1,093 posts
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Feb 9, 2022 1:03:32 GMT
Had someone behind me munching crisps for two hours straight tonight!! What did she do, pop to Tesco for a multipack beforehand?
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3,070 posts
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Post by Rory on Feb 13, 2022 1:23:37 GMT
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Post by sph on Feb 13, 2022 2:19:35 GMT
I do wonder, if perhaps people here think that the behaviour of audience members is worse now than it used to be? I honestly don't know for sure myself.
I do think that in recent years, theatres have become more "corporate" from a front-of-house perspective, and staff are often made to approach every patron with a "customer-is-always-right" attitude, which I think doesn't work at all in such a setting.
A customer in an auditorium should be made PAINFULLY aware, as far as I'm concerned, that although they paid for their ticket, so did the other 1,000 people in the room with them, and they have no right to behave as they wish if it affects other audience members.
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4,799 posts
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Post by The Matthew on Feb 13, 2022 5:59:55 GMT
I think part of it is that we hear about it more today, but yes, I think there's also an element of The Customer Is Always Right about it. Having spent many years reading Not Always Right I'm firmly of the opinion that in any company where staff deal directly with the public it should be a requirement that every member of the upper management team should spend one week each year working on the front line so they can see what it's really like. It makes me so angry when I read stories of customers making up the most preposterous stories in an attempt to get special treatment and the company's response is to reward their behaviour and punish the staff for doing nothing wrong.
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594 posts
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Post by og on Feb 13, 2022 14:50:01 GMT
Hmmm looking for a correlation... There's been discernible rise of incidents of disruptive behaviour in theatre audiences in the last few years. There's also been a lot of new Jukebox shows popping up over the last few years. Rarely if ever does a Pinter get a show-stop due to bad behaviour.
Maybe. Perhaps there's a relationship here. Music fans (sorry to tarnish all with the same brush) who don't go to the theatre often, usually go to gigs where getting tanked up is the norm/encouraged. Suddenly there's a show popped up full of songs by an artist they love. They go. Few beers before hand, drinks at the bar, take seats with drinks expecting to be able to do what they do at a gig.
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7,506 posts
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Post by alece10 on Feb 13, 2022 15:47:58 GMT
Hmmm looking for a correlation... There's been discernible rise of incidents of disruptive behaviour in theatre audiences in the last few years. There's also been a lot of new Jukebox shows popping up over the last few years. Rarely if ever does a Pinter get a show-stop due to bad behaviour. Maybe. Perhaps there's a relationship here. Music fans (sorry to tarnish all with the same brush) who don't go to the theatre often, usually go to gigs where getting tanked up is the norm/encouraged. Suddenly there's a show popped up full of songs by an artist they love. They go. Few beers before hand, drinks at the bar, take seats with drinks expecting to be able to do what they do at a gig. I was just saying the same. Don't get it at a Sondheim show 😀
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518 posts
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Post by ruby on Feb 13, 2022 16:52:02 GMT
Gary Barlow is performing in A Different Stage at the moment. I find it interesting how on Twitter he's telling fans that it's a theatre show and they shouldn't be singing along or taking photos. Maybe people do need to be reminded of theatre etiquette before they go.
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Post by Paulw on Feb 13, 2022 19:24:01 GMT
I defiantly think it is worse than it was, I was in Book Of Mormon before Christmas when it did kick off and I have never seen that in any theatre ever even when its a music gig and all round talking eating etc...
The one I am noticing more and more is the instagram generation with cameras and videos during performances and FOH staff having to run to get them to stop and delete which is disruptive to people around and if your sat behind its totally distracting.
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334 posts
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Post by adrianics on Feb 14, 2022 10:15:05 GMT
Hmmm looking for a correlation... There's been discernible rise of incidents of disruptive behaviour in theatre audiences in the last few years. There's also been a lot of new Jukebox shows popping up over the last few years. Rarely if ever does a Pinter get a show-stop due to bad behaviour. Maybe. Perhaps there's a relationship here. Music fans (sorry to tarnish all with the same brush) who don't go to the theatre often, usually go to gigs where getting tanked up is the norm/encouraged. Suddenly there's a show popped up full of songs by an artist they love. They go. Few beers before hand, drinks at the bar, take seats with drinks expecting to be able to do what they do at a gig. I actually think you may have hit the nail on the head. The worst audiences I've ever been a part of, by far, were Jersey Boys and Bat out of Hell. Both times, drunk patrons standing, dancing, singing and trying to film, who seemed confused and affronted when told by FOH that this wasn't allowed. I really don't go to a lot of big gigs but I scored a free ticket to Simply Red in Birmingham and it was a little enlightening, particularly the amount of people who kept getting up mid-song to get more booze.
