Very Un-Christlike Post Jesus Christ Superstar Assault! - Page 3

[Kelly2]

Posted: 6/6/12 at 1:02pm

Thank you, Tom, for that sort of hilarious but a little depressing reminder of how it really is a bad thing to give 16 year olds combination access to shows/performers they admire and the internet simultaneously. Yikes.

And thank you Reg, Adam, and Tom for the reassurance that I'm not "crazy" to find the incident comical in terms of the disproportionate reaction but still primarily disturbing and a little scary.

[rjm516]

Posted: 6/6/12 at 4:47pm

This is so upsetting and I'm glad you found an usher and a cop to help. But what do you do when an usher can't be bothered? A few weeks ago, at Evita, I was in row C mezz and someone in row A center mezz was texting the whole first act. At intermission, I told an usher and asked if she could talk to him and keep an eye out and she kind of nodded and walked away, and I said "Wait I didn't tell you where he was sitting!" And she kind of sighed and said "Ok where?" but wasn't really listening at all. And he still texted during Act 2. Annoying.

[Kelly2]

Posted: 6/6/12 at 6:43pm

That's really unfortunate, Rjm. The staff at the Neil Simon was very attentive and really helpful, but I've definitely been at theatres with ushers and box office staff that do not seem to care about their jobs at all and do the absolute bare minimum to receive a paycheck. I think the fact that most of these "rules" in regards to behavior at a show are not enforced regularly is a big part of the problem.

[JudyDenmark]

Posted: 6/6/12 at 8:56pm

During the Ragtime revival I was seated next to an elderly couple. He had a hearing aid (that crackled the whole time) and he kept saying, at full speaking volume, "What did he say?" His wife would then explain, also in full speaking volume. Sometimes presciently. "They're gonna shoot the black guy!" "She's gonna marry the Jew!"

[SNAFU]

Posted: 6/7/12 at 1:02am

Judy, for as much as a distraction that is, I cannot fault the elderly with hearing problems. Like my old aunt at HAIR who took out her hearing aides to use the headphones and failed to turn them off. They squealed. Trying to get her attention to turn them off causeg a raised voice level. She had no idea because she couldn't hear.
Yes, it is a pain in the ass BUT more easily overlooked then a younger person texting or talking on a cellduring the show.

[Lavieboheme3090]

Posted: 6/7/12 at 4:27pm

If you know exactly what seat the person was in you might be able to ask the theater for the record of who sat there.

[Rainbowhigh23]

Posted: 6/7/12 at 5:16pm

At One Man Two Guvnors a man next to me was using the hearing device provided by the theater. I would hear what sounded like an AM radio during the show but it was in time with the dialogue; he had told me before the show he was using one, as well but I totally forgot. Hearing aids mishaps and devices are no bother to me compared to someone actively texting or looking at their phone during a performance.

[TheGirlUpstairs]

Posted: 6/7/12 at 7:42pm

Hearing aid problems don't excuse the couple talking at full volume. That's not okay no matter what.

[castlestreet]

Posted: 6/7/12 at 8:04pm

People simply do not know how to act in public anymore- I've been in a theater on numerous occasions where before the show and during intermission people get on their cell phones and have inappropriate conversations/argue/use extremely foul language with no respect for the people around them- and then you run the risk of creating a problem if you speak up for your rights if they blow up when you say something... Nobody's got no class!

[Kelly2]

Posted: 6/7/12 at 8:06pm

All these stories just make me wish even more that there was more effective enforcement of rules against cell phones in the theatre. I wouldn't mind at all if ushers were 150% harsher about this.

[ooblogway]

Posted: 6/7/12 at 8:19pm

I'm really sorry for your experience. I can't believe the selfishness of people these days.

I find behavior much better Off and Off-Off Broadway. I think high ticket prices lead people to have a sense of entitlement about being there: eating, drinking, basically doing whatever they feel like.

[Bwaydide92]

Posted: 6/7/12 at 9:31pm

I didn't think there would be so much anger of cell phone jammers. It was a joke haha. Sometimes that's the only way you feel you can get the inconsiderate people to get off their phones.

Maybe if they made multiple announcements before the performance more people would turn them off and it would be nice if ushers would tell anyone they saw on their phone to turn it off without having to be asked by another patron.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 6/7/12 at 9:39pm

Judy,

I must have had the same couple sitting next to me for BURN THIS...

