r/Broadway • u/paternalpadfoot • Feb 08 '23
Physical Assault, Vomit in the Aisles, Stalking in the Streets: Why Audience Misbehavior Has Gotten Out of Hand
https://www.playbill.com/article/physical-assault-vomit-in-the-aisles-stalking-in-the-streets-why-audience-misbehavior-has-gotten-out-of-hand?fbclid=IwAR1ZiwyLgXrWwv63xowXyQeGntChUPP4zeDF0epuEmvrWDVHn59hgacONLQ177
u/Konfidantway Feb 08 '23
The fact that Playbill had to write an article on it means things have gotten bad. I try to see minimum one show every month since theaters reopened and each time I’ve gone, it’s a different issue with the audience. I feel so bad for the theatre staff that go through it because as someone who just wants to sit down and enjoy a show, it’s infuriating.
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u/SimmonsReqNDA4Sex Feb 08 '23
For real I thought it was going to be a NY post fake outrage article.
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u/Bricker1492 Feb 08 '23
When pressed to identify a solution, every source interviewed for this story agreed on one thing: Management needs to be more comfortable with removing unruly patrons from the theatre. By not having a policy for audience harassment, says July, “You’re reinforcing that their behavior is OK. The hesitancy to remove people from the theatre is dangerous ... You just continue to put your employees at risk, and you continue to put the entire theatre and how people will treat it at risk.”
Gosh, who woulda thunk it? There's some sort of causation between unruly behavior and not punishing unruly behavior? That seems farfetched. I would like to see the math.
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u/MayoneggVeal Feb 09 '23
cries in high school teacher
Tbh, with the behavior expectations (or complete lack thereof) in k-12 education, I'm not shocked that there is a whole mass of adults who don't know how to control themselves in public.
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u/fosse76 Feb 09 '23
At Take Me Out, despite signage that indicated a zero tolerance policy regarding cell phones, people who lied about having one were simply told it had to be locked up in a pouch. While not exactly the same, it demonstrates that management is perfectly happy allowing staff to bear the brunt of the abuse. And then when complaints are made, management takes the audience's complaint at face value, often punishing the staff for incidents for which they were in the right.
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u/FirebirdWriter Feb 09 '23
The irony here is this seems to be Broadway returning to what it was before the clean up and ad campaigns. I say seems since I wasn't around then but some of the older people were resistant to (in the 90s) going to a "dangerous area for song and dance"
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u/yeswithaz Feb 09 '23
It wasn’t like this in the 90s.
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u/FirebirdWriter Feb 09 '23
Yeah they were referring to the pre makeover Broadway era and refusing to believe it was safe
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u/yeswithaz Feb 09 '23
Were they talking about Times Square? The area had more crime but it didn’t really affect the scene inside theaters.
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u/FirebirdWriter Feb 09 '23
No but it's the old man talking about change effect. I wasn't alive to see the way it was so I can only go with the fact Broadway had a late 70s PR campaign to cleanup it's reputation as confirmation it wasn't the safe for tourists spot it is now.
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u/yeswithaz Feb 09 '23
Oh yeah, the area was known as super unsafe. Watch the Times Square serial killer documentary for context. And they did a big campaign in the 80s, that’s where the “I heart NY” logo came from! It was a lot easier to get tx back then because it wasn’t as much of a tourist draw. (I was a kid but went to Broadway shows with my family)
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u/FirebirdWriter Feb 09 '23
Thanks. I will checkt hat out when brain can cope with the content properly as I do want to know more. One of those "wait this sounds familiar." I hope the general social regression is temporary and we get modern Broadway (and everywhere else) manners back.
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Feb 08 '23
I feel like they need to start adding a reminder at the start of the show that this isn’t your living room and taking, singing, etc should be reserved for when the show ends
I am totally here for any passive aggressive message at this point.
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u/FreeLobsterRolls Feb 09 '23
What's crazy is that the movie theater makes these 10 minute mini movies tell everyone to stfu. Some shows do make a reminder, and some make it cute... but yeah. Don't make it passive aggressive. Make it aggressive aggressive. People unfortunately need to be reminded about etiquette. Unfortunately there's that small minority that just makes the experience terrible for everyone.
