Oddest things you’ve heard from non theatre people- Page 3

[Lot666]

Posted: 7/16/18 at 11:27am

During the first intermission for Angels in America, a man seated behind us remarked to his companion that "there hasn't been much music so far" and he wondered "when the singing was going to start".

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 7/16/18 at 3:48pm

rg7759 said: "i suppose this isnt the worst, but seeing bernadette peters in hello dolly and saying 'i smell a tony'"

That was just a code word. The man was telling his wife that he knew she farted.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 7/16/18 at 3:58pm

Overheard in a diner, from the booth directly behind mine:

"So we got tickets to see KINKY BOOTS but Cyndi Lauper wasn't in it. Instead, they had some black guy taking her place."

[vanbrig]

Posted: 7/16/18 at 5:17pm

I try to be very patient and understanding with these people unless they’re being rude, obstinate, or just saying something REALLY off-the-wall. I mean, there’s a lot of things I don’t know about (sports, for example) and I would probably sound like an idiot if I asked questions about them. And there was once a time when I knew very little about theatre as well.

[dianamorales]

Posted: 7/16/18 at 5:26pm

Another one is someone saying “I just saw a show ONBroadway!”and me saying, “You went to New York? Oh, how was it?” And they say “Oh no, I didn’t go to New York!! I saw it at the Fox in Atlanta!” And I’m like okay yes you saw a broadway show but you saw a national tour girl! Not on Broadway! I know it’s sounds so stupid and pretentious but it occurs so often!

This just might be my biggest pet peeve! I ALWAYS have friends that tell me they're going to see or saw a broadway show, when they actually saw it on tour.

 

[vanbrig]

Posted: 7/16/18 at 5:43pm

dianamorales said: "I ALWAYS have friends that tell me they're going to see or saw a broadway show, when they actually saw it on tour."

I mean, considering the fact that they are often colloquially called "Broadway tours" and considering that many cities market their season as the "Broadway series" and call it "Broadway Across America" or Broadway in [insert city here]," I can totally see how that is a little confusing. I don't mind if they say they saw a Broadway tour or even a Broadway show, but saying they saw a show "on Broadway" is definitely wrong. 

This reminds me of the time I saw Kinky Boots on tour. There was a couple seated a few rows ahead of me that looked to be in their late teens. After the show, I headed back toward home and stopped by the Starbucks near my house. About ten minutes later, that couple came in, and the young man seemed to know the barista. This conversation ensued: 

Barista: "You guys look nice. What'd you do today?"

Young Man: “We went to Broadway! We saw a play.”

Barista: “Yeah? What’d you see?”

Young Man (Clearly uncomfortable and not wanting to admit he saw a show called Kinky Boots): "We saw…it was a Broadway play!" [Insert abrupt change in topic here]

 

[David10086]

Posted: 7/16/18 at 5:51pm

I want to interview people who work in box offices (Broadway, TKTS, and theaters across the country) and ask them to share stories of some of the most memorable questions / experiences they have had over the years working in those box offices...and put all these stories into a book! Can you imagine the stories they could tell? Can you imagine how much fun it would be to sit back and read them? 

 

I have a friend who answers the phone for a box office every year for a summer theater, selling individual tickets. The stories she shares with me at dinner when we meet every few weeks could rival the best skits on SNL. I would definitely include hers! 

[NoName3]

Posted: 7/16/18 at 9:44pm

I've posted this before, but back in the 1980s, the woman in line in front of me at the TKTS booth asked for Barefoot in the Park with George.

Otherwise, I've been astonished that more than once over the years I've heard people refer to original cast recordings as "soundtracks."  I mean, really, can you imagine?

[Crazy NooNooHead]

Posted: 7/16/18 at 10:24pm

This isn't word-for-word, but this is basically a conversation I had with a fellow guest at a wedding reception 5 years ago.

Other guest: What do you do?

Me: I just graduated from college, I'm looking for a job, and I'm hoping to make a career in acting.

Other guest: Are you going to move to California to do movies?

Me: No, what I'd really like to do is perform on Broadway, so I'm going to stay in New York.

Other guest: Well maybe you could go where it's warmer and do Broadway in California.

[NoName3]

Posted: 7/17/18 at 1:22am

Here's something that I posted on another forum a few years back in a similar thread:

Years ago I was waiting in line in the Men's Room before a performance of Salome at the old New York City Opera. I heard a very small boy's voice say "Daddy, Daddy! Where are my underpants?" "In my pocket, be quiet."

????

Also, Salome is about incest and necrophilia, presented onstage with nudity. Who takes a seven year old?

Updated On: 7/17/18 at 01:22 AM

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 7/17/18 at 10:10am

NoName3, even theatre people say "soundtracks" when it's not appropriate. Randy Graff did during the Les Miz panel at the first BroadwayCon and 1/3 of the crowd sucked their breath in. I've almost given up.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 7/18/18 at 6:56pm

Am at Geffen Hall right now and am witnessing an elderly couple arguing with an usher because their tickets weren't being honored. They were were seeing MY FAIR LADY a second time and swore it was at Geffen Hall when they saw it last month.

[greenifyme2]

Posted: 7/18/18 at 7:33pm

Today at Moulin Rouge I heard a mom tell her daughter that intermission would be 30 mins, lol

[Dancingthrulife2]

Posted: 7/18/18 at 7:46pm

Some people have no idea what Hamilton or, understandably to a certain extent, Sunday in the Park with George is. Someone I know called the fourth wall the third wall or the fifth wall (don’t remember which one though). Not a really weird one, but a friend of mine has no idea projection can also refer to projecting one’s voice.

