Bad Theater Behavior

[greenifyme2]

BrodyFosse123 said: "listen to the soundtrack to familiarize yourself.

Many shows still haven't had a film version made (WICKED, COME FROM AWAY, WAITRESS, etc.), so its impossible for anyoneto listen to the soundtrack prior to seeing the Broadway musical version.

"

Waitress was first a movie and all 3 have cast recordings....

 

[BeNice]

What I’ve noticed more than anything is the tech addiction. The last three Broadway shows I’ve seen (probably more) people of all ages have this involuntary pull to check their text messages, Instagram, etc. in the middle of the show. It’s like their habitual need to check their phone is greater than staying present and I get it I’ve just never succumbed to it.

[dmwnc1959]

BrodyFosse123 said: “Many shows still haven't had a film version made (WICKED, COME FROM AWAY, WAITRESS, etc.), so its impossible for anyoneto listen to the soundtrack prior to seeing the Broadway musical version."

But you can listen to the Original Broadway Cast album, which I’ve done for almost every single show I’ve attended over the last 18 months, including today’s matinee of the National Tour of “Waitress” in Pittsburgh. 

[labellaragazza1]

BrodyFosse123 said: "listen to the soundtrack to familiarize yourself.

Many shows still haven't had a film version made (WICKED, COME FROM AWAY, WAITRESS, etc.), so its impossible for anyoneto listen to the soundtrack prior to seeing the Broadway musical version.

"

It might be hard if you get the tickets on a whim from TKTS since it’s probably closer to showtime, but a show doesn’t need to have had a film version to have a summary and at least some of the music available. Wicked itself has been done in quite a few languages, I’m sure some cursory internet browsing could find some samples to just have a gist of the show before going in. And if you can’t, at least ask at intermission for an explanation, not through the entire show  

 
Saw the Korean version of Das Musical Mozart when I lived there. Didn’t know much of the language the first time, so I searched for a plot summary in English before the show. I didn’t ask my coworker to translate everything the entire time because I didn’t understand the words. I looked up the music afterwards instead of causing a disturbance to everyone around me. 

[labellaragazza1]

BeNice said: "What I’ve noticed more than anything is the tech addiction. The last three Broadway shows I’ve seen (probably more) people of all ages have this involuntary pull to check their text messages, Instagram, etc. in the middle of the show. It’s like their habitual need to check their phone is greater than staying present and I get it I’ve just never succumbed to it."

 

I also never understand checking texts in the middle of the show. I always put my phone on airplane mode or turn it off, so I’m not even tempted by notifications. Aside from that, I never get reception in the theaters anyway haha, so I don’t understand how people are even checking Facebook or Instagram 

[smidge]

greenifyme2 said: "BrodyFosse123 said: "listen to the soundtrack to familiarize yourself.

Many shows still haven't had a film version made (WICKED, COME FROM AWAY, WAITRESS, etc.), so its impossible for anyoneto listen to the soundtrack prior to seeing the Broadway musical version.

"

Waitress was first a movie and all 3 have cast recordings....

Uh, I believe Brody was just being snarky about the use of the term soundtrack.

 

[BrodyFosse123]

Uh, I believe Brody was just being snarky about the use of the term soundtrack.

Anyone who is on a Broadway message board should know proper terminology.  Seriously. 

Broadway shows have CAST RECORDINGS

Films/Movies/Motion Pictures/TV Shows have SOUNDTRACKS

[smidge]

BrodyFosse123 said: "Uh, I believe Brody was just being snarky about the use of the term soundtrack.

Anyone who is on a Broadway message board shouldknow proper terminology. Seriously.

Broadway shows have CAST RECORDINGS

Films/Movies/Motion Pictures/TV Showshave SOUNDTRACKS"

Yup, these kids today !

 

[labellaragazza1]

BrodyFosse123 said: "Uh, I believe Brody was just being snarky about the use of the term soundtrack.

Anyone who is on a Broadway message board shouldknow proper terminology. Seriously.

Broadway shows have CAST RECORDINGS

Films/Movies/Motion Pictures/TV Showshave SOUNDTRACKS"

Sigh... I’m so sorry I made such a catostrphic misuse of a word that rendered my point invalid... nobody could possibly understand what I meant!  

Though... a quick, cursory google search of all three examples shows me that, even when using the wrong term, the cast recording of the Broadway show comes up each and every time... 

[BrodyFosse123]

 

[Lot666]

labellaragazza1 said: "I was at Phantom this week...someone in the FRONT ROW, who decided to take a photo (flash on, of course) because the marksman was right in front of her. He seemed to scold her after his lines, but come on."



I know the actor who plays the Marksman and whenever I'm seated in the first few rows of the center orchestra, I purposefully avoid looking directly at him because I'm concerned about disturbing his performance in any way. The character is supposed to be grimly serious and very focused throughout the scene; I can't imagine what a FLASH PHOTOGRAPH in his face would do to his concentration. It would've served her right if he'd fired the gun in her face.