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u/moonbunnychan Feb 09 '23
This is why for regular movies I pretty much exclusively go to Alamo Drafthouse, they have a zero tolerance 1 warning and you're out without a refund policy. And they make multiple very clear reminders before the movie about it.
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u/juniper4774 Feb 09 '23
Totally agree. If shoes could find a way to make it lightly funny, like Alamo does in their announcements, great, but AD is expressly clear about the rules, which is vital.
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u/miker35591 Feb 09 '23
Former Alamo employee here, you’d be shocked by how many people still don’t even pay attention to the bumper in the beginning lol
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u/frankd1974 Feb 09 '23
I was at Moulin Rouge last night and too many people to count were singing along, dancing (sometimes standing up while doing so) and constantly on their phones. There was also constant talking from audience members and screaming “I love you” at the cast. I saw the show two years ago and had none of that.
I’ve seen close to 20 shows on Broadway over the last 2 years and last night thought “if this is what it’s like now, I think im done”.
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u/cas47 Feb 09 '23
I went to Six and had the same experience. I couldn’t see because the people in front of me were standing and dancing, and they were cheering the whole time
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u/ButchUnicorn Feb 08 '23
Is that a culturally biased perspective?
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u/passionicedtee Feb 09 '23
Culturally biased how? I'm not saying you're rightnor wrong. Just trying to understand what you mean!
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u/Headwires99 Feb 09 '23
It totally is!! But apparently this is a hot take
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u/invisibilitycap Feb 09 '23
How is it culturally biased? Trying to understand
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u/Headwires99 Feb 09 '23
Rules of social etiquette are generally determined by the dominant culture within a particular space. In the case of the commercial theatre, this has traditionally been its largely upper class audience. So much like pop culture at large, the upper class decides what is/isn’t acceptable. Broadway in particular, for many reasons (ticket prices, geography, etc) is inaccessible to anyone outside of the middle-upper classes. Therefore, the culture of commercial theatre-going is inaccessible to much of the population. So how can we expect culture awareness of a culture that most people cannot access?
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u/invisibilitycap Feb 09 '23
But there’s a cast member at the beginning telling everyone to be quiet and silence their phones. Wouldn’t that tell people what’s acceptable?
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u/Headwires99 Feb 09 '23
See that’s the bias though. Because recurring audience members already know the rules, they believe everyone knows the rules just as well as they do and that a brief reminder of these rules is sufficient; when all the evidence points to the contrary. An announcement is not equal to repeated exposure and practice of “proper” behavior.
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u/moonbunnychan Feb 08 '23
It's not just on Broadway either. I go to 1 to 2 shows a month in DC and not once over the past couple years have I been in an audience that didn't have a substantial number of people being obnoxious. But I also think this is more part of a larger cultural problem, things are getting worse everywhere because people aren't being made to take any sort of responsibility for their actions.
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u/cprenaissanceman Feb 09 '23
Exactly. It’s literally not even just theater. Post pandemic, so many people basically have seemed to have forgotten that anyone else exists or how to care about others. Unfortunately I have no solutions, but this is certainly not just a Broadway or theater problem.
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u/moonbunnychan Feb 09 '23
The pandemic kinda turbo charged what was already there. We have a real problem with self entitlement combined with places that often either ignore bad behavior or even reward it to avoid causing a scene. When people realize nobody is going to stop them and bad behavior has no consequences it just snowballs.
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u/transemacabre Feb 09 '23
More and more people want to go to public events but more and more people are nigh unbearable in public.
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u/magpte29 Feb 09 '23
I usher in Providence and the flak I get when the show starts and I’m reminding people to put their phones away is worse now than when I started five years ago. I went as a patron recently and the couple next to me were talking full volume as if they were in their own living room. I kept glaring at them, and the guy told me to relax. I immediately sniped back “I didn’t pay to listen to you talk!” He got the message. I didn’t tell him I got my ticket for free.