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Post by sfsusan on Feb 14, 2022 21:33:02 GMT
I really don't go to a lot of big gigs but I scored a free ticket to Simply Red in Birmingham and it was a little enlightening, particularly the amount of people who kept getting up mid-song to get more booze. If you want to really be 'enlightened', go to a Jimmy Buffet concert. I worked for a company that sponsored one of his tours, so we got free tickets. People were loaded/stoned out of their minds before the show started. One girl was straddling the guy she'd just met and they were making out like mad. Until she stood up, walked over to the railing and vomited onto the walkway below! Then returned and picked up where they left off!
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594 posts
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Post by og on Feb 15, 2022 9:02:57 GMT
I really don't go to a lot of big gigs but I scored a free ticket to Simply Red in Birmingham and it was a little enlightening, particularly the amount of people who kept getting up mid-song to get more booze. If you want to really be 'enlightened', go to a Jimmy Buffet concert. I worked for a company that sponsored one of his tours, so we got free tickets. People were loaded/stoned out of their minds before the show started. One girl was straddling the guy she'd just met and they were making out like mad. Until she stood up, walked over to the railing and vomited onto the walkway below! Then returned and picked up where they left off! Imagine being stoned at a Jimmy Buffet concert and finding out there wasn't an actual buffet there. Evening ruined.
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851 posts
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Post by longinthetooth on Feb 15, 2022 12:09:26 GMT
I don't go to gigs any more. The last time, at the Royal Albert Hall of all places, I seriously wondered if we were in the row for the incontinent, the number of times we had to stand to let people go to the loo. Plus the latecomers who, no sooner settled in their seats, got up to collect more supplies from the bar.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2022 16:20:42 GMT
It was on the front of my local paper yesterday that at an Elton John trbute act show at Alex Theatre Birmingham last Friday Night there were some drunken people in the audience and a couple eventually ended up on stage dancing and when one female tried to follow the Elton impresonator off the stage she was stopped and her boyfriend ended up in a shoving match with security and band members.
The show was stopped for a bit and relevant people removed. Lots of posts of theatre's FB page about Security being slow to act and staff serving an increasingly drunk group more alcohol. Plus Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting jokes this was 3 hours early as it was at 9pm on Friday night the article noted.
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Post by schuttep on Feb 23, 2022 10:57:18 GMT
Hmmm looking for a correlation... There's been discernible rise of incidents of disruptive behaviour in theatre audiences in the last few years. There's also been a lot of new Jukebox shows popping up over the last few years. Rarely if ever does a Pinter get a show-stop due to bad behaviour. Maybe. Perhaps there's a relationship here. Music fans (sorry to tarnish all with the same brush) who don't go to the theatre often, usually go to gigs where getting tanked up is the norm/encouraged. Suddenly there's a show popped up full of songs by an artist they love. They go. Few beers before hand, drinks at the bar, take seats with drinks expecting to be able to do what they do at a gig. I totally agree with you re juke-box musicals; my partner and I were discussing this very topic a few days ago. This is arguably why the problem mostly seems to occur at current juke-box musicals, but is also creeping into traditional musicals, too. Return to the Forbidden Planet (wonderful though it was) seems to me to have been the first juke-box musical and may have much to answer for!!! We would love to see The Tina Turner Musical but haven't so far because of bad behaviour. Also the rise and rise of tech has some part to play. Firstly because people think they can film, record, take photos/selfies at shows and never mind the light disruption to others. And imho secondly because the constant use of tech can lead to people being disconnected with other real life people, particularly strangers. So they have little idea of the effect their behaviour is having on others. How many times have I witnessed people watching videos and listening to phone calls/messages in contained public places (buses, tubes, cafes, pubs etc) with the speaker turned on. It's the latter day equivalent of listening to tinny leakage from older earphones. End of rant!! So, what's the solution? Certainly, theatres need to do something as has happened at the Drifters' Girl theatre and the Lyric, Belfast during the run of Into the Woods. But extra security/support costs money. Announcements before may help (I think the best are when they get the star of the show or a famous voice associated with the theatre to record it, or when it's humorous - or both). Maybe a "Please Note:" note on tickets. Any other suggestions? Let's try to help theatre producers/owners.
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Post by floorshow on Feb 23, 2022 11:17:28 GMT
If you go to the Imax you get a lovely FOH person stand up front a couple of mins before the lights go down and explain a couple of ground rules - mainly to help people who may find the while thing a bit overwhelming.
I don't see why that isn't possible in a theatre, it's less effort tham silently holding up a picture of a "no phones" or "no fighting" graphic.
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Post by sph on Feb 23, 2022 11:29:14 GMT
A pre-show announcement recorded by one of the show's stars would probably work quite well. Unfortunately these are less popular with producers who don't like announcements as they seem intrusive right before a show. Of course these producers are not working on the ground floor WITH the public like theatre staff and so don't see the behaviour of audience members themselves most of the time.
I don't think any form of writing about rules on tickets or emails would make a difference because, well, people just don't read them!
