether or not to say something to the person in front of me (with the glasses on their head). I decided not to. Very unlike myself to be quiet. I didn't bother because, by itself , the glasses didn't 'block' any action as much as say their entire head did when actors moved to one particular spot. But the glasses did take up a little bit of space blocking  my viewing of the stage for no reason. Kind of like wearing a hat. I mean, why does anyone even have to think about how to tell these people to take it off?

[mailhandler777]

MichelleCraig said: "I never seem to see bad theatre behavior in Los Angeles, but I think I know why. Theatre doesn't bring tourists to Los Angeles, but it's definitely a draw in New York. I think the Los Angeles theatre audiences are locals for the most part. Broadway's far more subjected to tourists at a certain point. I don't think all tourists to Broadway are bad...but it only takes one to get posted here!!"

 

I've been to a theatre in Los Angeles once and it was one of the worst audiences I've ever been in. Talking, eating, taking pics, on the phone...etc. Los Angeles theatres definitely have tourists in them. 

[MX888]

Atrocious behavior at the final show of Privacy last night. Some guy sitting next to me in row A center,  bellowing/roaring loudly with laughter (even during quieter/more serious moments). Some lady right behind me constantly: talking with her male companion (asking questions etc), cackling loudly like a hyena, amongst other super annoying and distracting things. They tried taking a picture when Daniel came onstage but got caught by an eagle-eyed usher. Throughout the first half, I was giving her dagger looks but that just caused her to complain about me to her friend.  

 

At intermission, I finally gathered the courage to ask her to stop the chatter and to tone it down a notch because it was disturbing MY enjoyment of the show.  I hinted at the fact that it would probably be best if she stopped drinking (her 2nd or 3rd alcholic bev); she said that I needed to loosen up and take a drink and started putting her drink on my armrest. Her friend tried to calm her down and even agreed that she was being a bit too loud. 

 

When the show was over, she actually tried yelling to get my attention to "tell me something." I just gave her my worst b*itch look and stated that I was not going to waste my time to talk to her. Thank goodness it was my 4th time seeing the show but I would've been really devastated if it was my first.

[LizzieCurry]

I caught Curious Incident this past weekend (my second time) and someone in one of the boxes was using their phone for most of the last half of Act 1. I could tell the brightness was down, but I could still see it! I told an usher at intermission and he went over and talked to both people in the box (I couldn't tell with the lights up who the actual offender was), and it didn't happen again for all of Act 2. Thank you, Barrymore usher!

[LetTheSunshineIn2]

I was in the city this weekend and saw five shows.  For the most part, it was just typical overly casual attire, people asking "what did she say", etc, and I have to say that the kids around me at School of Rock were extremely well-behaved.  But at The Color Purple, the woman seated next to me in the third row center orchestra was talking on her phone when Act II began. Rather than hang up as the actors took the stage, she kept going with her convo.  If looks could kill, the look Cynthia Erivo shot her sure would have.  

[PThespian]

The kids who come to SOR are, in general, very well behaved (not so much at Phantom for whatever reason). 

It is the adults who cause the most problems...especially group chaperones. 

I had this guy flip out on me tonight because he waited until the end of intermission to buy some Sour Patch Kids, and the concessions had to close so the show could start. 

I literally was afraid he was going to punch me...and he was a big guy. All over some candy!

I thought he was setting a great example for his son. 

[Anakela]

MX888 said: "
When the show was over, she actually tried yelling to get my attention to "tell me something." I just gave her my worst b*itch look and stated that I was not going to waste my time to talk to her. Thank goodness it was my 4th time seeing the show but I would've been really devastated if it was my first.

"

It was my first time seeing Privacy on Sun night, row D, and ugh that crowd was the worst! This woman was the one screaming out "it's ok to date your cousin if he's cute!" and stuff, right? I know exactly who you're talking about.

If Privacy wants to continue on they REALLY need to do something/add something to their instructions about when you can and cannot use your phone. I had both two seats down to my left AND two seats down to my right those people had their phones out the entire show, just lit up and texting/typing/whatevering away. Lights on both sides of my peripheral vision, all night. And then all of the picture takers (which to their credit the Public staff were quick to shut down every time - but I'm sure there could have been a space in the fun pre-show instructions for a direction and cartoon of 'no picture taking.' ) Then I had a talker behind me all show "oh that's very funny." "that's a good point." "I didn't know that." etc., who was attending some sort of interactive theatre apparently.

