Theatre Etiquette

[actor61]

I went to the Hollywood Bowl last night to see "Chicago" with Ashlee Simpson and Samantha Barks. Very good production, by the way, even if the show is starting to show its age. I treated myself to a good, relatively expensive seat and arrived early to snack and have a glass of wine. People are always friendly there and you inevitably end up chatting with your neighbors while waiting for the show to start. As it happened, there was a lovely, young gay couple to my left holding hands, and we talked quite a bit, and behind us were 2 older gay men who mentioned that they were with the Los Angeles Gay Mens Chorus and had done a performance the evening before. All very friendly and nice. The lights went down, the show started, and one of the Gay Choristers behind us proceeded to sing every song loudly and with great feeling. His companion shushed him several times but it didn't make a dent. A lady to my right said to him, "I didn't pay $100 to listen to YOU. Shut the hell up." And he did - for a while. Then it all started again. He was channeling Chita and Catherine Zeta and Liza and Gwen. His friend must have talked to him at intermission because he was a little quieter in the second act but he still hummed and whispered lyrics just loud enough that we could hear him. At the end of the show, one of the boys next me to said to him, "You ruined this for me."

 

I've come to hate going to the theatre in L.A. People talk, text, check emails, take phone calls and get up and down as if they were at home. Unless you're Mr. Obama receiving news from North Korea, I don't see what's so important that you can't wait until intermission to check your fucking cell phone! And why do you have to narrate what's going on in the show? "Oh look. He opened the door. The orchestra's starting. He's going to sing." And do you really get out of the parking lot that much sooner if you get up and leave during the finale, disturbing the other ten people sitting in your row who want to hear the final number and applaud the cast at the curtain call?

[tyro]

The decline in manners at ALL public performances is pretty appalling.

T

[+ deej]

The decline in manners at ALL public performances is pretty appalling.

T

 

While that's true, I wouldn't call the Hollywood Bowl an actual theater. It's more of a public picnic.

 

Still, the guy described is a jerk. There's just no excuse for destroying someone else's enjoyment of a performance.

[Steven_Draker]

I sympathize.

 

In some theaters in Belgium disturbing the performance and the enjoyment of your fellow spectators has been taken to a further level. In certain movie theaters you can text from your seat to a special number and the security agent will intervene and ask the 'uncivilized' people to quiet down or leave. Second strike and you're out.

[bigvalboy]

While that's true, I wouldn't call the Hollywood Bowl an actual theater. It's more of a public picnic.

 

Still, the guy described is a jerk. There's just no excuse for destroying someone else's enjoyment of a performance.

 

I'm glad you mentioned that, as that was my feeling also. I don't think that one should attend a performance at the "Bowl" expecting quiet. As deej says, most people view it as nothing more than a "public picnic"...It is the nature of the beast, unless you spend the money for 'box seats'. Generally speaking, the higher you go up, the more casual the atmosphere. The guy was rude, no question, but sadly it almost goes with the territory.

[actor61]

I'm glad you mentioned that, as that was my feeling also. I don't think that one should attend a performance at the "Bowl" expecting quiet. As deej says, most people view it as nothing more than a "public picnic"...It is the nature of the beast, unless you spend the money for 'box seats'. Generally speaking, the higher you go up, the more casual the atmosphere. The guy was rude, no question, but sadly it almost goes with the territory.

 

I was in a box seat and that's why I was surprised at the rudeness of the guy in the box behind us. I actually prefer sitting in the area behind the boxes in what they call the "super seats" (not benches) because the atmosphere in the boxes becomes a little too festive sometimes. Oddly, people are much quieter at the classical concerts when there is just an orchestra, no singers. But in general, peoples' manners at concerts, movies, theatres, etc. have really declined. Modern technology has given us wonderful advantages but cell phones have also become a blight when people don't use them conscientiously. This constant need to text wherever and whenever you feel like it really astounds me. I actually enjoy the hours during the day when I DON'T have to be in touch with people! Such as at a concert or a play.

[edjames]

It never fails. Wednesday night at a performance of Soul Doctor at Circle In the Square a young woman in the third row pulled out her iphone and proceeded to read her messages! The usher had to go down to her and ask her to put it away! On Thursday night at a performance of I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking It On The Road at City Center the dumb ass broads behindkept up their conversation while the show was starting. i turned and asked them to shut up. then one of them repeatedly kept digging through her oversized bag and taking out a tin of mints which sounded like a bunch of cow bells. The woman next to me told her twice to stop it.

