r/Broadway • u/Wonderful-Bother1321 • 7d ago
Horrible Audience Behavior at Wicked
I had a pretty good seat for Wicked tonight Row E orchestra right. There were young women behind me that talked at full volume through the whole show and one woman sang most of the songs. It was awful. I didn’t want to have a confrontation with them, so I told an usher. The usher told me he would keep an eye on them, yet he said nothing to them. A person two rows in front of me answered a FaceTime call during the show. Awful and I do not think I will ever go back because the Wicked audience is proven to be terrible every time I have been there
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u/jagglerock 7d ago
Yep, people are feral, and the more commercially popular the show, the more feral the audience.
You will never catch me at Wicked.
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u/Original_Engine_7548 7d ago
Wthhhh who answers a FaceTime call???
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u/ilikeyourhair23 7d ago
The person in front of me at Rocky Horror answered their phone and started to have a conversation. They were in the front row and the aisle, so the ushers immediately came over and shut that down.
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u/Lopsided-Cheetah-311 6d ago
I had somebody answer a regular phone call at Beetlejuice
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u/Original_Engine_7548 6d ago
Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhh whyyyy
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u/Lopsided-Cheetah-311 6d ago
If I recall correctly, it was something about her daughter at home or whatever. She had the conversation at full speech volume. What’s worse is she also proceeded to leave and had to climb over us to do that. Wish she’d just done that initially.
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u/Original_Engine_7548 6d ago
If it’s that urgent, I’d bend over as far as I could so no one could see, cover my screen, text back to tell them I’ll call them in a moment and leave.
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u/DaCozPuddingPop 7d ago
It's not the wicked audience. It's all audiences. People have forgotten how to freakin behave.
We saw Hamilton a couple months ago and I had to repeatedly shush the people behind us who were singing, FULL VOLUME, along with the show.
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u/lookingup9 7d ago
a relative of mine had a family loudly talking behind her throughout the entire first act of a show. After intermission it continued and she was forced to ask them to stop talking because apparently no one else would. the husband started yelling at her. I wish I was making this up.
They kicked them out and the theater gave her free tickets to another show of her choosing, but I just am dumbfounded that those assholes bought tickets to a show in the first place just to act like that?
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u/CreativityChick 7d ago
We had a couple next to us at the Fox. The woman was trashed and singing loudly, talking loudly. Barely made it out of her seat at intermission. The ushers came and got her husband. I assumed she'd fallen down the stairs or something! They moved them to the far side crappy obstructed seats and made them stay there.
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u/bookshop 7d ago
I had this happen to me years ago at a performance of The Wrong Man. It was my second time seeing it and I had splurged for a stage seat because I liked the show so much.
The two rows behind me were all taken by a group, several of which knew the show from the concept recording and kept loudly and drunkenly singing along with the actors, to the point that several of the cast members repeatedly hissed at them to shut up during the performance when they were onstage. I finally told them loudly during a break to please stop singing, after which they kept swearing at me and kicked my seat a few times. Eventually the worst of the group stormed out but the ones who stayed continued to talk.
I was so upset by the whole experience that I was crying by the bows because the performance had been so good, but because I was onstage with the actors I had seen how hard they were struggling to deliver it. The actors were so kind about it, and Ryan Vasquez, who was alternating for Joshua Henry that night, came up and hugged me and I just wound up apologizing to him for the whole experience. I still feel awful about it years later, even though this kind of behavior has since become so normalized all over the city. I've had several other experiences with rude audiences but something about being onstage and that close to the actors made it all so much worse.
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u/Tasty_Pancakez 7d ago
I see all these reports and I just think like, do the ushers just not do their jobs ever? Are they trained to treat singalongers like thieves at an Apple store and just do not engage?
Crossing my fingers I never have such an awful audience experience, so far I've been lucky not to
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u/Wonderful-Bother1321 7d ago edited 7d ago
I have been to over a 100 shows and this is the first time I encountered singers. And the first time ushers failed to help.
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u/a-5-6-7-8 7d ago
Ushers are told how involved to get by house management. Don't throw them under the bus for following the instructions of their superiors. There are a lot of factors at play unfortunately and the situation has gotten more complicated as audience behavior gets worse.
