Why do people leave?

[jetcap]

Posted: 9/29/14 at 9:07am

I'm sure the reasons are numerous, but I'm always shocked when I see people walk out of a play. I attended Curious Incident Friday and was in the front box with a pair of single ticket holders. One left halfway thru the 1st act and the other at intermission. I presume they had Rush tickets like myself so while they didn't spend a fortune, they did have to make an effort to make it to the theatre that same day and come back 10 hours later. So if you've invested the time, you've come alone, why not see how it plays out, or, if you consider it that bad, why not do better research before to see if it is something that might appeal to you?
I never leave a basball game before the final pitch, a hockey game before the final buzzer, it just doesn't make sense to leave early, especially a play. I understand that some try to move seats at intermission for a better seat (another rant for another day; if you want a better seat..buy a better seat), but I thought the vantage point from a box was great for Curious Incident with so much happening on the floor right below you. Still, I have a problem figuring out people's expectations compared to their reality.

[aasjb4ever]

Posted: 9/29/14 at 9:13am

Those two probably left for a quickie

[ShakinBaconGirl]

Posted: 9/29/14 at 9:14am

Sometimes people leave you. Halfway through the wood.Others may deceive you. You decide whats good. You decide alone.

[Brian07663NJ]

Posted: 9/29/14 at 9:19am

Boredom!
Why sit through anything if you think you can enjoy your time more somewhere else. I'd rather these people leave than grumble, fidget, etc and distract me!

[Huss417]

Posted: 9/29/14 at 9:22am

And I thought this post was going to be about Moritz Stiefe. :)

[JBroadway]

Posted: 9/29/14 at 9:28am

It's also very possible/likely that they moved to different seats for the 2nd act. Especially for a show like Curious Incident where it's better viewed from head on rather than from the side.

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 9/29/14 at 9:39am

I still wish I left at intermission when i saw Ghost, it haunts me to this day!

[Pootie2]

Posted: 9/29/14 at 10:01am

Also, how many shows "come together" later in Act 2? I've gone through so many entertainment media where something gets better that I'd try to give it a real honest try (like a TV series improving greatly halfway through a season, or in the second season, etc.).

[jetcap]

Posted: 9/29/14 at 10:19am

I think for me it is admitting that I'm wrong...and I hate admitting I'm wrong. I don't get to see a lot of shows on Broadway (although I was blessed seeing 4 this past week), but every one I put an effort in choosing what I think is the right show for me. To have that decsion be SO wrong that it ends up in having me walking out, that would be a huge jump for me and a huge miscalculation. And if it is a real stinker, I'd rather gather ammunition as to why it is so bad so I can warn others.

[Patash]

Posted: 9/29/14 at 10:35am

Things are not always what they seem, either. I was surprised when a woman next to me didn't come back for a second act recently. But then I happened to see her exit from the theatre after the show. Clearly she had just moved to a different seat.

I have been known to have a "bathroom emergency" in the middle of the first act. I suppose because I then stay in the back for the rest of the act, then those around me had assumed I had left.

[Elfuhbuh]

Posted: 9/29/14 at 10:44am

Personally, I don't see anything wrong with moving to a different seat during the second act if the seat was not bought/the seat holder never shows up. However, I never understood why someone would just walk out during a show, either. Why waste the money by leaving, even if the show ends up being crappy?

[Marianne2]

Posted: 9/29/14 at 10:47am

Some shows also end up not being what you were hoping for, despite doing research or maybe seeing something that left you curious. Like I didn't hate Phantom of the Opera, but I ended up not as excited about it as I had before seeing it. I don't think I could sit through it again.

[duffny1]

Posted: 9/29/14 at 10:52am

It all depends but leaving is something that I don't plan on doing. Many years ago, I was a casting director and used to see about 3 shows a week, after work. By the time intermission came along, if I wasn't interested, I would leave. It was a long day starting at 10 and not getting home till very late, so I appreciated an early night. Plus I didn't always have comps. Remember the shows used to start at 8pm not at 7pm. I also loved when I saw a great performance and called them in and they booked it. Worst thing was having someone invite you to a show and tell me it's awful but the role shows off my range - -it's a great showcase for me. I always avoided those invitations altogether unless it was something that interested me on a different level or knew the actor well. I have also moved to a better seat at intermission even if that better seat was my couch at home. I would never leave until an intermission out of respect for the show.