I usually LOVE seeing shows at The Public, I find The Public's audience to be among the best, in my top 5 show experiences ever is seeing Hamilton at The Public with not a single cell phone light, etc. a truly magic crowd. I don't know if Sunday night was because drunks, Harry Potter fans who don't know how to theatre (yeah I'm being judgmental), people allowed to keep their phones on and out, some combo of the above, but it was easily one of the worst audiences ever. Which was disappointing because I actually really loved the concept of the show.

[MX888]

Anakela said: " It was my first time seeing Privacy on Sun night, row D, and ugh that crowd was the worst! This woman was the one screaming out "it's ok to date your cousin if he's cute!" and stuff, right? I know exactly who you're talking about.

If Privacy wants to continue on they REALLY need to do something/add something to their instructions about when you can and cannot use your phone. I had both two seats down to my left AND two seats down to my right those people had their phones out the entire show, just lit up and texting/typing/whatevering away. Lights on both sides of my peripheral vision, all night. And then all of the picture takers (which to their credit the Public staff were quick to shut down every time - but I'm sure there could have been a space in the fun pre-show instructions for a direction and cartoon of 'no picture taking.' ) Then I had a talker behind me all show "oh that's very funny." "that's a good point." "I didn't know that." etc., who was attending some sort of interactive theatre apparently.

I usually LOVE seeing shows at The Public, I find The Public's audience to be among the best, in my top 5 show experiences ever is seeing Hamilton at The Public with not a single cell phone light, etc. a truly magic crowd. I don't know if Sunday night was because drunks, Harry Potter fans who don't know how to theatre (yeah I'm being judgmental), people allowed to keep their phones on and out, some combo of the above, but it was easily one of the worst audiences ever. Which was disappointing because I actually really loved the concept of the show."

 

YES Anakela! When they asked if Keran (date #3) if she would want to go on a second date, she was the one who also screamed, "Of course she would!!" 

 

But thank you for validating what I was experiencing! She even had the nerve to ask the people around her if she was really making that much noise… only 1 gentleman (who sat 1 seat over from her) spoke up and agreed with me. I also concur that this was one of the worse audiences at the Public I've encountered to date; it's definitely a combo of all the things you pointed out. While it's exciting to have many parts of the play breaking the 4th wall, that audience took it way too far! 

 

I feel so bad that it was your first and only time seeing it - what a shame to have the experience ruined by a bunch of a**holes!! 

[mariel9]

I saw the Sunday matinee of Privacy. Daniel Radcliffe makes a curtain speech that starts with "please don't film this," and then he had to specifically interrupt his speech 3 times to call out people filming. The audience wasn't bad during the matinee, but I agree that, if they present the show again, they need to crack down more on cell phone use when it's not part of the show. People had a hard time putting those phones down. The ushers seemed to be watching the audience hard and gesticulating to people some, but maybe they were just looking for picture-takers, not other inappropriate cell use.

[nolanativeny]

LizzieCurry said: "I caught Curious Incident this past weekend (my second time) and someone in one of the boxes was using their phone for most of the last half of Act 1. I could tell the brightness was down, but I could still see it! I told an usher at intermission and he went over and talked to both people in the box (I couldn't tell with the lights up who the actual offender was), and it didn't happen again for all of Act 2. Thank you, Barrymore usher!

 

"

I guess that person didn't get what the cell phone sounds they play at the beginning of that show are for. The last time I saw it a few weeks ago one of the ushers called out during the cell phone sounds "I know, it's weird, it means don't use your phone" which I thought was amusing. 

[dev101]

I went to see Cats on 1/04 and thought it was the worst audience I have ever experienced. People would not find their seats before the show, but instead debating where mom and Grandmom were going to sit and who should sit on the end etc. The show was to begin at 2, but at 2:02 a woman holding paper cups of water walks to her seat and stands there pouring the water into a water bottle, completely oblivious to the fact that everyone was seated and the lights were dimming. Throughout the show people had their phones out. The ushers did their best to deal with the terrible audience, but there was so much poor behavior. It must be due to the large number of tourists and non-theatergoers getting tickets to their first show for the holidays or something. People just could not behave. 

