Will The Audience Please Shut Up!

[+ Lucky]

The bane of theater going in the desert is that the retirees seem to have forgotten their manners. Whether it is a movie or live show, they just can't shut up. They do these stage whispers that are worse than if they just spoke up. It's rampant! Every show has at least one couple near me chattering away.

Tonight at what was a lovely production of The Fantasticks at the Palm Canyon Theater, the woman next to me either was gabbing with her codger husband, who whispered in a loud, raspy voice, or she was singing along, then humming because she didn't know the words. Why do I feel so loathe to speak up and tell her that I came to hear the singers on stage, not her? At one point she talked about "her students" and I wondered what kind of discipline her class had. At intermission the bf took pity and changed seats with me.

But the show, The Fantasticks, was one of the best productions I have ever seen here. The young man who played Matt was strikingly handsome with a great voice, and the guy who played El Gallo was also quite handsome, but much more charming and sexy. He was excellent for the part. The entire cast played well, especially the young woman making her debut as Luisa. What a voice. I liked this production much more than the one I saw in New York many years ago.

[Steven_Draker]

Lucky, next time just raise your voice ...

 

http://img406.imageshack.us/img406/2619/shutupy.jpg

 

Saw The Fantasticks off-Broadway a few years ago, but it didn't impress me much. I'm glad that you liked the new production.

 

Steven ~

[+ Lucky]

The El Gallo character serves as the narrator of the show, and I was just getting adjusted to how handsome he is while he was singing Try to Remember.

Since I had my usual front row seat, he was right in front of me at one point. Whereupon, he extended his hand toward me, stared me right in the eye and sang a lyric to me:

Try to remember when life was so tender

That dreams were kept beside your pillow.

 

I was frozen. Of course, I should have smiled at him, but the best I could do was a little upward flick of the eyes.

A nice moment that I was totally unprepared for. Yes, it happens.

 

Steven, sure, I thought of that. But the last thing you want in a small theater is a scene, and no doubt these folks thought they were in their home watching TV.

So, if I had spoken up, I would have been the intruder. Best not to create a problem, or so I thought.

[RockHard]

Steven, sure, I thought of that. But the last thing you want in a small theater is a scene

 

I realize Steven was being funny but telling someone to "shut up" is never a good idea, no matter where you are. It's the ultimate display of bad manners. Yes, you never want to make a scene so it's imperative to find a gentle and considerate way to let someone know they are interfering with your enjoyment. After all, your ticket cost the same as theirs. You paid for the right to enjoy the show.

 

There is a slight art to putting a stranger in his/her place in public. Practice makes perfect, and always say what needs to be said with a smile. If someone fails to respond, then a visit to management may be necessary.

 

My only experience with an issue like this is on Broadway, where ticket prices are too insane to allow for tolerating a selfish, inconsiderate, oblivious individual. We New Yorkers speak up in situations like these and we get results. Some people live in their own worlds when they're out in public, and sometimes they need to be reminded that they are not watching the show alone.

[Steven_Draker]

I realize Steven was being funny but telling someone to "shut up" is never a good idea, no matter where you are. It's the ultimate display of bad manners. Yes, you never want to make a scene so it's imperative to find a gentle and considerate way ...

 

I wish there would be seats with built in electric shocks that send chattering people into a vegetable state.

 

As RH said, there's always a gentle and considerate way to let them know ... making eye contact or a discreet cough.

[+ purplekow]

Since you made it to intermission, I would have used that point to mention your dismay. Something to the effect, excuse me madam, but you probably are unaware of the enjoyment your singing and talking is sucking out of this performance. I hope you will be a bit more considerate in the second act. Thanks.

[+ Lucky]

I talked to a friend at the theater, and he says that the performers were complaining backstage about the couple. So I probably had a duty to say something!

[Steven_Draker]

Patti Lupone would have stopped the performance (well, for a different reason). Remember this?

 

[video=youtube;WruzPfJ9Rys]

 

Only if she knew that someone was recording her ...

[+ deej]

At a Liza Minnelli concert in Vegas a few years ago a cell phone rang somewhere in the second row of the audience, during the patter in between songs.

 

She turned and very sweetly said "HELLO!" as if she were answering it. Then she added "Do you need a minute? We can wait if you need a minute."

 

The audience roared laughter but I noticed people all around me fumbling in their pockets to check their own phones, I guess making sure they wouldn't ring.

[MscleLovr]

Not only in the theatre but also at the opera in the US, audience-participation seems to occur. There it takes the form of whispered (yet audible) asides, mock-conducting, humming etc. Yet I find it's not the younger people but the middle-aged and older folk who seem unable to sit quietly and enjoy the production.

[uwsman2]

At Carnegie Hall Friday night I attended Cheyenne Jackson's concert with the NY Pops. As he was giving his patter between numbers, a cellphone went off. He turned in that direction and said, "If I was Patty Lupone, you would be dead now." The audience roared!