Updated On: 9/29/14 at 10:52 AM

[haterobics]

Posted: 9/29/14 at 10:57am

"why not do better research before to see if it is something that might appeal to you?"

I try and do as little research as possible in advance, since I don't really want to know all of the details of the show. So, if a show has won awards, or I know someone in the cast, or has some intriguing element, I'll likely buy a ticket in advance. If I'm unclear, I'll wait until first preview, and then not read the reviews in their entirety, but just read the beginnings/ends for whether it sounds worthwhile.

A lot of people seem to want too much information these days. Movie trailers show you pretty spoiler elements, not to mention people describing the detailed story of the Broadway show they're sitting there to see a few minutes before it about to happen... but I'm not a fan of knowing a lot in advance.

That said, sometimes you'll still end up in a show that doesn't work for you. But I never leave at that point, I just ride it out.

As for upgrading your seats, I don't really care to make that a separate thread, since it boils down to "who cares?" You don't think people should, other people do it and are fine, so... you're right, and they're right, especially since many ushers have told me exactly where I could move to, if I wanted.

[loliveve]

Posted: 9/29/14 at 11:09am

I left a show early once to go to another show. It was a horrible situation caused by a flight delays... I could only get a ticket exchange and not a refund. So I ended up with two tickets for matinee shows on the same day, starting at 2 pm and 3 pm. I had seen the 2 pm show before, but loved it so I went for as long as I dared... left at 2:55 and ran to the other theatre! (I told an usher that I had to leave early though so I was put in a corner seat where my leaving would not disrupt anyone)

[dreaming]

Posted: 9/29/14 at 11:19am

I've never done it, but frankly, if someone doesn't want to be there, I'd rather they leave than sit through the second act complaining, being distracting or rude to the rest of the audience and the actors. So, they were doing everyone else a favor (and trust me, I've been to shows where I seriously wish people around me had left at intermission).

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 9/29/14 at 11:41am

Because they are not enjoying the play and can think of something, including nothing, that they'd rather be doing.

[Jarethan]

Posted: 9/29/14 at 11:55am

I have left shows only three times in 40 plus years!, and I wish I had left time and another dozen times at least.

The ones I left were two of the worst musicals ever created, Jimmy and Dr. Jazz. Hated the latter so much that we decided we'd had enough when two morbidly obese women in totally sheer nighties did a suggestive dance (I was probably 25 at the time and not prude...just grossed out) probably no more than 40 minutes into the show. We had been totally bored for the entire time. The only play I left had received great reviews and was actually visually stunning at times...Ulysses in Nighttown; we were so bored out of our minds that we just left. As I recall, there was no intermission, so it was a little awkward since we were in the middle of the row, but you only live once.

Things I wish I had left (the ones i can remember):Copperfield, The Leaf People, Brief Lives (a one person show that also got great reviews and which put me to sleep), Marco Polo Sings a Solo (great cast, godawful piece of garbage hiding under the term of absurdism), The Ambassadors, Waltz of the Toreadors (Circle in the Square), Cats (one great song does not a show make...I hated all but 6 - 8 minutes), What Makes Sammy Run, No Man's Land (with Gielgud and Richardson, no less...I concluded that I hate Pinter with that one).

My criteria in the final analysis: am I bored out of my mind and not paying attention at all because it is so bad. I paid my money, I had better things to do that sit through really boring stuff, and I had no obligation to anyone to sit any longer.

[ErinDillyFan]

Posted: 9/29/14 at 12:10pm

I have left 3 shows before the end.
The first. "Uncommon Women and Others" by Wendy Wasserstein. Not well acted and simply didn't care about any of the characters. My wife and I felt the same way and left at intermission.

