Bad Theater Behavior

[JayElle]

Damn....gotta sell my Harry tickets.  If the audience is like they were in S/Bob, I don't need to see the show.

[Phantom4ever]

If I would have tried to confront people who took out their phones these past 4 days, it would have been a wack-a-mole situation. As soon as one phone went away, another came out.  And then the watches.  There was absolutely no way I could have even confronted a tiny fraction of them.

[greenifyme2]

Theaters really need to stop with the cutesy announcements. They do it, everyone laughs, and it continues to be a problem. Simply state before curtain that phones are not allowed and if you don’t follow the rule you will be escorted out.

[taylortrensch]

I saw Once on This Island tonight and a lot of the audience was very rude. Despite how many times the ushers and cast says "no photos", these ladies in the front row continued to take photos and laughed when Isaac P went over and told them to stop. An usher had to stand near them until the show started.


There were also these old ladies next to me who would not stop laughing. I know that some things in the show are funny, but we were sat right there in the sand and as "Ti Moune" played out right in front of us, one of them burst into laughter. Every little thing made one of them laugh and I eventually leaned over and told them to stop which made them roll their eyes and one of them said "be quiet little girl". So rude smh 

I saw Hamilton this past Sunday and this big group in the row in front of me came in late. They took their time sitting down and throughout the show one of them was rummaging through her purse which was super loud and began to smack her lips when she was chewing gum. A couple in the group got bored and kept leaning to talk to each other and one of them kept flipping her phone over to read her notifications. It bothered me a lot because we were in the front center orchestra in premium seats. 


Edit: I also saw Anastasia this past week and despite their no late seating policy, two very loud girls came in during act 1 and their seats were directly behind mine. I thought their chattering and the usher's flash light was bad enough but after they sat, one of them swung their leg over their knee and hit the back of my head in the process. 

[Addipia94]

All these accounts of phone usage is still mind boggling to me. Like people pay a lot of money to see these shows and for what? To look at their phone which they can do at intermission or after the show? But this is nothing new. Phones should be banned period as others have suggested. If seen, you are removed and no re-entry.

I was at Wicked this past weekend (my friend's first time seeing the show), and the number of people that got up to use the restroom or just exit during the show was insane. People came late by 20 min to the show and the ushers let them in, turned their flashlights and waved them around to show them their seats like we were at a fricken disco. I think 20-30 got up during each act. We were sitting near the doors and it was so distracting with the doors constantly opening and closing, and people walking around like they were seeing a show in their living room!

[Miles2Go2]

When I saw The Iceman Cometh (loved it!) last month, I was in Orchestra Row A. The lady next to me apparentiy got bored because around Act 3 she started slipping her phone out of her small purse in her lap and TEXTING. Luckily, there were two rows ahead of us and only my seat didn’t have a seat in front of it. She also started eating M&M’s about the same time.

Having said that, I don’t think you can ban phones from theatres. Many of us, myself included, use them to navigate the city including getting to the theatre. Also, once I leave my hotel room I have a full day of it including shopping and eating and often two shows on two-show days. I need my phone to make navigating NYC easier and still get to the theatre on time.

I would not object however to them turning on cellphone blocking technology during the actual performance.

[EllieRose2]

I have been saying this for years and I know it couldn't work in huge Broadway houses but everyone should check their phone in the lobby.  I was just at a tiny regional theater in Vermont and they had cubbies with your seat number on it, and everyone was to put their phone in them.  It worked and everyone behaved beautifully.  I just wish someone could put a system in place for larger theaters!

[BroadwayNoob]

I sat through the closing performance of War Paint with two young kids next to me playing games on their phones and jumping around in the seats. They didn't speak English, their parents were nowhere in sight, and obviously didn't understand the ushers when they were told to put their phones away. I even made as abvois of a gesture that I could to put their phones away but they just gave me blank stares. On top of that they had these giant jangly tourist-ey keychains that were jingling the whole show. Made the entire experience absolutely awful unfortunately

 

When I saw Charlie there was a mother singing along to candyman right in the beginning of the show and her own daughter told her to be quiet. Then that same daughter started screaming about wanting more candy and the mother dragged her 3 other kids out of their seats and marched out of the theater, which caused the other kids to start screaming because they did nothing wrong. They didn't come back to those seats and I wonder if they just left. They were sitting in the 7th row though so I can't imagine how much it cost them just to leave 15 min in

 

When I saw SpongeBob I sat behind two kids who were fighting with each other the whole time and their parents who were sitting on either side of them just acted like they didn't even know them. Right in the beginning of act two one of them just shrieks "THIS IS WHY YOU RUIN EVERYTHING I HATE DOING STUFF WITH YOU" and then the other boy was crying in to his jacket for a good 15 minutes. I don't understand why the parents didn't just rip those kids right out of the theater

 

At Kinky Boots right after Hold me in Your Heart, someones ringer went off full blast and ruined the moment so horribly, Half the theater was crying and then some blaring iPhone just went off. I literally wanted to strangle that person.