"What did he say?"

"He said Fcuk something..."

"Wow! They sure say Fcuk a lot!"

[SNAFU]

Posted: 6/7/12 at 11:15pm

Thegirlupstairs. If one is extremely hard of hearing or near deaf, it is very difficult for them to gage the volume of their voice. All of my relatives who rely on hearing aides can speak in a whisper when their aides are in place, when they are out their whispers become stage whispers. The volume goes up. They are unaware of it.

[ooblogway]

Posted: 6/7/12 at 11:35pm

"If one is extremely hard of hearing or near deaf, it is very difficult for them to gage the volume of their voice."

Then they should shut the **** up during a show!!!!!

[Broadwayhunk]

Posted: 6/7/12 at 11:37pm

3 Words: Concealed gun permit. She'd change her tune staring down a muzzle.

[Kelly2]

Posted: 6/7/12 at 11:40pm

SNAFU, then what would you suggest as a remedy? Obviously it is unfair to the rest of the audience to be distracted by the loud talking, no matter what the cause of it is.

I'm not sure how popular an opinion this is, or if it will seem rude, but anyone who is disabled in any way or has any kind of special need IMO really needs to think about whether they are able to sit through a 2.5 hour show and enjoy it without impeding others' ability to follow/enjoy the show as well.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 6/8/12 at 12:11am

I'm with Kelly. If I were at a point in my life where I could not hear the show even with a hearing aid or assisted listening devices, sadly I think my theatre going days would be over. I'd never enjoy trying to grasp what is going on.

I feel badly that public behavior has gotten so poor. I sat behind a 40 something woman and her two daughters at Snow White who proceeded to talk like like they were in their godd@#%ned living room. "Oh I like that dress." "Whats she gonna do now".....

I asked them to be quiet, which in their minds was interpreted as just talk lower and less often.

Also, once I get to the place of having to ask someone to be quiet, they've really already ruined my experience for I am irritated, anxious and don't like conflict. So even if they are polite I'm unnerved.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 6/8/12 at 1:00am

Betty there is a big difference between your scenerio and someone like my Aunt's.Once she was made aware of the situation it was corrected, though not with sotto vocce at first. I am sure if the elderly coulple who were talking loud because of hearing difficulties had it pointed out to them politely that thier volume was unnaccepabile they would have made corrections (and probably be be grateful that someone pointed it out to them).
Able bodied people who talk like they are in their living room or feel the need to text every nuance should be drawn and quartered. I have always been one to NOT shy away from addressing both situations.

[Kelly2]

Posted: 6/8/12 at 1:52am

SNAFU, let me just add that I really make no distinction between able bodied/not able bodied in this regard. As evidenced by my initial post, my first "warning" to someone disrupting the show is always polite and quiet and honestly in my experience that is more than enough for about 75% of people. What it is that is causing them to be disruptive isn't of any particular interest to me, unless their disability or special need requires some kind of assistance to deal with, in which case I'd be happy to flag down an usher to deal with whatever it may be as quickly and quietly as possible.

I guess my question was more in the vein of that if things like hearing aids and varying degrees of hearing loss create a situation where talking during the performance feels somehow necessary to those affected, at what point do we say that is unacceptable? I've read a lot of people over time saying that allowances should be made and I just wonder at the expense of who else's experience and where should the line be drawn.

[adam.peterson44]

Posted: 6/8/12 at 2:00am

Whether someone is speaking loudly or quietly is entirely beside the point, so wearing a hearing aid is not any kind of excuse. Talking at any volume during a show is unacceptable. The whisper may only annoy the 8 closest people rather than 25 closest people with a louder voice, but that is still unacceptable. Talking at any volume needs to wait until intermission or after the show.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 6/8/12 at 2:24am

So then Adam, when someones hearing aide which they took off if feed back how is one to explain it to them? Is it better to have the high pitched squealing? You nudge and point, but that doesn't always get the point across.

Oh wait yes, wait till intermission!

Updated On: 6/8/12 at 02:24 AM

[Kelly2]

Posted: 6/8/12 at 1:15pm

SNAFU, so what is the solution? I can't understand if you're proposing that the loud talking is something that should be tolerated on account of the disability or if you have an alternate solution that is different from what was previously discussed.