[labellaragazza1]

Lot666 said: "labellaragazza1 said: "I was at Phantom this week...someone in the FRONT ROW, who decided to take a photo (flash on, of course) because the marksman was right in front of her. He seemed to scold her after his lines, but come on."



I know the actorwho plays the Marksman and whenever I'm seated in the first few rows of the center orchestra, I purposefully avoid looking directly at him because I'm concerned about disturbing his performancein any way. The character is supposed to be grimly serious and very focused throughout the scene; I can't imagine what a FLASH PHOTOGRAPH in his face would do to his concentration.It would've served her right if he'd fired the gun in her face."

It's Paul isn't it? I got seated there thanks to the TKTS booth once and it was awesome to be that close, but I cannot for the life of me imagine why someone thought whipping out their phone at that moment (or any, honestly) to take a picture mid show. It was a credit to him that he kept his cool, I would have been livid. And at that point, the show is nearly over, and the ushers probably couldn't do anything without causing a bigger disturbance. Ugh.

[Lot666]

labellaragazza1 said: "It's Paul isn't it?"

Yes. He's a sweetheart. And he looks like Superman.

labellaragazza1 said: "I cannot for the life of me imagine why someone thought whipping out their phone at that moment (or any, honestly) to take a picture mid show. It was a credit to him that he kept his cool, I would have been livid."

I was once seated front row center and when the curtain was drawn back at the start of "Masquerade", the woman next to me whipped out, not a phone, but an iPad. She held it aloft and began recording video of the scene. My jaw dropped and I sat there glaring at her for a moment, and finally I said "You need to put that away NOW". She did.

[michael122]

Saw Waitress last night. It was Sara Bareilles's last show so I expected most of the audience to be hardcore fans.

This guy who sat next to me didn't seem at all interested in the show (a minute before it started he asked his daughter what the show was about..) and went on to be on his phone the entire first act. It was a bit distracting, but I don't usually call out people, so I said to myself that i'll call him out on the 2nd act if he continues doing it.

Luckily, I didn't need to, because he just slept through the entire 2nd act. lol. my ticket was $140, i'm assuming he paid the same. 

[Cape Twirl of Doom]

xoffender45 said: "When I told him that the volunteer usher did nothing and spent the whole show watching it, he told me that the usher isn’t a volunteer, hes paid to be there, which is probably even worse.
."

Though it didn't apply in your situation as that usher was paid, I do want to point out that volunteer ushers are specifically not supposed to do anything during the actual show other than watch it. Once they sit down and the show begins, they are patrons same as you. It is not their responsibility to watch for bad behavior during the performance.

[reginula]

I was at a local production of The Last 5 Years tonight and there was a drunk man next to me. Not kidding. He smelled like booze. Spent the first half making comments to his wife (you know when people think they are speaking quietly but they aren’t?), elbowing me, eating candy loudly, and checking his phoneuntil thank jeebus he fell asleep. I felt like calling the ushers but I was in the middle of the row with 8 people on each side so I thought that was going to be worse.
What is it to be done?
I feel very sad ‘cause that made the whole thing uncomfortable despite how excited I was. I want to go again in hopes of not sitting next to dumbasses next time.

[greenifyme2]

I took my mom to a show last weekend and experienced something I never have.... a horrible, awful, disgusting SMELL.

The old couple next to us smelled like the “homeless people smell” (fellow NYC-ers, you know what I’m talking about).

During intermission I was going to ask the house manager to change seats (I wanted to get up sooner but a wheelchair in the aisle prevented me from doing so) but my mom was like “it’s not that bad don’t make a big deal”. Well, after the 2nd act she was like “the air flow must have changed because I could smell it and IT WAS AWFUL”.

I literally watched the show with my coat hood over my nose and mouth. So gross.

I think I’ve run the gamet now on bad theater behavior, ugh. The next time someone is playing with their phone next to you I guess be glad they don’t SMELL.

[VintageSnarker]

I usually don't say anything unless it's really disruptive or continues throughout the entire performance but I've noticed that in subscriber houses or venues that tend to cater to older patrons, there's a lot of whispering during the performance and if it's a concert, singing along. I feel like there's an attempt to curtail this by having a sing along at the end but I think it just encourages people to sing whenever they feel like they (might) remember the song.

[tinytalent]

Last night at Cursed Child Part Two the person in front of me was checking their Facebook every five minutes. I leaned over and asked them if they could put their phone away after the seventh time they brought it out, to which they responded "I'm trying to sell my bike. I need to look at my phone." Interesting choice to decide to sell your bike in the middle of a show.

[ilysespieces]

tinytalent said: "Last night at Cursed Child Part Two the person in front of me was checking their Facebook every five minutes. I leaned over and asked them if they could put their phone away after the seventh time they brought it out, to which they responded "I'm trying to sell my bike. I need to look at my phone." Interesting choice to decide to sell your bike in the middle of a show."

OMG!!