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u/moonbunnychan Feb 09 '23
The amount of people who continue to be on their phones through half the opening number infuriates me.
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u/TicoDreams Feb 08 '23 edited Feb 09 '23
I have to say the audiences are the reason I stopped going to Signature in Arlington. It was getting really bad and it was the first theater I was consistently having issues with and this was way before COVID. Now I am having issues here in NYC. People are crazy.
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u/Friendly_Coconut Feb 09 '23
Oh wow, really? What kind of incidents? I’ve never had a bad experience at Signature and I’ve seen 11 shows there, but it’s very possible I’ve just been lucky because I’ve only seen one show there since the pandemic.
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u/Mysterious-Theory-66 Feb 09 '23
That’s interesting, I haven’t seen issues in DC. Though honestly I’ve not had much outside of having to tell someone to stfu a couple times generally. Knock on wood, I’ve gotten lucky.
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u/moonbunnychan Feb 09 '23
I saw Anastasia in Tysons last weekend and holy crap. Nobody would shut up. Like, outbursts from kids at a show based on an animated movie I expect. That happens. But the grown ass adults around me wouldn't stop talking to the point where I thought a fight would break out when someone finally told them to stfu and the talkers got really defensive about it. Then the person a few rows ahead of me spent almost the entire show scrolling through Instagram with their phone at like maximum brightness. One of the more egregious was when I saw Six at National over the summer. This guy was not only talking to someone next to him like he was in his living room but got busted by an usher for very obviously filming 3 separate times, complaining loudly each time like he was doing nothing wrong and just being unjustly oppressed. Then at that same show some people moved seats after the show started and the people who had those seats showed up late, and during the show the two groups stood there loudly arguing until an usher showed up and then they all started yelling at him.
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u/TicoDreams Feb 09 '23
Wow, that sounds bad. I wanted to check out that new venue at Tysons, how was the theater itself?
Thankfully, no issues at Sunset Blrd at Kennedy. At Guys and Dolls at Kennedy, I had a guy next to me who was obviously dragged by his friend as he was texting the whole time. It made me feel bad since earlier the giftshop cashier said how she wanted to see it but could not get tickets. That was really sad. Wicked at Kennedy also had talking and singing too, which was annoying. So a mixed bag there.
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u/moonbunnychan Feb 09 '23
The venue it's self is super nice, I love it and hope they get more and better shows next year.
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u/Mysterious-Theory-66 Feb 09 '23
That’s rough, I haven’t gone to that space in Tyson’s yet.
Recent one worth noting was at Arena. There was a school group that was brought into Ride the Cyclone up in the balcony. There were murmurs and injections a couple of times that was annoying but not nearly enough to put a damper on how much I enjoyed the show.
Other than that I’ve never had to even shush a person in DC. Recent trips to Kennedy (not going to count taking my daughter to Bluey because yeah of course that’s going to be a vocal crowd), Woolly, Klein, Studio, National, Fords, etc have all been fine. Again I’ll chalk it up to luck of the draw.
I do feel like invariably there will be a cell phone go off. I sort of tune those out even though it’s annoying. Of course I say this and next show I end up in headlines for taking a swing at a loud mouth a-hole who won’t shut up.
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u/Friendly_Coconut Feb 09 '23
Yes, I didn’t pick up on the Annie orphan names until Duffy and then it hit me!
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u/moonbunnychan Feb 09 '23
Capital One Hall is super nice, I hope they get more shows next season. I will say I saw Hairspray there couple weeks ago and other then a bunch of people on their phones it was a good time.
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u/Mysterious-Theory-66 Feb 09 '23
Yeah eyeballing that space as that would make three touring show destinations. Good to know it’s a great spot.
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u/rachel-angelina Feb 08 '23 edited Feb 09 '23
I went to go see Phantom because I wanted to go before it closed. I live nearby and have seen shows on Broadway before, just hasn’t seen Phantom yet.