Inconsiderate, rude and obnoxious.

ED

[+ nycman]

You want rude?

 

Try going to see "Sleep No More" in NYC.

 

This "interactive" theater experience is a huge 3 hour nightmare of hundreds

of 20-something bridge and tunnel rats running around a 6 story - 100 room set,

pushing, elbowing, and desperately trying to be a "part" of an incredibly boring show.

 

It sets a new standard for rude theater goers in New York.

 

You have been warned.

[bigvalboy]

I was in a box seat and that's why I was surprised at the rudeness of the guy in the box behind us. I actually prefer sitting in the area behind the boxes in what they call the "super seats" (not benches) because the atmosphere in the boxes becomes a little too festive sometimes. Oddly, people are much quieter at the classical concerts when there is just an orchestra, no singers. But in general, peoples' manners at concerts, movies, theatres, etc. have really declined. Modern technology has given us wonderful advantages but cell phones have also become a blight when people don't use them conscientiously. This constant need to text wherever and whenever you feel like it really astounds me. I actually enjoy the hours during the day when I DON'T have to be in touch with people! Such as at a concert or a play.

 

OH....lol....well then never mind... I am just at a bit of a loss, except to reiterate what have already said, that people are quieter at classical concerts, but in general, sadly you are right, peoples manners have declined across the board. I don't even try to understand it anymore. People just have this need to feel connected to the rest of the world, which of course makes them feel more important. Sorry about your experience, rudeness to me is like 'nails on a blackboard' .....When someone pushes my buttons when being rude in public, I can become one nasty bitch. Probably was a good thing that I wasn't there, because I would have done more than telling him to be quiet.

[bostonman]

The "singing along" thing mentioned by the initial poster is truly unforgivable. Some people need to be reminded that they're there to WATCH a show, not perform in it - unless, of course, the audience is INVITED to do so. I think sometimes "singing along" and commenting as actor61 mentioned is a - forgive me - "theatre queen" kind of behavior where someone wants to prove how knowledgeable they are about the show - and sometimes I think it might be a result of a generation that no longer realizes the difference between singing along to a Youtube video (etc) and doing the same thing in the course of a live event.

 

And, of course - not to throw only the younger generation under the bus, lol - nostalgia shows geared to an older generation can also produce this behavior - I did a summer run of Forever Plaid about a decade ago, in a very small cabaret-style theatre setting, and we invariably had older patrons trying to sing some of the songs along with us (despite the arrangements not always going where they expected, lol) - this even though the show actually does have some audience participation built in in the middle of Act II. (They weren't going to wait until then, lol.)

 

The oddest thing I've ever experienced though - and as of this year it's TWICE - is audiences (in both cases, school kids) disrupting the performance by clapping along. The first time, it was a youth production of The Wizard Of Oz, where at certain selected points, the cast did invite the audience to clap along ("Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead" and "We're Off To See The Wizard") - but this one audience decided that meant they could clap along to EVERYTHING, without invitation - so first "If I Only Had A Brain" and then "If I Only Had a Heart" were destroyed by overeager kids who were entertaining themselves by clapping along, and no longer listening to the kids onstage performing. I was leading the orchestra in front of the stage (visible to the audience), and when they started to clap along to "If I Only Had A Heart" (and as I recall, the actor got thrown off in the process), I did what I never thought I'd ever do - I stopped the show. I stood up, and trying to keep things in a positive light, I reminded the audience that there were appropriate times to applaud, but that they should show respect for the hard-working actors onstage and listen to the songs instead of clapping along. (And yes, I did get parents and other adults coming up to me after the show to thank me for that.)

 

The second time was a recent, professional production of Oliver, at a morning performance particularly for school groups. In this case there was no precedent for having the audience clap along - I think there was a group of kids that just were getting bored in Act II. For those of you who know the show, the clapping spontaneously started during the uptempo part of "Who Will Buy" and just kept going, whenever the music got jaunty. It came to a head during "Reviewing The Situation" (which, for those of you who know the song, alternates in slow sections and fast sections, but the fast sections come to sudden stops, etc, so it's not exactly predictable music to clap along to) - this time I was down in the orchestra pit below the stage, and I felt like I didn't have the control to just stop the show. The actor playing Fagin did get thrown off by the clapping - and we did our best to stay together. After the show, there was a long, interesting email exchange among a number of us in charge of the production, and we couldn't quite come to a consensus as to how to proceed in the future (i.e. saying something to the young audience beforehand wouldn't be a good idea, as it might plant the idea in their heads that they COULD do it, etc), except that we did decide that if this happened in the future, we would stop the show and ask the audience to stop.