2nd: Phillip Glass: "Einstein on the Beach" loved the recordings, but the stage action, or lack of, added nothing to the music. And was feeling guilty about work that needed to be done, so left 45 min to an hour before the end.

The last one was just last week: "Annie Warbucks" not anxious to see this show, but I hadn't seen it so had to add it to my list. The pit and singers were so out of tune, it made my sphincter clench and cover my ears multiple times. My wife had been giving me looks to leave in the middle of the first act, so we left at intermission.

[Broadwaydreaming]

Posted: 9/29/14 at 12:32pm

I know a friend who's not into theater, but her and her husband purchased tickets to the Lion King to give it a shot. Both didn't last the first act and left before intermission to head to a sports bar. They were expensive seats too. Said it really wasn't for them. I don't understand it, but I guess they would rather spend time elsewhere!

[tazber]

Posted: 9/29/14 at 12:48pm

I've walked out of shows before. Mostly due to boredom.

When I'm thinking about where we're going to go for drinks instead of being engaged in the show it's a pretty good sign that I could find a better way to spend my evening.

[wyo2ny]

Posted: 9/29/14 at 12:50pm

More often I will stick it out to the end even if I am having a terrible time. It seems to be the most respectful thing to do for the artists at work here. A couple of times, I've left because I've been so embarrassed for the actors onstage and it was too painful to remain.

At a performance of Lady Day a few weeks back, my wife was seated next to a man who quietly snored through much of the show. His snoring crescendoed as the show did in the final number. I really, really wish he had just stepped out. I'd have gladly stood for him to pass rather than snoring through an experience I really treasured.

[temms]

Posted: 9/29/14 at 1:10pm

I used to never leave. In my mind, Being At The Theatre was always better than Not Being At The Theatre, even if the show wasn't terribly engaging. I used the "Maybe I'll miss something spectacular in Act Two and I'll be kicking myself!" defense, but mostly I just loved going to the theatre more than anything else even when it was less than brilliant.

I guess I'm jaded now, because I can think of a thousand things that are preferable to Being At A Bad Play. It's less about the Experience Of Seeing A Show and more about whatever it is I'm seeing, and if it's not working for me, why endure more of it? I don't leave shows often at all (I can probably count the number of times I have on one hand) but I totally understand why people do in a way I never used to.

I do have one anecdote: I somehow miraculously got the last cancellation ticket to "Rent" at NYTW in 1996, somehow splitting up an older couple whose husband had gotten to the theatre late and didn't get a seat. At intermission, the seen-it-all hip-for-the-time folk next to me had a very loud conversation about whether they were leaving. "WHAT WILL WE MISS? ONE OF THE GAY ONES IS GOING TO DIE AND THE OTHER ONE WILL SING THAT SONG AT HIS FUNERAL. WHAT ELSE? ARE WE LEAVING? I THINK WE'RE LEAVING." then dramatically made their exit. After a moment, the nice little older lady whose husband's seat I had somehow gotten turned to me and quietly said, "Well, I'm rather enjoying it."

[Melissa25]

Posted: 9/29/14 at 1:24pm

Years ago I would always stay no matter what. Today I give myself permission to leave a tortuously boring or bad show. I still rarely leave but I rather not waste any more of my valuable time by staying.

Sometimes the seat location will help me stay or go too. I left "Leap of Faith" because I was not having any fun whatsoever and was stuck in the boondock seats at the St. James. Had I been in a good seat in the orchestra, I probably would have stayed simply to root for Raul up close. This is what happened at "The Anarchist." I wanted so badly to leave but had a decent seat so just kept focusing on and praying for Patti.

[followspot]

Posted: 9/29/14 at 1:32pm

During a Broadway show's preview period (Curious Dog/OP's experience), people leaving their seat during an act and/or moving around the theater are usually tech and artistic staff, observing. Sometimes they're stealth about it, sometimes not.

I would never leave mid-act, but as a New Yorker in the business who often sees several shows a week, for me slipping out at intermission can simply be a matter of a long day and a show that's doing nothing for me. There's only one thing I treasure more than theater — and that's my time on earth.

Updated On: 9/30/14 at 01:32 PM