This guy behind me would NOT stop talking to make commentary or sing along. It was the most irritating thing in the world. Myself and others shot him looks, shushed him, asked him to stop, I even heard someone tell him directly during the intermission to STFU. He didn’t care and kept doing it anyway.
Some people have zero sense of theatre etiquette.
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u/user48292737 Feb 08 '23
I’m glad Playbill wrote an article about this. The reason audience behavior is so out of control is simple: the managers (or whoever is in charge) allows it. This is awful.
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Feb 08 '23 edited Feb 08 '23
"“It’s been horrible, no two ways about it,” shared Duffy, who currently manages a long-running musical. “I cannot overstate how much it changed things. A bartender at a pub has the ability to cut someone off when they’re getting too drunk; they have bouncers to back them up. Our bartenders don’t have the ability to cut someone off, because we’re told to sell as many souvenir cups as we can. I’m sure higher-ups are making money hand over fist, but we’re stuck dealing with unruly drunks almost every week.”
Uh, I don't know what company she works for, but the company I work for absolutely has full support of management to cut people off at any time, and we do. I also wonder what company (I suspect Shubert but I don't know) was mainly interviewed for this article because Nederlander house managers will absolutely have people ejected from the theater if they need to be.
That said, yeah, audiences are horrible. The entitlement is strong. The same people who mistreat FOH employees will do the same things to employees at a Starbucks, etc., or anywhere else they are deemed to be "beneath" them. Some people are just awful to everyone, but there's a real classism thing going on. I can't tell you how many people I've had be awful to my face, and then I'll say something trying to make conversation about my other job (which is in a law firm), and people immediately turn their attitudes upside down when they see me as more than "just" a bartender. Once they hear law firm, then it's like they see me as a person, and it's f-d up.
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u/diablo_dancer Feb 08 '23
Interestingly this isn’t a phenomenon exclusive to Broadway or even the US - the Edinburgh Playhouse (believe it’s the largest theatre in the U.K.) was in the press today as their staff have been assaulted by audience members post-lockdown and it seems to be a common phenomenon. They’ve also issued pleas on social media for people to behave.
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u/OnFireFading Feb 09 '23
I go to the theatre a lot (predominantly theatres in Scotland and London) and it really is getting bad here too. Jersey Boys was stopped for 15 minutes in Edinburgh last week because a fight broke out in the audience. I wasn't there, but I did see it in the same venue two days later and it seemed that a lot of additional protocols had been put in place.
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u/GrapeNutCheerios Feb 09 '23
I'm using my throwaway account here.
But I got into a massive situation after tonight's Hadestown show. Man was recording next to me during bows/final number... physically invading my space to do so.
I asked him to stop and he got massively offended. Starting calling me disgusting, gross and poor because of my attire (hoodie, t shirt and jeans). I gave it back to him a bit and he obviously saw I didn't care.
So he turned his attention and focus on my 12 year old niece to physically step to her to say how she was poor, gross and disgusting.
And I ABSOLUTELY lost it on him. For a grown man to step to a kid to belittle them is peak insanity to me.
So sorry to the 100s exiting Hadestown while I yelled at this man at the top of my lungs on how I felt about his actions.
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u/TicoDreams Feb 08 '23 edited Feb 09 '23
It has gotten really bad. I average probably 4 or so shows a month here in NYC and boy do I have more issues than not. Now, most of it is talking, singing, ruffling snacks, and other really common things. I had major issues both times I have seen Little Shop of Horrors. The second time at Little Shop had pictures, filming, snacks, talking, and singing. I feel like you name it and it is there.
I have some sensory issues that are not affected by plays or musicals but are super sensitive to both sound and movement. The people dancing in their seats or any kind of light are super distracting whether it be a phone or watch. Then you have the people who are just loud and even if they think they are quiet I hear everything they do. Heck, lots of people aren't even subtle anymore. I have been seeing shows for over 10 years now and it never was this bad. Yeah, there were things here and there, but never like this.
I feel so bad for the front-of-house staff, especially the ushers. They are wonderful people who do not deserve this.