[Steven_Draker]

Modern technology has given us wonderful advantages but cell phones have also become a blight when people don't use them conscientiously.

 

What about bringing in a portable cell phone signal jammer in the theater?

 

http://www.globalspycameras.com/images/01/20111031180011qf7tdnr7.jpg

[bostonman]

I went to the Hollywood Bowl last night to see "Chicago" with Ashlee Simpson and Samantha Barks.

 

By the way, Variety's take on Barks and Simpson:

 

"...best-in-show Samantha Barks struts her stuff. In a socko transformation from delicate Eponine in 2012’s Les Miserables pic to hard-boiled felon Velma Kelly, the petite Brit is revealed as a true Broadway-style pepper pot with plangent voice and irresistible grin. Easily 20 years too young for the role, Banks simply ignores the age thing with an authentically hard-as-nails manner. Better still, she commits to total belief in what’s at stake as Velma awaits judgment: This songstress never forgets there could be a noose in her future.

 

The tuner’s main jazz baby and accused lover-killer is something else again. If Ashlee Simpson possessed a sense of her life hanging in the balance when she assayed Roxie Hart in Gotham and London, it’s gone now, replaced by mugging. She whispers her way through the songs, her aim better when plugging boyfriend Fred Casely than when hitting the high notes. Still, she’s game, moves well and is clearly an audience favorite."

[actor61]

By the way, Variety's take on Barks and Simpson:

 

"...best-in-show Samantha Barks struts her stuff. In a socko transformation from delicate Eponine in 2012’s Les Miserables pic to hard-boiled felon Velma Kelly, the petite Brit is revealed as a true Broadway-style pepper pot with plangent voice and irresistible grin. Easily 20 years too young for the role, Banks simply ignores the age thing with an authentically hard-as-nails manner. Better still, she commits to total belief in what’s at stake as Velma awaits judgment: This songstress never forgets there could be a noose in her future.

 

Golly, that reviewer and I must have seen different shows!!! I thought Barks was awful. She has a great voice and a great look but her dancing was mediocre and lackluster, and - worst sin of all - she just wasn't funny. Simpson, on the other hand, has a terrible voice but an amazing body and is a terrific dancer - at least in this show. When the 2 of them did Hot Honey Rag, Simpson ourshone Barks by a mile. Lucy Lawless was pretty good as Mama Morton, although not dikey enough. I thought the men were appalling. Drew Carey played Amos and was just dreadful but the audience ("Price is Right" fans probably) adored him. Stephen Moyer from "True Blood" played Billy Flynn. He has a very small voice and often went flat in the upper register. And he was pretty boring.

 

The ensemble was superb. Any one of the women dancing behind the stars could have replaced them and done a much better job. Theatre in L.A. has become so star driven that it's impossible any longer to see an "unknown" in a leading role. I suppose the same could be said for the Godawful t.v. stars who play on Broadway but in NYC, it seems, someone without an Emmy can still get a chance at a role in a show. Not so much out here. I have seen so many plays and musicals here with stars giving performances that wouldn't even make the high school drama club. But they sell tickets and as long as live theatre is making money, one has to accept it. I hollered "You go" the night Tracy Letts accepted his Tony for "Osage County" and said something about the "real" theatre actors in his play.

[actor61]

I spent nearly 20 years performing in dinner theatres, a lot of them in Florida. I made a great living and played some wonderful roles but the best lessons I ever learned were in patience. Holy crap, you needed a lot of it to put up with those audiences!!! We did shows that most of them practically knew by heart (Hello Dolly, Mame, Oklahoma, Guys and Dolls, My Fair Lady) and they would shout the punchlines to jokes at each other a couple of seconds before the actors said them, or announce what song was next to their neighbors. "Martha, here comes I Could Have Danced All Night!" But at least they were paying attention. It was the days before ubiquitous cell phones, so we didn't have to contend with texting and little lights dotting the audience but they had pagers, and sometimes you'd hear those beep. What drove the actors just nuts was the mostly elderly audience starting up the aisles during the last number of a show to get to their cars before anybody else. We would often take our bows to the view of backsides heading for the exits!