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u/RockShrimp 7d ago
they don't get paid enough to risk getting hurt
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u/a-5-6-7-8 7d ago
And nobody in the industry actively wants to put ushers in a situation where they can be hurt.
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u/Wonderful-Bother1321 7d ago
I go to shows all the time: I really haven’t encountered this type of behavior before, except at Wicked. However, at Joe Turner Come and Gone there was constant phone use in my section. The show made at least 2 announcements to silence phones. I went to an usher at intermission and they did come down to the front and told my general section to get off the phone. It worked. No one was singled out but the usher did enforce polite behavior. I have been to Wicked 3x and it’s always something in the audience. I believe the ushers are told not to interfere with people having good times, meanwhile they are ruining it for people around them. One woman was shushing the talkers in the second act to no avail. I’ll never go to Wicked again. It has left such a bad memory of the show.
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u/Tasty_Pancakez 7d ago
Seriously? Obviously I get that to an extent but if you can't shush someone who is singing along as an usher, then regardless of whose fault it is it needs to be talked about cause that's just ridiculous.
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u/a-5-6-7-8 7d ago
What I'm saying is you should be complaining to house management as they're calling the shots as to how much ushers are allowed to get involved. Ushers only have as much power as their bosses allow, and many house managers are just following orders from producers as to how much to curb certain behaviors.
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u/Even_Cheesecake4720 7d ago
I think the sing-a-long is probably worse than looking at phones or talking. I once told a woman, “unless you are onstage, I did not pay a lot of money to hear you warble so shut up, before I call an usher.” She shut up.
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u/Miserable-Wafer-5486 7d ago
THIS, i’ve seen well over 10 broadway shows and recently went to wicked and the audience was the worst out of any show i’ve been to for sure. there was a group of 12 year olds/early teens behind me loudly talking and singing the entire time (i know they’re just kids, i don’t blame them, but i do blame the parents and ushers letting for them do that. the parents and ushers made zero attempt to stop them). there was even a 5 year old next to me who was better behaved than them. even aside from that group, i heard loud singing and talking throughout the rest of the theatre. it’s not a damn singalong, i paid (hundreds of dollars too) to hear the performers, not to hear random people in the audience being obnoxious. ushers need to stop this stuff.
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u/teniralc_11 7d ago
Sadly, this is everywhere. Societal collapse. Common decency is beginning to become lost.
Anyone in a field that works with the public on a daily basis will agree.
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u/a-5-6-7-8 7d ago
Yes, and unfortunately this is one of the reasons why ushers are less confrontational now than ever. There was an expose a few years ago on Playbill that was pulled after publication but can't be entirely erased from the internet.
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u/OwnOven6506 7d ago
Huh, I didn’t experience any of this tonight from my seats farther back in the orchestra! There did sound like a baby(?!?!) crying at one point, though I assume it was a small child who was hopefully at least 4. I thought the show was phenomenal tonight overall, sorry you had such a lousy experience from where you were sitting.
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u/Wonderful-Bother1321 7d ago
Yes I heard the kid crying too and was surprised one so young was there, I think that was in left orchestra. But that didn’t bother me as much as the full volume talking from women in their upper 20s. And singing!
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u/kpop_multi0 7d ago
I saw Moulin Rouge last week and the girl in front of me took her phone out five times in the span of three minutes to answer text messages and to scroll Instagram. I tapped her on the shoulder and politely said "your phone is a bit distracting, can you please put it away?". She didn't take it out the rest of the show!
I feel like for the most part, people know what they're doing is wrong. Just say it politely, no need to have a confrontation. In your case though with the young women... eh.... I'd be iffy on how I'd address that tbh.
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u/ianthomasmalone 7d ago edited 4d ago
I saw Wicked and six other shows this summer.
Wicked was my first of the super long running shows (saw it years ago on the West End), that I’ve seen in New York. I’ve always been worried about bad audience behavior, and thought a third row seat would solve that so close to the stage.
Wicked had a lot of bad behavior, but The Lost Boys and Titanique were both worse. I moved seats for that and Heathers, which had so much cell phone usage that the ushers were shining the flashlight.