Above all, the weirdest thing I’ve heard is the raves about The Lion King, which was an expensive and uncomfortable nap for me.

[nealb1]

Posted: 7/18/18 at 9:09pm

2nd time I saw HD, the people next to me said that because Bette Midler made so much money, everyone in the show wasn't getting paid.  Cast members could get a few free tickets from time to time - that was their pay.  I asked him if he thought that the conductor got paid, since he was conducting the orchestra, and he wasn't too sure on that since they don't talk on stage. 

[NoName3]

Posted: 7/19/18 at 1:25am

LizzieCurry said: "NoName3, even theatre people say "soundtracks" when it's not appropriate. Randy Graff did during the Les Miz panel at the first BroadwayCon and 1/3 of the crowd sucked their breath in. I've almost given up."

I know, Lizzie.  I was mocking those people. I should have used a sarcasm tag.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 7/19/18 at 12:24pm

BrodyFosse123 said: "To be fair, it was adapted from the 1960s film of the same name, which is possibly what’s got people thinking it must be a revival.

Unlikely. If that were the case, every Broadway adaptation of a film would be confused as a revival: HAIRSPRAY, LEGALLY BLONDE, SCHOOL OF ROCK, PRETTY WOMAN, THE WEDDING SINGER, etc.

No one ever called/confused those as revivals yet THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE was and still is confused as such."

I disagree. None of those films were musical films, and also were more contemporary with their musical adaptations than Thoroughly Modern Millie (Pretty Woman being the exception). Thoroughly Modern Millie, came out in the time period associated with films adapted from stage musicals, and it starred Julie Andrews. It's an "old" title. It's an "old" movie. It's a musical. It's not inconceivable that people thought the stage adaptation was a revival, believing the original film itself had been adapted from a musical.  

[Fosse76]

Posted: 7/19/18 at 12:27pm

MarkBearSF said: "Not quite the same thing, but a favorite story. A friend was waiting for a friend on 46th St a few years ago when the Addams Family was at the Lunt Fontanne. Bebe Neuwirth was leaning against the building. A tourist family came by and asked her to move (and she politely complied) so they could get a picture of the poster - of Bebe Neuwirth."

I think we have a winner! And she was probably thrilled they didn't realize it was her.

Updated On: 7/19/18 at 12:27 PM

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 7/19/18 at 12:27pm

Until shortly before I saw Thoroughly Modern Millie for the first/only time (in La Jolla), I also assumed it had been a revival. I'd also never seen the film, and still haven't.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 7/19/18 at 12:35pm

LizzieCurry said: "Until shortly before I saw Thoroughly Modern Millie for the first/only time (in La Jolla), I also assumed it had been a revival. I'd also never seen the film, and still haven't."

With a significant number of shows disappearing into the ether, especially older ones from that era, it's shouldn't be surprising that people wouldn't be familiar with every single title. Especially a title that has no modern relevance. 

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 7/19/18 at 12:38pm

Yep. And basically all the reasons you listed were WHY I thought it was a revival.

[morosco]

Posted: 7/19/18 at 1:41pm

It bothers me when even theatre people call the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre the "Lunt-Fontaine".

[ashk8177]

Posted: 7/19/18 at 2:22pm

Reading this thread reminds me why so many people consider "theatre people" elitist. I have probably had similar thoughts or annoyances at some point, but seeing them expressed publicly as if they're legitimate problems is disheartening. Rude behavior, cell phone use, etc., I get. Saying soundtrack instead of cast recording? Oh boy.  

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 7/19/18 at 11:55pm

BrodyFosse123 said: "Unlikely. If that were the case, every Broadway adaptation of a film would be confused as a revival: HAIRSPRAY, LEGALLY BLONDE, SCHOOL OF ROCK, PRETTY WOMAN, THE WEDDING SINGER, etc.

No one ever called/confused those as revivals yet THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE was and still is confused as such."

True, but the film MILLIE opened during the era when most film musicals were adaptations of stage shows, it starred actual Broadways stars (Julie Andrews, Carol Channing), and--unlike, say, the Beatles' movies--had music that sounded like the then current Broadway sound. The title song was a hit with the same demo that liked "Hello, Dolly!", "Sunrise, Sunset" and "The Impossible Dream".

I can understand how people of a certain age assumed the eventual stage production was a revival of some "original" stage version they missed in their youth. I was 13 when the film came out and were I not a musical theater buff, I can imagine making that mistake.

ETA Sorry. Fosse76 got to most of this before me. LizzieCurrie, I don't think you've missed much by not seeing the film (except that Channing is deliciously over-the-top). I loved it when I was 13, but I saw it again recently on TV and you haven't missed anything. Stick to ANYTHING GOES or even THE BOY FRIEND instead.

Updated On: 7/20/18 at 11:55 PM

[vanbrig]

Posted: 7/20/18 at 8:41am

ashk8177 said: "Reading this thread reminds me why so many people consider "theatre people" elitist. I have probably had similar thoughts or annoyances at some point, but seeing them expressed publicly as if they'relegitimate problems isdisheartening. Rude behavior, cell phone use, etc., I get. Saying soundtrack instead of cast recording? Oh boy."

This.