 

I was playing Albin/Zaza in a dinner theatre in Jacksonville years ago and one night as I was singing "I Am What I Am" in full drag at the end of Act One, a woman in the front row stood up, took the hem of my dress in her hand, looked up at me and asked, "Is this silk or polyester?" I stopped singing, looked down at her and replied, "Oh honey, it's polyester. I got it at Loehmans. But it looks real, don't it?" Stopped the show - best applause I've ever had!!!

[+ deej]

OH....lol....well then never mind... I am just at a bit of a loss, except to reiterate what have already said, that people are quieter at classical concerts, but in general, sadly you are right, peoples manners have declined across the board..

 

About 20 years ago I had lunch with a friend who ran a business etiquette consulting firm. When I asked "how 's business?" she replied "It's great! Rudeness is rampant."

 

It's nothing new.

[bigvalboy]

About 20 years ago I had lunch with a friend who ran a business etiquette consulting firm. When I asked "how 's business?" she replied "It's great! Rudeness is rampant."

 

It's nothing new.

 

You're probably right. Perhaps I am noticing it more since I am getting older, and of course more cranky and less tolerant of those around me. My patience seems razor thin these days.

[foxy]

Years ago I went to a performance of Swan Lake at Lincoln Center. I was in the third tier. A woman was talking loudly to her husband as the "swans" came out. Another man shushed her and then there was an angry exchange as the two men yelled back and forth to each other. All the "swans" looked up. Everything is not always beautiful at the ballet.

[adriano46]

The decline in manners at ALL public performances is pretty appalling.

T

 

Which is why I (very sadly) avoid the theatre now.

[edjames]

I forgot to relate this recent Broadway theater adventure...

July 4th performance of Cinderella on Broadway. 2 seats on the aisle in Row R sit vacant for the opening number. As soon as the number is over, two 30-something DRUNK queens come in and take the seats, with cocktails in hand. They proceed to loudly talk, laugh inappropriately during the first act. The woman behind them asks them to be quiet. One queen turns and starts arguing with her. With that, a guy from across the aisle jumps over his friends and puts his face squarely into theirs and threatens them with physical violence if they don't shut up and behave. It was glorious! Thankfully I had seen the show before but the show in the aisle was worth the price of admission. The drunk and obnoxious queens stumbled out at intermission and thankfully did not return for the second act. And I was worried about the children in the audience being disruptive! Ha!

But this just goes to show the level of disrespect for the actors, fellow audience members and society in general that some people have. Bad behavior is rampant. And don't think that those who attend "classical" events are any better. I went to a NYPhil concert last year where the older guy in front of me waved his arms frantically about in a pretend conductor manner. Jeez!

And people wonder why I feel the need for a cocktail after theater....

Perhaps I, too, have gotten crankier and my expectations of acceptable behavior are too high but nevertheless I am not above telling loud and obnoxious people to put a lid on it at these events.

ED

[whipped guy]

I once had the misfortune of sitting next to a guy at the Metropolitan Opera who was totally drunk out of his mind. Every time a big tune would appear he not only began conducting, but sang along... but not the melody, but rather the bass line... kind of like a built in basso continuo player sitting next to me. To make matters worse he not only reeked of booze, but also tobacco, and probably had not taken a shower in months. I should have spoken to an usher during intermission, but I'm not sure if that would have done much good. This occurred on the Grand Tier level so the seats were not exactly cheap... All the more I should have complained.

[actor61]

I started this thread in July and loved the various responses. They confirmed what I have always perceived to be the steady decline in manners at public performances. The other night I witnessed one of the best revenges I've ever seen and just had to share it. I was in about the fourth row at a musical and in the second row was a young woman whose cell phone rang almost incessantly and she answered it each time, announcing, "Oh hi! I'm at the show! It's really good! What are you guys doing?" Everybody around her shushed her and her response was to say into her cell phone, "Oops. I guess I'm kinda loud. Can you hear me if I whisper?" After about the 4th time, the conductor of the orchestra stopped the music, climbed over the rail, went to the end of her row and yelled, "GIVE THE PHONE TO ME - NOW!!!" The audience erupted with applause. She sheepishly handed it to him, he put it in his pocket, and said, "Find me at intermission." When he got back to his position in front of the orchestra, the phone rang (obviously both he and the owner had forgotten to turn it off), and he answered saying, "She'll call you back." He got a standing ovation.