 

2 weekends ago I saw TPTGW with my friends and one of them not only left her ringer on (what?) her phone went off and she sat there for a good 2 minutes fumbling through the settings trying to turn off the ringer. She then checked her phone multiple times during the performance to the point where i had to slap her on the leg because she was being so rude. It was so strange because I could never imagine doing something like that

 

Sorry, I get really bothered by stuff like this. The only time I haven't had any problems whatsoever was when I saw Phantom since I had first row seats and didn't have to see anyone pull out their phones in front of me, and surprisingly no phones went off

[dramamama611]

Damn, you people have the worst luck.

[hollebolle]

JayElle said: "Damn....gotta sell my Harry tickets. If the audience is like they were in S/Bob, I don't need to see the show."

I’m sure a show with as huge a name as HP is probably more likely to attract audiences who are less familiar with theater etiquette (much like any super touristy show), but I just wanted to throw in my two cents: I had no issues last weekend when I saw it. Granted I was all the way up in the balcony (row B) in an aisle seat, but the literal only complaint I had was that the adults in front of me started to scramble for booster seats during intermission, which ended up being a non-issue. I wouldn’t be so quick to sell for that reason alone.

I’ve been on a bit of a theater binge recently, and the only negative experience I’ve had was at Once on this Island, when I was sitting in front of a high school group who could not contain themselves whenever Isaac Powell apppeared.

[Lot666]

Miles2Go2 said: "I would not object however to them turning on cellphone blocking technology during the actual performance."

I really would like to see theatres implement technology that blocks all cellular and wifi connections in the auditorium as soon as the lights go down.

I also would like to see theatres actually enforce the now seemingly ubiquitous "Please be advised performances begin promptly at the time indicated on your ticket. There will be no late seating for __________. Patrons arriving after the performance has begun will not be admitted until intermission." policy. Unfortunately, this is nothing more than an impotent scare tactic.

[kennin]

It seems that we are all having issues with others using their phones.  I was at the first preview of Iceman, and the woman a row in front of me texted through the entire show.  I told the usher during the first intermission, and she said she would keep her eyes open for it.  Nothing happened.  My question is this...where are the ushers?  I remember not that long ago that they would see a cell and the flashlight would come out.  All one has to do is stand at the back of a section to see what is going on.  The two women next to me at HP were talking and I asked them to stop.  After that, one of them kept checking her phone.  I had to say something again.  I just find it so frustrating when all I want is to enjoy a show, but instead, I end of focusing on having the internal dialogue as to whether or not I should address the rude people.  The ushers should be watching the audience and taking the phone of those who cannot put them away.

[Miles2Go2]

The ushers at the Vivian Beaumont seem to be on top of things. When I attended My Fair Lady last month, I checked my bags (my backpack plus one shopping bag), but held onto the clear bag they gave me when I bought the MFL program. When I got to my seat, I took a pic of my playbill and posted it to Instagram. Then I turned off my phone which was charging via portable battery backup and then dropped it into my clear bag along with my playbill. I was in the aisle seat so dropped my thin sack between me and the small space between my seat and the railing. Within minutes the usher asked me to turn off whatever was emitting a blue light. I had forgotten that this particular charger had a small blue light. Of course, I unplugged it which immediately turns the small light off. This was all before the show began.

[kmissa]

This is interesting b/c at HP the Usher was not messing around and I would've been afraid to pull my phone out. I also have hometraining and it would never cross my mind to touch my fun unless it's intermission. 

I may have mentioned this before, but I was stunned at this awful couple seated beside me at The Iceman. I think they may have been drunk, but the kept talking in the middle of it, dude kept caressing her to the point I ccould feel it and you could hear it b/c of the material of her fleece, and then the guy had the nerve to pull out his phone and record minutes of the performance. At intermission, I told the usher along with another woman behind them who was telling him to put his phone away. Security came and let it slide, but they thankfully ended up leaving after the 2nd intermission. At least 5 phones/chimes went off last week at AIA part one, and I didn't notice the guy playing with his phone in front of me, but the lady next to him was pissed and yelled at him as they excited at the end of the show, lol. It blows my mind people are that obsessed with their phones. Or maybe they get free tickets so they don't care?