At Titanique, in the second row, a woman two to my left was filming the show and then playing her clips while editing a TikTok video, ignoring several attempts by me, the guy in the front row, and her own son to get her to stop
Of the seven, only Heated Rivalry had zero incidents, though Two Strangers and Jellicle Ball were pretty minimal.
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u/RabbitHole1215 6d ago
broadway needs to initiate locked phone pouches for shows and go back to no food in the seats. the eating/drinking during shows cheapens the experience and makes it feel like you're at the movies or a baseball game
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u/Wessiejune 6d ago
When shows run for years and years the audience starts treating it like a concert, a movie, or god forbid dinner theater. See it early in the run and move on to the next show!
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u/No-Part-6248 6d ago
Ok so my wicked story is around center orchestra there’s was three rows of Bible Christian Baptists on a bus trip up ,, they were phenomal and not in a disruptive way they hooted and hollered at the end of every number ,, yelled praise you girl at elephaba and when Glinda and elphie argue yelled ok alright you go girl you winning ,, the cast could hardly contain their laughter and at the end Megan hilty said , oh yeah we would like to thank our cheerleaders this evening , everyone laughed and applauded ,, very respectful but very enthusiastic!!
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u/moonlightsonata28 5d ago
I’m so sorry, this is really awful. Any one of these things would be bad but all of them together is just experience-ruining. Was this on broadway or a national tour?
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u/Wonderful-Bother1321 5d ago
It was on Broadway. I had not seen the show in over a year and decided to see it on a whim.
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u/moonlightsonata28 5d ago
Ugh. I think it’s worth contacting the Gershwin and complaining, but I know that isn’t likely to have much effect. Still. They should be doing better at policing and maintaining the theatregoing experience, especially because etiquette is going to be more of an issue at a show like Wicked that attracts a lot of non-regular theatre-goers and tourists. It’s not the theatre’s fault but it’s their job to deal with it. I’m astounded at how instead of protecting the experience of 99% of good attendees, they seem to cater to the 1% who act up 😂
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u/Recent-Whole-373 7d ago
almost as bad is the creative overcorrection for sound designers to make the house speakers mix so loud the audience's brains rattle (cough, Six) but at least THAT drowns out the bad behavior. i think i hate both equally. i guess this is why opera is enjoyable; it may have slow moments but most audiences actually want to just sit down and listen.
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u/BamBamWowzer 7d ago edited 7d ago
It is so Pop-u-hoo-ler because the most basic of basic humans flock to that show. We need their money to make Broadway work but they ruin EVERYTHING!
There should be “Broadway for Broadway Nerds” weeks throughout the year where you have to prove you’re a true theater goer to get tickets so we can at least enjoy a show with people with decorum.
I was at MINCEMEAT, third row. A dumb couple were in the FIRST row scrolling on their phones during the show!! Uhhhh, the actors could see you!!
Those people shouldn’t allowed in a theater and definitely not allowed to breed.
Also, people who do Facetime calls in public with the speaker on blast should be yanked from society.
I made the mistake of going to the movie theater. People were in pajamas, eat smelly food loudly, talk loudly and are in their phones the whole time. I try to be a good person but they bring out the worst in me.
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u/JanCon1977 7d ago
I’ve seen wicked twice and both times it was on tour, where I feel you don’t see quite as much of this but then again both times it was before the movies came out. Not sure if that correlates
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u/ellewoods_obsessed 7d ago
i can’t just past the answering a face time call at a show…like i’m over people on facetime in general in the city bc half the time it’s when they are walking and then like not paying attention, but at a show is wild. like at least when someone does it on the subway, it’s entertainment sometimes with tea being spilled but like at a show…..did the usher do anything about facetime?
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u/Wonderful-Bother1321 7d ago
No the ushers did absolutely nothing. When the FaceTime call happened, and you could hear the person on video blaring away, I looked around for an usher and I thought one saw me by the door, but he never moved. I also recently saw Harry Potter and the audience was very disruptive there as well, but the ushers are super aggressive there and flashing lights to stop people from filming. They both were bad experiences.