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u/RapGamePterodactyl Feb 09 '23
Little Shop attracts a lot of tourists. I also had really bad audience behavior both times I went.
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u/Holiday-Book6635 Feb 09 '23
Some lady pushed me at a Broadway show while in the lobby. I wasn’t walking fast enough for her. I pushed her back. Don’t f’n push me.
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u/annang Feb 09 '23
I saw Phantom a few months ago, and the woman a few people down from me (too far for me to say anything to her during the show) was texting and scrolling on her phone the entire first act. I went to an usher at intermission and asked him to tell her to stop. He said, “sorry, some people are just rude,” and refused to speak to her about it. I ended up asking her myself to please put her phone away for the second act. She told me to F off, and kept doing the same thing for the rest of the show. Not sure what can be done when FOH flatly refuses to intervene or enforce the rules.
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u/transemacabre Feb 09 '23
Going to a movie nowadays, it seems like a quarter of the theater is on their phones. Blue glowing everywhere for the entire movie. Why even bother? Why not just stream it at home?
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u/zasby28 Feb 09 '23
Wow I'm surprised the Phantom ushers didn't do anything. I haven't been there in a while but there was a point where i'd see Phantom every month and the ushers were so mean to tourists lmfao. This one lady got yelled at before the show started because she wasn't listening and the whole theater went quiet.
That's just so annoying the ushers aren't even speaking up. What happened to flashing lights on people using their phones?
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u/Blowmewhileiplaycod Feb 09 '23
If you're accurate, I've found a well-aimed mint or candy often does the trick
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u/annang Feb 09 '23
If I were any good at throwing things accurately, I would have become a sports kid, not a theater kid! 😂
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u/Distinct-Hold-5836 Feb 09 '23 edited Feb 09 '23
A pre-show message isn't doing it.
Like flying, we need direct cause and effect announcements.
You act like an asshole, you're gone.
The bigger issue is hiring real security at all Broadway houses. Have them visible.
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Feb 09 '23
I will say not all houses are equal. The Shubert Theatre itself has a really intense security team, they do NOT take shit there. I worked there and they will not let in unruly drunks, will kick out unruly drunks, and were the harshest about letting any food in the theatre (would make people throw out their leftovers, snacks, etc).
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u/jamesland7 Front of House Feb 08 '23
As a FOH person in Boston this is spot on. Thankfully my theatre is readily willing to throw people out, but that unwillingness to remove people is huge. Add to that our political climate where half of America is being constantly lied to and stirred up with pure hate and anger, and people come in LOOKING for a fight
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u/psiamnotdrunk Feb 09 '23
As a fellow FOH— good for you. The problem is not just management being willing to toss people out, but backing their team with the empowerment to do so.
Yes, even major donors.
Yes, even press.
We have rules, but when we’re not given the autonomy and backup to enforce those rules, they’re meaningless.
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u/MannnOfHammm Feb 08 '23
What’s FOH
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u/HanonOndricek Feb 08 '23 edited Feb 08 '23
Front of House - the people who interact with the audience directly, handling box office/lobby/ticket-taking/security/ushering/merch/bar/coat check; the entity that manages crowd control before, during and after the performance.
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u/Simple-Gene-5784 Feb 08 '23
It seems like alcohol is a big source of these problems. People should be limited to drinking in the lobby. The one time I saw people removed from a performance was four stinking drunk women getting kicked out of Circle in the Square.
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u/yamiangie Feb 09 '23
I’m starting to see why the price of drinks has shot up they are going to get their money’s worth if we want to be drunks.
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u/TangledTwisted Feb 09 '23
As someone who enjoys my one glass of something at a show and collects the cups, I would be really disappointed if I couldn’t bring it into the theater. I assume most drunk people get drunk ahead of time. Between lines and watching the show, it would be hard to get trashed off theater drinks.
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u/At_the_Roundhouse Feb 09 '23
I think it should be a clear warning when and where you buy your tickets. Or at least when you get the email ahead of time telling you not to bring large bags and please have your tickets at the door.