[PThespian]

I love when these large families have conferences over who is going to sit next to who. These conferences can be quite lengthy, especially when they have seats in multiple rows. 

It makes my night when they try to work out something that a.) really doesn't matter since you shouldn't be talking during the show and b.) should have been decided in advance. 

I am trying to get more people seated, and they have  the whole aisle blocked negotiating. I feel like telling them "Your son is not moving away. He's just going to be three seats down from you. What's the big deal?"

It is not usually an issue at the Winter Garden because the aisles are very wide. It's a huge problem at smaller theaters like the Golden, though. 

In other bad audience behavior issues a very nice woman asked me to move her seat at intermission the other night because the people in front of her would not stop talking. 

We were sold out so I didn't have a seat to move her to, but I told her i would go down there and speak to them which I did. 

They got extremely aggressive and a little riot broke out in the section with everyone claiming it was someone else being noisy. 

The ringleader passed me on her way out at the end of the show and really got in my face about having spoken to her when she wasn't even talking. I could smell alcohol on her breath, and I was really afraid she was going to hit me. 

I got hit by a patron once. They just punched me in the shoulder though so my Plsybills went flying, and I had a bruise for a few days. That was it. 

The ticket taker at the Broadway got punched in the head by a patron during Cinderella so hard that she fell to the ground and ended up having to go to the ER. All because the patron's tickets were printed out too lightly and wouldn't scan, and the ticket taker told her she would need to go to the Box Office and have them reprinted. 

I swear we should get Hazardous Duty pay. 

[LizzieCurry]

The Cinderella story -- holy crap!

And yeah, you should get hazard pay.

[Alex Kulak2]

@PThespian, props to you and everyone else who work in the front of house. Y'all are the real MVP's

[bwaylyric]

Not necessarily bad behavior, but bad scents. At Hamilton last night, my friend and I discovered a foul order coming from someone within close proximity to us. They had the worst case of smelly feet - sour and strong. It was raining yesterday, and I bet the wet shoes made matters worse. The guy to my right pulled his shirt over his nose during the show.  I sure hope he didn't think it was originating from me. 

What do you do if you knew who the culprit was?

[quizking101]

Tonight, there was a woman behind me at Falsettos who clearly though that, it being the Lincoln Center taping, that hooting, hollering, and laughing at every moment, no matter how inappropriate, would somehow get her on TV like some sort of sporting event.

I grinned and beared it, but I almost had to read a bitch when she started clapping when Whizzer died.

[LxGstv]

bwaylyric said: "Not necessarily bad behavior, but bad scents. At Hamilton last night, my friend and I discovered a foul order coming from someone within close proximity to us. They had the worst case of smelly feet - sour and strong. It was raining yesterday, and I bet the wet shoes made matters worse. The guy to my right pulled his shirt over his nose during the show.  I sure hope he didn't think it was originating from me. 

What do you do if you knew who the culprit was?

 

"

When I heard that when you are in the cancellation line you have to go right in the theater because they don't want the tickets being re-sold, my inmediate thought was gross, some people wait in line starting at 7am or even earlier, I can't imagine being in line all day and just going to watch the show without showering. I would assume it's worse during the summer but this story is from last night.

Funny enough I had a similar experience at The King and I, there was this family of tourists and the father had his shoes off during the show, and it was bad. So inappropriate, you are at the theater not at home.

[@z5]

Last week (Fri night I think) i was at the Front Page and there was a screaming match between a few people on the left side of the orchestra during the first intermission...ushers went RUNNING over there. I think it was because a few different people thought they were all supposed to be int he same seat. 

 

At the same time a crazy old wench was screaming at the bartender for not serving her after the second bell whens eh show was about to begin again. 

[hes16]

Tonight at the Great Comet, when the actors started giving out and throwing dumplings, one of the actors threw one at my younger (child) relative seated next to me. He ended up not catching the dumpling and it landed on my seat behind my back. The lady behind me was just so keen on getting a dumpling that she reached her hand down onto my chair to grab the dumpling that was touching my behind... She then proceeded to proclaim to the world, "I got a dumpling!" like it was something so spectacular. 

It amazes me that she had the nerve to basically touch my rear end just to get that stupid dumpling that would have gone to a child...