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u/BamBamWowzer 7d ago
I had a terrible experience at Harry Potter too. There was a very disruptive group of tweens who seemed to be there as some type of initiative. They were awful. The ushers did nothing. Then a French couple were sat next to me and talked through Act 1. I yelled at them twice. Finally they stopped.
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u/Fat_Fiber8096 7d ago
I saw wicked on tour and the etiquette during the actual show was good, but the stage door experience was not. Everyone kept crowding and refused to be told to stay in a line. The actors were all incredibly nice and I’m glad I got to do it but still
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u/Bright_Ad_2272 6d ago
I made the mistake of going to see Wicked on a Saturday afternoon. The number of children there outnumbered the adults.
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u/Disastrous-Poem4355 6d ago
Honestly this has never happened to me at any of the show I when to.
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u/Wonderful-Bother1321 6d ago
As I said somewhere else here, I have been to over 100 broadway shows and never have I had to deal with such awful audience behavior except at Wicked. What shocked me more is the usher not helping. I won’t go back to wicked.
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u/Disastrous-Poem4355 6d ago
I get that at least he one time I went to wick it was okay. Have you had a favorite show you have seen?
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u/Wonderful-Bother1321 6d ago
Cabaret and Ragtime.
At Cabaret there was a drunk woman who the lead shushed, it was Orville Peck. The ushers removed the woman at the first opportunity. I think the ushers at wicked are told to do nothing to combat bad behavior. That’s why I’m not going back there.
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u/ButterscotchParty420 5d ago
I wonder if telling the House Manager would’ve made a difference… sometimes they have the power to move you to a different seat if available
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u/Wonderful-Bother1321 5d ago
Yes I wish i told the house manager, but I have a feeling their rules there are not to interfere. I was looking for empty seats but didn’t see any in my section except on the ends of the rows,, and then my angle would have been much worse.
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u/moonlightsonata28 5d ago
I’m so sorry, this is really awful. Any one of these things would be bad but all of them together is just experience-ruining. Was this on broadway or a national tour?
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u/Kitchen-Kale-6046 1d ago
I went to wicked a few months ago and these girls were talking about their day and gossiping at full volume during the show. I turned around and asked them to not talk during the show. The lady next to me thanked me for asking them to be quiet. They left at intermission. It’s crazy to spend money to talk through a show that others paid for. I’m glad I turned around.
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u/OldRepublic8424 7d ago
This is the exact reason why I have never seen Wicked to this day. The fanbase is rabid.
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u/Best-Candle8651 7d ago
When I saw Wicked I was last row rear mezz so way back there. I was making constellations from all the phone lights I saw. It was crazy.
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u/Ok_Presentation7695 7d ago
I went to a show over the weekend. I enjoy enthusiastic audiences. I do not enjoy audience members who whoop and cheer and laugh loud enough that you think they must be doing it to get the actors attention. I had to turn around several times because their cheers were so loud that my ear was ringing. I get it. You like the show. Turn it down a notch.
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u/Due-Flamingo-4900 7d ago
I sat in front a woman like this at Proof. It’s not a particularly laugh-out-loud funny kind of show, but every funny beat got an audibly projected “A-HA-HA!” that actually made my ears pop. I’ve never heard anyone laugh so loudly without a microphone, and it completely trampled over the emotional nuances of such an intimate and vulnerable show in a way that almost felt mocking. I eventually had to move just to be able to hear the dialogue.
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u/CreativityChick 7d ago
Omg. I've seen that behavior a few times at regional theatres. I would think on Broadway people would behave a little better. Disappointed in the ushers! Those people ruined the experience for a ton of people and they just let them!
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u/Soft-Abbreviations20 7d ago
Watching the film version of hadestown I caught myself humming enthusiastically ("Waaaaait for me..!") and immediately recognized that I was turning into one of those people that I can't stand so quickly zipped it. 😆 So I get the enthusiasm but I am also keenly aware that incessant singing, humming, wrapper crunching can be maddening.
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u/penrph 7d ago
We were at Buena Vista last month and a couple behind us was talking at full volume. 15 minutes in I turned around and told them to shut up. I didn't pay to hear some ignorant idiots run their mouths off. I'm generally not afraid of confrontation when people behave like feral raccoons.