Let it out! Biggest theater pet peeves- Page 1

[hearthemsing22]

Posted: 12/31/20 at 1:54pm

Let it out yall. What are your biggest theatrical pet peeves?

Mine is when people expect you to like a show. When they say it was so amazing, and how could someone not like it, and it deserved all the awards. Like okay. But that doesnt mean its universally liked.

Another one: People who say those who dont like bootlegs dont like poor people. That is absolutely, 100% ridiculous. It needs to stop.

 

also!! When people say they want original content on Broadway, instead of the same revivals and everything, but then they also complain about how “X” show should still be on Broadway....🙄 Make up your friggin’ mind! 

Updated On: 12/31/20 at 01:54 PM

[sparksatmidnight]

Posted: 12/31/20 at 2:34pm

Die if you must but stop with your disgusting coughs during quiet moments

and

rabid fans, especially those who overcompensate being fans of ****ty shows and go with the fury of a thousand deaths if you dare to say the truth about it

[hearthemsing22]

Posted: 12/31/20 at 2:36pm

sparksatmidnight said: "Die if you must but stop with your disgusting coughs during quiet moments

and

rabid fans, especially those who overcompensate being fans of ****ty shows and go with the fury of a thousand deaths if you dare to say the truth about it"

 

oh my GOD YES TO THE SECOND ONE oh my god. 

[morosco]

Posted: 12/31/20 at 3:11pm

Rabid fans? The worst. Usually the ones that are incessantly and overenthusiastically screaming WOOOOO especially at inappropriate times. You'd think they were attending a high school cheerleading competition.

Here is an example (no offense meant to the supremely talented Jessica Lee Goldwyn) 

[ArtMan]

Posted: 12/31/20 at 3:35pm

Cellphones, singing along (usually off tune), talking, chomping food, taking what seems to be hours to take the plastic off their candy/cough drop, shaking the ice in their cups, "whoo" girls and boys, talking back to the actors/actresses on stage, laughing loudly at everything like they are trying to be noticed by the actors/actresses on stage, late arrivals at curtain and after intermission, and when they do arrive when the lights are down, blurting out at the top of their lungs that they can't see.

[ArtMan]

Posted: 12/31/20 at 3:35pm

double

Updated On: 12/31/20 at 03:35 PM

[NameGreg]

Posted: 12/31/20 at 4:10pm

I’ll agree with rabid fans. It’s still annoying even when the show is great, but it really annoys me for fairly mediocre ones like Be More Chill.

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 12/31/20 at 4:36pm

Cell phones, coughing/sneezing, singing along besides when asked to (mouthing is fine though- it is silent), and “stans”/overzealous fans, especially those waiting at stage door.
These bother me so much that it almost makes me consider not attending another B’way show again.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 12/31/20 at 11:15pm

When we used to go agree with everyone here

[blaxx]

Posted: 1/1/21 at 1:07am

Definitely the ones who act like the show is about them, e.g. laughing before the joke, acting as if they knew the performers,etc. I just want to slap them.

[imeldasturn]

Posted: 1/1/21 at 4:58am

Screaming to show enthusiasm and/or appreciation after a song. Just clap your hands and stfu

[Fosse76]

Posted: 1/1/21 at 5:19am

hearthemsing22 said: "Let it out yall. What are your biggest theatrical pet peeves?

Mine is when people expect you to like a show. When they say it was so amazing, and how could someone not like it, and it deserved all the awards. Like okay. But that doesnt mean its universally liked."

A colleague of mine loved The Lion King and saw it several times.  After I finally saw it and she asked if I liked the show, I told her I didn't really care for it. You would have thought I killed her grandmother based on her reaction. 

One of my biggest pet peeves is when you like a show and people try to convince you why you are wrong, in a judgmental way, as opposed to simply stating why they didn't like it. 

[binau]

Posted: 1/1/21 at 7:36am

People that insist they have to scream *over* a performer who is apparently achieving excellence (usually the big note at the end of a song) - if they are enjoying it so much why would they prefer to scream over it rather than actually shut up and enjoy it? It's the most bizarre thing. 

[tmdonahue]

Posted: 1/1/21 at 8:07am

Standing ovations for everything.  What do you do when you're really excited?

Small lobbies; opening theaters 20 minutes before curtain.

Small lavatories with little access for the handicapped.  Few theaters with elevators to the mezzanine and balcony.

Small chairs.  Little leg room.

Audience members who arrive late and have little empathy with those already seated and trying to become involved with the show.

Musicals with bad sound design that muffles the words to most songs.  (Thankfully, this is becoming less frequent.  But Matilda!)

[Charley Kringas Inc]

Posted: 1/1/21 at 2:51pm

Overamplification, for sure. Obviously, there are plenty of shows with great sound design (last year's tour of The Band's Visit was absolutely perfect), but bad amplification kills the evening. It's particularly nasty in small theatres where the opportunity exists to take advantage of a more intimate space and show off the beauty of natural voices and instruments, but instead the musicians and the singers are both cranked up to ten for no reason that I can fathom.