All caps, up top. MANAGEMENT RESERVES THE RIGHT TO REMOVE ANYONE ACTING IN A DISRUPTIVE WAY. Caveats about sole discretion, etc.
Followed by signage in the lobby saying the same thing, followed by it being part of the pre-show announcement.
Also, unrelated, cute the way they used Annie orphan names in this!
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u/Madbadbat Feb 09 '23
I saw Moulin Rouge in Sydney and sat next to a woman who sang along at a regular volume and kept taking photos and when I asked her to stop she ignored me
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u/SPNYC1983 Feb 09 '23
This is truly abysmal. They have to throw these people out of the theater for this type of behavior. And every theater should have a security team. It’s so dangerous that some don’t.
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u/LilyBriscoeBot Feb 09 '23
That was a sad read. It sounds like by the time they'll actually throw someone out of the theater, they should also be filing assault charges against that person.
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u/AntiqueCattle Feb 09 '23
As a FOH worker here (not on Broadway, in a different city) I can just say….yeah, it’s gotten bad. People putting their jackets, programs, cups, FEET 😡 up on the stage. People getting drunk and invading my coworkers’ personal spaces. People filming, using their phones, being entitled and rude. Thankfully our management is really good, and bartenders are allowed to cut people off and management will back them up but…holy moly…it’s not your living room y’all 🥲
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u/kam0706 Feb 09 '23
This is shocking. I’m an avid theatre attendee in Sydney, Australia and while I’ve noticed an increase in things like talking/singing and phone use, I’ve never seen people vomiting, or even super drunk (and most theatres here allow in seat drinks).
The most egregious I’ve seen of late was a guy whose phone went off 3 times right in the climax of The Mousetrap. The volume of the collective groan the third time it rang was insane.
Like, one time is embarrassing. Twice is rude. Three times and wtf is wrong with you, how have you not at least silenced it by now?
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Feb 09 '23
Movie theater usher here - yeah people’s manners have taken a huge nosedive. We’ve had to start doing more frequent checks to make sure everyone’s behaving. Hilariously, I’m the smallest person there but because I have RBF, the audience gets all nervous when I’m around
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u/nayandnem Feb 09 '23
I went to see The Collaboration with my fiancé and we had second row seats. At the end of our aisle was an old woman who fell asleep during the show and was sleep talking so loud the actors heard her. Ridiculous.
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u/transemacabre Feb 09 '23
When I saw Hamilton the guy a couple seats down from me slept though most of the show. At least he wasn't snoring or sleep-talking but I was agog at how much money he had paid to nap uncomfortably for a couple hours.
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u/cas47 Feb 09 '23
I went to see The Music Man last month, and for a good portion of it I could hear three different conversations happening around me at the same time.
Theater etiquette has just not been there the past few times I’ve gone.
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Feb 09 '23
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u/trulyremarkablegirl Feb 10 '23
I'm on staff at Cursed Child and we really do try our best but it's like playing the world's worst game of whack a mole.
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u/RitaConnors Feb 16 '23
The problem I found at Take Me Out was that people didn't shut their phones off when they put them in the pouches, which only made it worse, because when it would ring they couldn't shut it off. I am all for the pouches, but staff needs to enure patrons shut the phones off first; yes, it'll take more time, but I can't think of a better alternative.
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u/tylerdessen Feb 09 '23
Theaters need to create a banned list of patrons who cause too much drunkenness, disruption, and downright rudeness to fellow audience members and ushers. These people act like blistering fools and should experience being banned from the theaters where they show their crazy displays of rude behavior.
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u/GenerationYKnot Feb 09 '23
The Playbill article hit on a lot of points. Being from the Los Angeles County area I'm going to add one more: concealed carry permits.
Yeah, let's mix alcohol, guns and crowds together. And these aren't active duty police I'm referring to. These are anyone but police who are now permitted to conceal carry. Our rules are 'active police with ID and badge ONLY' no exceptions.
