1859 replies to this topic

[poster J]

Possibly the worst behaved audience I've ever had the misfortune to be in a theatre with at 42nd Street in Belfast tonight.  The woman beside me talked during much of the show (even after I told her to be quiet), spent all of Act 2 texting and drinking and then scremed loudly at one performer during the curtain call before proceeding not to even applaud anyone else.  And the rest of the audience was full of people talking, singing along loudly out of time and out of tune and whooping.

Also, does it annoy anyone else when people don't shut up during opening overtures (either at the start or after the interval?).  Practically the whole audience talked through both overtures tonight and it was so annoying!

[Zippy]

This is a common occurrence at the Grand Opera House. People were yacking away throughout the overture for Blood Brothers and for a few minutes when the narrator was doing his opening speech. Kind of irritating but not as bad as what you experienced. Nothing worse than being around a drunk woman in the theatre.

[Lover]

Steffi, on 19 June 2012 - 11:26 AM, said:

Does is annoy anyone else when people next to you start doing the choreography of the show in their seats? I've witnessed this a few times at several shows - people moving their hands and arms in sync with the cast on stage. Obviously this doesn't make any noise and those people are clearly enjoying the show (and have probably seen it various times) which is all fine. But I simply can't blend out the constant movement next to me and find it rather distracting.

Actually you may find this was not the audience but actually members of the company rehearsing and stuff. ! Ive seen this many times with Swings in shows and understudies. Normally they do hide at the back, but I agree. It shouldn't happen

[Richey]

poster J, on 21 June 2012 - 10:29 PM, said:

Also, does it annoy anyone else when people don't shut up during opening overtures (either at the start or after the interval?).  Practically the whole audience talked through both overtures tonight and it was so annoying!

Yes- this is one of my pet peeves. I've experienced it twice recently, both at the Palace in Manchester. During the Overture at South Pacific when I had to glare at two woman behind who would not shut up and also during the Entr'acte of Phantom when there was a general buzz of conversation across the theatre.

[xanderl]

Gentlemen: if you are a bit on the larger side, and have a tendency to sweat, and are planning to go to see a play in a small venue with bench seating which is sold out, please don't just wear a vest. If you do find yourself in this situation while wearing a vest, please keep your arms as close in to your body as possible and don't encroach on my space.

Thanks!

[bex1210]

I haven't encountered many annoying or badly behaved people at shows but I went to Jersey Boys last week and had 2 of the most annoying women sat next to me,

First they came in late so had to squeeze past half of the row as they were sat bang in the middle.

Then they kept talking to each other about bits of the show, fair enough if you do this during applause or in a really quiet whisper but because they chose to do it during the musical numbers they were practically shouting at each other.

They also thought it appropriate to sing really loudly and click their fingers through every song they knew. I've paid money to hear the cast sing, not you!

Final straw was when the cast sung Sherry and one of them squealed really loudly when she recognised the song because she loved it. I had to tell them to pipe down then! I couldn't put up with it for any longer.

During the interval they were constantly complaining that no-one was joining in. It's not a concert!

[Steffi]

Lover, on 22 June 2012 - 01:03 AM, said:

Actually you may find this was not the audience but actually members of the company rehearsing and stuff. ! Ive seen this many times with Swings in shows and understudies. Normally they do hide at the back, but I agree. It shouldn't happen

Nope, definitely not performers but fans of the show on the occasions I've witnessed this.

[CaityGlinda]

I've just spent the weekend in New York and discovered that they (at least the two theatres I visited) don't allow food into the auditorium. Something I really wish would be introduced in the West End. The audiences seemed much quieter at both shows too, although they proceeded to chat throughout the overture and entr'acte of Anything Goes and a mobile phone went off for quite some time during a quiet moment of End of the Rainbow.

[dallardice]

xanderl, on 24 June 2012 - 09:43 AM, said:

Gentlemen: if you are a bit on the larger side, and have a tendency to sweat, and are planning to go to see a play in a small venue with bench seating which is sold out, please don't just wear a vest.

At a production several summers ago at the Drill Hall's downstairs studio theatre, such a gentleman found himself so warm that he was obliged to remove his vest.  Count yourself lucky...

[armadillo]

dallardice, on 26 June 2012 - 02:34 PM, said:

At a production several summers ago at the Drill Hall's downstairs studio theatre, such a gentleman found himself so warm that he was obliged to remove his vest.  Count yourself lucky...

How I miss Jan Brock at these moments