[RunnyBabbit]

Posted: 1/1/21 at 3:35pm

When people feel the need to clap along to the music, especially when there’s singing happening.  And 95% of the time their clapping is off beat.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 1/1/21 at 3:38pm

Talking through the entire show. Like, why the f*ck are you here?

[msmp]

Posted: 1/1/21 at 11:09pm

tmdonahue said: "Standing ovations for everything. What do you do when you're really excited?

Small lobbies; opening theaters 20 minutes before curtain.

Small lavatories with little access for the handicapped. Few theaters with elevators to the mezzanine and balcony.

Small chairs. Little leg room.

Audience members who arrive late and have little empathy with those already seated and trying to become involved with the show.

Musicals with bad sound design that muffles the words to most songs. (Thankfully, this is becoming less frequent. ButMatilda!)"

The lack of accessible restrooms is a huge one for me. Don't even get me started on the Shubert's handicap bathroom being located...across the street and up an elevator.

[poisonivy2]

Posted: 1/2/21 at 1:50am

I know this is a small thing but I get really annoyed at Scott Rudin's refusal to allow color playbills in his plays and his stinginess with production stills. I feel like it's a control freak thing of his and it's annoying. The world isn't going to end if you release a few quality color publicity stills of your plays.

[ARTc3]

Posted: 1/2/21 at 2:03am

premium pricing

[hearthemsing22]

Posted: 1/2/21 at 9:17am

qolbinau said: "People that insist they have to scream *over* a performer who is apparently achieving excellence (usually the big note at the end of a song) - if they are enjoying it so much why would they prefer to scream over it rather than actually shut up and enjoy it? It's the most bizarre thing."

Oh my gosh YES. 
I have two examples.

 

I saw Jessica Vosk in her first Broadway performance as Elphaba. When she reached the end of Defying Gravity, everyone was cheering so loudly that I couldn’t hear the final note!! SO frustrating!!! Applaud and cheer AFTER. Not during!! 
Same thing happened at the final performance of Anastasia. I couldn’t hear the final notes of “Journey to the past” because everyone started screaming and cheering, so I didn’t hear anything  

[hearthemsing22]

Posted: 1/5/21 at 4:35pm

Just thought of another one...how technology is affecting the world, and thus, theater. When I was younger I don't remember people being so obsessed with being able to access theater whenever they wanted. They didn't demand it (or maybe I was just naive and was young so I didn't notice?). They didn't blame their location on NEEDING bootlegs. But now everyone is so desperate for theater that they think it doesn't matter to do illegal things to get it. What happened to waiting until you were old enough to do something you want? Like working hard, earning money, saving, and then spending that hard earned money on something like a trip to the theater or a trip somewhere else to see theater? Why does it have to be up to that person, so when they decide they want to see it, they need a bootleg, or a proshot? If theaters wanted to do that, and they could think of a legal way to do without people copying it so they don't lose money, I'm sure they would. They figured out how to release Hamilton. Once they figure out how to make it fair for other shows, they will. But people need to stop with the bootlegs. If there are bootlegs of shows when they come back, how will Broadway bounce back financially?

[IAmAnIslander2]

Posted: 1/5/21 at 5:06pm

Jukebox musicals

[candydog2]

Posted: 1/5/21 at 6:06pm

I used to work front of house in theatres in London and have many pet peeves, so I'll go for a less obvious one:

SUITCASES. Seriously people. Go check in to your hotel. On one big musical we'd have to store at least 2 or 3 LARGE suitcases at each performance, not to mention all the little pull-along cabin baggage ones as well.

Theatres don't have large spaces for coat-checks, and in today's security-conscious world every bag has to be searched, especially if entering a large, crowded venue. It's such a pain for security to have to stop everything while they open up your huge suitcase and rummage through your underwear in the lobby of a busy theatre. It's really SO unnecessary. 

[windowwaving]

Posted: 1/5/21 at 7:26pm

candydog2 said: "I used to work front of house in theatres in London and have many pet peeves, so I'll go for a less obvious one:

SUITCASES. Seriously people. Go check in to your hotel. On one bigmusical we'd have to store at least 2 or 3 LARGE suitcases at each performance, not to mention all the little pull-along cabin baggage ones as well.

Theatres don't have large spaces for coat-checks, and in today's security-conscious world every bag has to be searched, especially if entering a large, crowded venue. It's such a pain for security to have to stop everything while they open up your huge suitcase and rummage through your underwear in the lobby of a busy theatre. It's really SO unnecessary."

I am absolutely sure it is a pain and I try at all costs to avoid it, but I actually really needed to bring my carry-on to Wicked once. I had an evening flight to catch at JFK right after and my Airbnb was in Brooklyn. Besides check-out being very early, I would have had to add an additional 2 hours to my commute back to Brooklyn then back to the airport where I would have missed my flight. 

I actually didn't expect that they would let me bring it in because I never would have thought to done so, but I looked it up online and it sounded pretty common. Once I got to the Gershwin, it seemed like they had a streamlined process as I got in and out with my luggage very quickly. But it might just be because Wicked is more of a tourist show. I probably wouldn't have tried it on a smaller show.