[Miles2Go2]

PThespian said: “I also think it’s preposterous to say things like “The ushers at the Vivian Beaumont seem to beon top of it” merely because one of them happened to be able to see your phone charger. I would’ve done the same thing at my theater if I saw it as would almost any other usher I know.

The difference isn’t the theater it’s the individual usher and, more specifically, if they can spot the offenders in the first place.I’ve worked enough theaters over the years to let you know that no one house has a monopoly on all great ushers."

My apologies. I didn’t mean to offend or malign ushers at other theaters. 

[DAME]

Using phone or talking during a show is a pubic disturbance in a public place.  I know it is silly.. but we need to start having some very visible arrests.. then people will start getting the message. 

[haterobics]

kmissa said: "it would never cross my mind to touch my fun unless it's intermission."

Can't you wait until you get home to touch your fun?

[Broadway61004]

Remember that time that Mayor Bloomberg voted against banning cell phone use in the theatres and then the community responded by giving him a special Tony award?  So as much as I agree with everyone who despises the use of cell phones in the theatre, I have a hard time believing that the theatres are actually taking this issue seriously.

[LxGstv]

I’ve had my share of phones and talking people, which is incredibly annoying... but last Friday during Hello Dolly I experienced something others complained about it here before that’s a bit harder to deal with... body odor...

I get it, it’s super hot in the city, and sometimes people, specially tourists, don’t have time to stop by their hotel to shower before the show... but if you have theater tickets maybe take some wipes and a deodorant with you?! It was absolutely disgusting... I figured once the show had started and the AC kicked in it wouldn’t be so bad... it wasn’t... how to even address this issue?! If it’s a phone you can ask them to put it away... you can’t really ask someone to go clean themselves up...

Luckily we talked to an usher that took us to the house manager and got us moved for the second act...

[DAME]

A few years ago during Pippin;  I had to sit behind a family sharing a Tuna sandwich.  It was disgusting.  It smelled  so bad.  The ushers would come.  They would put it away.  The ushers would leave.  Out cane the sandwich again.  

[ilysespieces]

Like others have said, Apple watches drive me up a wall. I have a smart watch but I put mine on Do Not Disturb for the length of the show so that it doesn't light up when I clap, is that not possible with Apple watches? If it is, obviously no one in any theatre knows this, I saw Songs for a New World last week and at the end of every song there was a sea of lighted wrists flashing around when people clapped. It's so distracting, but thankfully [for me] only really noticeable during applause so it doesn't ruin the mood as much as other things.

I also saw Wicked (for the first time, wtf me!) Sunday and a group of women and kids behind me were talking among themselves the entire time. They were too diagonal to me to say anything but myself and the few people around me in my row kept looking back, hoping to manage to catch an eye and telepathically tell them to STFU. One of these women had to have brought a box of Oreo cookies or something in a plastic container, because [no joke] the entire show I could hear her crinkling around with her snack, she ate some snack the whole length of the show. I still enjoyed myself for sure, but people like that just ruin the mood.

[Cape Twirl of Doom]

Apple Watches have a setting specifically called "Theater Mode" that stops the face from lighting up when moved. I always put mine on both Theater Mode and Do Not Disturb just to be sure. Though I honestly can't say I have ever noticed Apple Watches lighting up during a show. Phones I see and am bothered by all the time, but I never see the light from watches.

[BrodyFosse123]

For iPhones, they can just play over the PA: "Siri, turn off phone" and the phone will shut itself off.  This does work as whenever I'm watching TV and someone says "Siri" my iPhone lights up and goes into its Siri mode without me even touching the phone.  

 

[EllieRose2]

The ushers are always going to be a mixed bag.  Some are extremely on top of it (Hedwig with NPH they were insane, it was awesome) and some are so lax, you never see them again after you get a Playbill.  Angels in America had amazing ushers, they were speaking into their microphones the entire time, organized and on top of everything.  

[quizking101]

I actually think the best option would be what I have seen at television tapings and some live comedy shows and that is a sleeve that seals with a magnetic pin, and just open the theatre earlier to have people sleeve their phones before the show.

It worked very well when I went to a taping of "The $100,000 Pyramid" (though part of the reason they had them was because of federal regulations to prevent cheating and whatnot), and I had a friend who saw Chris Rock in AC last year where they sleeved their phones because he was trying out new material that he didn't want leaked.