Wasn't there, haven't seen it, but I remember a post this weekend about a woman screaming during the Saturday night performance of "Dr. Zhivago." Evidently, Seth Meyers' parents were there, two rows directly in front of the woman. Apparently, she first yelled, "We should have gone to the movies!" Then about five minutes later she yelled, "Somebody change the channel!!!" Seth Meyers' dad turned around and told her to BE QUIET. The cast called a halt to the show and security escorted her out, reportedly having to pry her fingers off her chair. Which seems odd, if she really hated the show that much.
It is pretty sad. I hope that lady gets some help. She reminds me of my grandma when she was in the early stages of dementia. It is unfortunate that it isn't an uncommon thing.
"Yes, the brutalities of progress are called revolutions. When they are over, men recognize that the human race has been harshly treated but it has moved forward." - Les Miserables
A woman cries out during a performance and you all jump to "mental disorder?"
Christ this is brutal. She was probably drunk, or bored, or old, maybe. I wouldn't stamp someone as "mentally unstable" because of this. I'm sure as Jay94 has said, it happens more often than we might think.
I never said she had a mental disorder. Most of the mentally unstable people I know would be more likely to cause a disruption in a Broadway theater than the ones who aren't mentally unstable.
And I think if getting drunk before attending a Broadway show causes you to scream in fury, you shouldn't get drunk before attending said Broadway show.
"Contentment, it seems, simply happens. It appears accompanied by no bravos and no tears."
"I wouldn't stamp someone as "mentally unstable" because of this."
So you consider an adult standing up in a Broadway show and screaming irrational things is NOT a sign of instability? You call that normal and stable behavior? Please post your theatre schedule so we can be sure to avoid the shows you are attending if you consider yourself stable.
Oh heaven sake. Sadly, we live in a world filled with people who are not part of this board where we are smacked on the head with a theater-etiquette bat every four and a half seconds.
I wasn't referring to you directly gypsy, but you did comment on her mental state, as well as someone else saying she had a disorder. Mentally "unstable" or not, the woman clearly had a problem with what was being presented in front of her. This is LIVE THEATER PEOPLE. Get the f*ck over it. Unplanned sh*t happens on and off stage every night; and it's the professionalism (or unprofessionalism) of the house staff, production staff and performer that makes the situation better or worse.
It's not a crime to have a few drinks before seeing a show. It's a disturbance, sure, but I've encountered more drunk theatergoers than I ever imagined.
Years ago I was at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles at a performance of WIT starring Kathleen Chalfant. During the last half of the show, we could hear the muffled voice of a woman from front and center of the orchestra; we were about 8 rows back. The muffled voice escalated to a full-blown torrent of swears and curses right through the emotionally draining final scene of the play. Chalfant never once broke character.
When the play was over, I went to look for management as nothing was done to remove this woman during the performance. I happened upon some of the house-staff and overheard them saying things like, "she was much worse this time..." etc. Turns out this woman suffered from tourette syndrome and she and her husband were substantial donors to the Geffen. I can only deduce that this was the reason she was allowed to stay in the theatre and ruin the performance for the entire audience. When I finally met up with the manager, he offered no apology or explanation. Pretty amazing...especially at a play as intense as WIT.
Since I think it was described here as hysterical screaming, I'm at least glad that Seth Meyers' parents were there so we could at least get a good story out of it.