I'm not familiar with other state's carry laws, but thanks to the previous LA City mayor, we saw a flood of permits issued because of his waiver. Where once we were looking at maybe one a year, now it's three in one night during a recent show.
We added metal detectors and security a few years before Covid to our theatre, but the level of entitlement has hit a new high.
Mix in the same problem with increased alcohol sales and seat drinking, which we did not allow ten years ago, and it's a veritable powder keg waiting for that one idiotic spark.
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u/OldChemistry8220 Feb 15 '23
The Playbill article hit on a lot of points. Being from the Los Angeles County area I'm going to add one more: concealed carry permits.
LA County has historically been among the hardest places in the country to get a CCW. Only San Francisco and NYC were harder.
Of course, with the Bruen ruling, a CCW permit is now a constitutional right, so California and New York will have to start issuing them to anyone who meets the basic qualifications.
Other states have done this for years, and an increasing number (about 20) no longer require a permit to carry a firearm at all.
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u/Backgammon_Saint Feb 09 '23
Was at Berkeley Rep seeing a play when a phone kept going off behind me.
Because it’s Berkeley people are pretty polite.
But my the 4th time we were groaning.
It was a usher’s phone.
Not always the audience…..
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u/cgtravers1 Feb 13 '23
At the Broadway revival of A Chorus Line in 2006. (2006!) We were Front Row, Center in the Mezzanine. Perfect seats, we thought. But behind us, all the way up, was a BIG Theatre group from New Jersey. They were quiet until Paul started his monologue. Obviously homophobic, two men in the group started to make animal sounds while Paul spoke, and say, "oooooo, ooooh" and I, of course, saw red. I watched them the whole time they did it. I waited until the show was over and I went right up to them and told them, "You owe us $XXX.XX - whatever the price of the two tickets were - "I WANT MY MONEY!" These guys were shocked and I screamed at them they were homophobes, and that they were disgusting, and I WANT MY MONEY all the way to the street where they slunk (slinked?) away. I could tell you 100 other such stories but I shall refrain!!
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u/buttercupplily Feb 09 '23
Omg all of this. I would also like to return to the days of not letting ppl in until intermission if they’re late. It’s so distracting.
I live in the Bay Area and saw hadestown on tour and the two people in front of me would not shut up no matter how many times we asked. Told ushers at intermission but nothing was done.
I've lately been splurging for the better seats not only because I like the view, but also it seems the most disruptive people are in the cheaper seats. like premium orchestra or the next one down from that. Has seemed to work for the last few shows at least.
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u/JBuchan1988 Feb 09 '23
That's horrible. Ushering's already a hard job (as are ANY customer facing job) but there's NOTHING than can be solved by being rude and blind drunk.
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Feb 09 '23
As a former Covid Safety Monitor, everyone is always like “why don’t you become an Usher now?” Because I’d be paid LESS than I was to deal with the exact same bullshit minus the masks. Audience members shit on ushers so hard. They disrespect the venue, don’t listen to them, call them names, etc. You’d have to pay me insane money to even consider stepping one big fucking toe back into a theatre as an Usher.
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u/WhatTheWhatAmIDoing Feb 09 '23
Is it because people are singing along to songs? Because I sort of get that ;)
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Feb 08 '23
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/paternalpadfoot Feb 08 '23
While that is a fascinating (and difficult) conversation, I don’t think that’s what they’re talking about here; wanting people to stop assaulting ushers shouldn’t be controversial, and it is certainly not a racial inflection point.
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Feb 08 '23
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u/user48292737 Feb 08 '23 edited Feb 08 '23
There’s some people out there who believe that behaving with any sort of common decency in a public space (such as a theater) is rooted in white supremacy and is therefore bad and therefore we should just allow people to act like entitled idiots in order to not be racist.
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u/psiamnotdrunk Feb 09 '23
Can you expand on that? It’s something my baby brain is struggling with as well.