I think I shared this before, but when I saw Cursed Child the two seats next to my friend (I had the aisle) were empty the entire time for Part 1. We got there for Part 2 and the seats remained empty until ~45 minutes in when a family came and made a bunch of noise and interrupted the beautiful quiet moment that was happening. The woman next to my friend then spent the remaining ~30 minutes or so of the act on her phone. My friend finally asked her to put it away and instead of any response, this woman just stared at her in the eyes for ~20 seconds and went back to looking at her phone. I tried to flag down an usher but they didn't see me and I didn't want to miss the show, so I just asked one at intermission to keep an eye on our row. Well, good for us, the woman didn't come back for act 2.

 

Last night I saw Yerma and the girl in front of my took out her phone every single time the lights went out. It was ~Chapter 4 when the woman 3 seats to my left leaned forward and angry whispered "Turn that ****ing phone off". There was no phone when Chapter 5 was being set.

[mimitchi33]

So a few weeks ago I went to see Frozen for my birthday (I went the day before since tickets were sold out on the day of my birthday). It was great, but during some parts, there was this toddler who stood up in her chair at random moments. During a plot important point towards the climax of the show, she not only did that, but was coughing very loudly. At least she was sitting far from me, but I could still hear it a bit from where I was. (end of the row) And what's with people bringing toddlers to these shows anyway? They're expensive, and for some people, it's a once in a lifetime thing. If you want to take a toddler to see her favorite princesses, Disney on Ice would be a better choice instead of bringing her to a place where she probably wouldn't behave.

[CPannullo]

When i saw The Bands Visit the other day towards the beginning of the concert someone’s phone started going off! Totally ruined the moment and they didn’t even scramble to turn it off, they just let it keep ringing

[mailhandler777]

mimitchi33 said: "So a few weeks ago I went to see Frozen for my birthday (I went the day before since tickets were sold out on the day of my birthday). It was great, but during some parts, there was this toddler who stood up in her chair at random moments. During a plot important point towards the climax of the show, she not only did that, but was coughing very loudly. At least she was sitting far from me, but I could still hear it a bit from where I was. (end of the row)And what's with people bringing toddlers to these shows anyway? They're expensive, and for some people, it's a once in a lifetime thing. If you want to take a toddler to see her favorite princesses, Disney on Ice would be a better choice instead of bringing her to a place where she probably wouldn't behave."

Last time I went I had a child coughing all through act 1. It was loud too and she was 2 rows behind me. She wasn't there during act 2 but instead there was another child the row in front of me coughing. 

[Phantom4ever]

I just finished a 4-day, 8-show theater binge, (Boys in the Band, Head over Heels, Wicked, Phantom, HP 1, 2, Skintight, and Straight White Men) and it seems that Broadway audiences have crossed a seemingly small but to me, still disturbing threshold. At these 8 shows, I did not see people ON their phones, I saw people CHECKING their phones. I would say every five to ten minutes at all of these shows, someone within my line of sight was checking their phone. No they weren't sending a text or scrolling social media. They were checking the time. Reading a text but not responding to it. Seeing why their phone is vibrating or lighting up. See what the social media notification is. Checking the score of the World Cup. These things were done every 5 to 10 minutes and it legitimately seemed as if I were the unreasonable one. It seems as if everybody knows not to TEXT during a show or keep your phone out, but it is now considered reasonable to take your phone out for a quick second just to see the time or just to see who liked my check-in. I felt like an old worrywart. Is anyone on this board willing to defend this practice of just taking out your phone for a quick second here and there throughout a show?  Because there is 110% the MO of Broadway audiences these days. 

The other trend I noticed was so many very young children---especially at Harry Potter of course, whose parents were just horrible. Constantly checking to see if their child heard lines. Repeating lines to a child. Asking the child what they think will happen in the next scene. Explaining who each character is onstage. Lifting their hand up and pointing at things onstage despite the fact that their arm is impeding on the view of the person behind them. 

The final thing is APPLE WATCHES. Apple watches offer people who can't stay away from their phones a convenient and technically safe way to be on their phones during the show without being on their phones during the show. It seemed that everywhere I looked, someone's apple watch (iwatch?? IDK IDC) was lighting up. The kids in the audience of Harry Potter were so restless and they would constantly sit with their hands up over their heads, waving their glowing watch to everyone behind them, with their parents totally oblivious, but of course still narrating the events of the play. I did hear one usher at the Lyric Theater tell people to turn off their watches, but once they kept lighting up again and again and again, ushers never intervened. The cutesy warning about "disgusting muggle technology" only served to make everyone think the rules are a joke.  

[JayElle]

Last night at Cursed Child Part Two the person in front of me was checking their Facebook every five minutes. I leaned over and asked them if they could put their phone away after the seventh time they brought it out, to which they responded "I'm trying to sell my bike. I need to look at my phone." Interesting choice to decide to sell your bike in the middle of a show."

I have in the past and would've told them it's the phone or they're out the door. I don't tolerate any of that crap.