[tyro]

That. Is. EPIC!!!!!!

T

[whipped guy]

I started this thread in July and loved the various responses. They confirmed what I have always perceived to be the steady decline in manners at public performances. The other night I witnessed one of the best revenges I've ever seen and just had to share it. I was in about the fourth row at a musical and in the second row was a young woman whose cell phone rang almost incessantly and she answered it each time, announcing, "Oh hi! I'm at the show! It's really good! What are you guys doing?" Everybody around her shushed her and her response was to say into her cell phone, "Oops. I guess I'm kinda loud. Can you hear me if I whisper?" After about the 4th time, the conductor of the orchestra stopped the music, climbed over the rail, went to the end of her row and yelled, "GIVE THE PHONE TO ME - NOW!!!" The audience erupted with applause. She sheepishly handed it to him, he put it in his pocket, and said, "Find me at intermission." When he got back to his position in front of the orchestra, the phone rang (obviously both he and the owner had forgotten to turn it off), and he answered saying, "She'll call you back." He got a standing ovation.

Bravo! No make that BRAVISSIMO!!!

[bigvalboy]

I only wish I was there....I always miss the good stuff. lol

[bostonman]

I started this thread in July and loved the various responses. They confirmed what I have always perceived to be the steady decline in manners at public performances. The other night I witnessed one of the best revenges I've ever seen and just had to share it. I was in about the fourth row at a musical and in the second row was a young woman whose cell phone rang almost incessantly and she answered it each time, announcing, "Oh hi! I'm at the show! It's really good! What are you guys doing?" Everybody around her shushed her and her response was to say into her cell phone, "Oops. I guess I'm kinda loud. Can you hear me if I whisper?" After about the 4th time, the conductor of the orchestra stopped the music, climbed over the rail, went to the end of her row and yelled, "GIVE THE PHONE TO ME - NOW!!!" The audience erupted with applause. She sheepishly handed it to him, he put it in his pocket, and said, "Find me at intermission." When he got back to his position in front of the orchestra, the phone rang (obviously both he and the owner had forgotten to turn it off), and he answered saying, "She'll call you back." He got a standing ovation.

 

Phenomenal! What show was it?

 

Of course, one problem with this kind of "revenge" is that there always might be "trolls" out there in an audience who know that something like this could happen, ready to try to provoke something like this themselves. People who would deliberately talk on their phones, etc, just to see how much of a response they could get. Admittedly, with the price of theatre tickets these days, I can't imagine most people spending all that money just to start a commotion, but there are nut jobs out there...

 

...which leads me to my favorite favorite favorite theatre cellphone story...a story I wouldn't have believed had I not been there to experience it.

 

I was the musical director for a show at a reputable regional theatre in Boston, and I was playing the piano for the auditions. Just the director and myself in the audition room. And in walks this woman...someone who I've seen at countless auditions, but have never worked with - nor do I know anyone that has ever hired her (though clearly she must get work somewhere). I don't want to actually say that she's crazy, but there definitely is something unsettling about her - something bizarre - and sometimes she auditions with bizarre material as well (odd self-scripted monologues, etc). One of those people that when you look on the list of auditioners and you see her name, you go, "really? her again?"

 

Anyway, so she comes in - and I can't remember if she sang or not, but she did start in on a monologue, and then a phone rings in her purse.

 

Now, an auditioning actor could do several things in a case like this. Try to ignore the ring if possible, or stop, apologize, get the phone, and turn it off.

 

Nope. She answered the call. She. Answered. The. Call.

 

(She may have said "excuse me" first but I don't remember - I seem to recall she was politely apologetic but not really showing any embarrassment.)

 

Now - before anyone here says, "well, maybe it was an emergency" - I assure you it wasn't. It sounded like maybe this was a family member she was talking to - but no tone of urgency or emergency. She had a short conversation, explaining calmly and matter-of-factly to whomever it was, saying she was at an audition and would have to call back later. As if this was just an everyday common occurrence.

 

Then she started her monologue over.

 

My head was, by this point, slumped against the piano in disbelief.

 

(And no, she never explained to us what that was all about - no apology that she had been expecting an important call, or anything.)

 

We didn't cast her.

 

 

(As Anna Russell famously said, "I'm not making this up, you know...")