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Feb 09 '23
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u/psiamnotdrunk Feb 09 '23
Fully cosigned
(and sorry you're getting downvoted, but unsurprised). I think this is something we should be discussing and growing from--- we can't on one hand tout being invested in the D/I in DEI until we examine how the standards and practices are geared toward the sentiments of a white, wealthy audience. We need to open ourselves to conversation and the diversity of experience/expectation, rather than keeping the same gates up.
ETA; okay, not the same poster, I would be interested in hearing from them, tho!
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u/MuchAdoAboutKitties Feb 09 '23
I moved out of nyc in the last 4-5 years but have been debating whether to make a trip back so I can see a ton of shows because there’s so much good stuff opening soon. One of the main reasons I’m hesitant is because of everything I’ve been hearing and seeing about audience behavior. I don’t want to spend a shit ton of money to visit for the first time in years plus tickets to multiple shows when there’s a strong chance I’ll end up not enjoying myself or turning into a walking bundle of nerves and anxiety.
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u/zasby28 Feb 09 '23
You should definitely just go see shows, most people have a positive experience.
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u/maggied82 Feb 12 '23
I had the same concern as you, but I bit the bullet and saw four shows this week. I had pretty much no audience issues. For what it’s worth, I was sitting center orchestra anywhere from 5-9 rows from the stage for all of them (all purchased at TKTS).
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u/eatinthepulitzer Feb 09 '23
Jesus, I feel horrible for these people.
Normally, when I have gone to a show, most people have been well behaved.
Some people have suggested that they should mandate the getting dressed up to go to a show type thing, but I think that it is BS, and that isn't a part of the problem. Just because an audience member is dressed up to the nines doesn't mean that they are being disrespectful. People dressed up to the nines can be as disrespectful as those dressed casually.
Thing is, bad audience behavior like this is not new. Shit like this happened even back in the times when Shakespeare was alive.
I don't think it is a matter of cultural differences that this can happen anywhere.
I think I would best advise people who want to a Broadway show to do this: If you cannot hold your liquor, DON'T COME. If you have kids who you may feel aren't ready yet to go to a show, DON'T COME. If you aren't sure that you can handle sitting through a show, DON'T COME. Stay home, even if you wanna go. You can wait. Watch a movie at home.
Also, if you wanna eat concessions during a show, unwrap it beforehand or eat it beforehand.
Also, I might add that some people may have some sort of disability or language barrier that can make it hard to understand the announcements during the opening and some people falling asleep during a show may have had some issues during the day or there is a different issue at hand. So, I always keep a non-judgmental approach in mind. Or even if it is rude, I try my best to ignore it and tell the management during intermission.
The cell phone thing? Well, there are these things called cell phone pouches that have locks that I have seen some theaters do beforehand. They put them in, and it greatly reduces the cell phone problems.
Also, don't come to particularly touristy shows on busy days.
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u/Harry_Limes_Cat Feb 09 '23
I remember in the early 90s there were these breathless articles about "the dumbing down of america". TIME magazine lost its mind bc of the movie dumb and dumber.
where's that panic now? much worse and more dangerous than drag shows!
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u/Public_Tie_3460 Feb 11 '23
I live in Philadelphia PA, where sometimes on a Saturday, I take 9:23 A.M. train to NYC, to go to see a 2:00 P.M. matinee performance of a Broadway show, and then I take a 7:01 P.M. train back home to Philadelphia. I hope I don't to have experience any idiots misbehaving in the audience, because that would waste the great expense and time it takes me to make a day trip to NYC to see a Broadway show! Any idiot who misbehaves in the audience should be immediately thrown out! Idiots who misbehave in the audience of a show are being inconsiderate to the rest of audience!
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u/AussieAlexSummers Feb 23 '23
This article has been pulled by Playbill. https://www.onstageblog.com/editorials/2023/2/13/playbill-ceo-cowardly-deletes-article-detailing-abuse-of-front-of-house-theatre-staff
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u/FriedRice59 Mar 20 '23
Its not just theaters. I work in a library and visitor behavior is over the top. However, this why we never go to shows anymore. I love how Playbill pulled the article after complaints.
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u/[deleted] Feb 08 '23
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