It does go to show that everyone who works at the top of an organisation should spend more time seeing how everything works at the bottom. I bet a lot more would be done to combat bad behaviour if producers were directly in the firing line of an angry/drunk/fidgety audience member every night of the week.
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594 posts
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Post by og on Feb 23, 2022 11:55:58 GMT
Pre-show announcements used to be all the rage, at least in regional receiving houses as far as I can remember. Once upon a time, I remember as well as the DSM telling people to turn their phones and pagers off, they'd also announce Principal Understudies and sometimessss even the conductor!
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2,206 posts
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Post by theglenbucklaird on Feb 23, 2022 12:20:58 GMT
If you go to the Imax you get a lovely FOH person stand up front a couple of mins before the lights go down and explain a couple of ground rules - mainly to help people who may find the while thing a bit overwhelming. I don't see why that isn't possible in a theatre, it's less effort tham silently holding up a picture of a "no phones" or "no fighting" graphic. Do they really hold up a graphic no fighting sign in the theatre? Either way, made me laugh
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851 posts
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Post by longinthetooth on Feb 23, 2022 12:26:28 GMT
Slightly off topic, but re fighting, my friend was on a train recently when a fight broke out between a group of women, involving hair pulling and throwing punches. She mentioned this to her daughter-in-law later in the day, and was shocked when the young lady replied, "oh yes, that's how I fight!"
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Post by sph on Feb 23, 2022 13:24:37 GMT
Slightly off topic, but re fighting, my friend was on a train recently when a fight broke out between a group of women, involving hair pulling and throwing punches. She mentioned this to her daughter-in-law later in the day, and was shocked when the young lady replied, "oh yes, that's how I fight!" Oh yes! I remember seeing more fights between girls than between boys back when I was in school!
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Post by profquatermass on Feb 23, 2022 22:06:59 GMT
"A woman says she was chucked out of a musical performance on her first time back in a theatre since the Covid lockdown by eight security guards after “tapping her thigh” along with the songs. Dot Grant told how she felt “uncomfortable” when members of staff surrounded her in the lobby of the Edinburgh Playhouse following her removal from a matinee showing of Bat Out Of Hell at the historic venue. The 52-year-old said audience members were not warned to stay silent throughout the production, adding she was prevented from seeing the grand finale despite complying with all mask-wearing regulations.... “During the first half of the show, one of the users flashed their torchlight at me, but I didn't know why. I was tapping my thigh in time to the music and singing under my mask and did not think I was doing anything wrong. “I went to speak to usher not long after this and asked why. Her response was that my actions were a distraction to other audience members and there is no singing.” As action on the stage reached its crescendo in the second half, Dot said she became aware of a security worker motioning for her to come to the end of the aisle. She was then taken out of the theatre and prevented from returning for the grand finale, with staff warning her she was “at a musical theatre show, not a concert”. Dot accused the workers of deliberately making her feel “uneasy” after they cornered to explain their reasons for removing her from the performance. “There was about 15 minutes left and a security guard asked me to take my jacket and bag to come and speak to him,” she said. “I think there were six security people in the aisle, when outside the bottom bar area, another two arrived, so I was surrounded by eight men which made me feel very uncomfortable and uneasy. “It was explained to me that people had been complaining about my actions of singing and dancing in my seat, that it was a distraction and off putting for the cast. “I had been singing and I waved my hands a few times, but I didn’t think that was wrong, I’ve never been treated like that in any theatre before or since.” She added: “The final song was being played and I asked if I could stand at the back to listen but was told no and that I was being shown the door to leave the theatre." Full story here www.edinburghlive.co.uk/news/edinburgh-news/edinburgh-theatre-goer-thrown-out-23195110?fbclid=IwAR33pc73PNLMhhHl-M-mGBkYPgU6YlShNaAcbW3MCNq_eNmdBdRAg4wy2zs
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Post by sph on Feb 23, 2022 23:14:49 GMT
She was "only tapping her thigh and singing a bit under her mask"...
Hmmm... seems like a likely story...
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334 posts
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Post by adrianics on Feb 24, 2022 10:34:42 GMT
Absolutely hilarious that the article starts with she only did one thing, then as it goes on she adds more and more things she was doing.
"All I did was tap my thigh. All I did was tap my thigh and sing. All I did was tap my thigh, sing and wave my hands around. All I did was tap my thigh, sing, wave my hands around and conduct a complicated offshore stock trade on my phone during "For Crying Out Loud". All I did was tap my thigh, sing, wave my hands around, conduct a complicated offshore stock trade on my phone during "For Crying Out Loud" and cough directly into the mouth of every person in front, behind and next to me."
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Post by floorshow on Feb 24, 2022 15:50:39 GMT
By the time I finished reading I was hoping there were enough security to take limb each and just hoik her out the front door.
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7,506 posts
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Post by alece10 on Feb 24, 2022 15:54:17 GMT
8 security guards at the theatre? That must be a right rough joint!
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Post by inthenose on Feb 24, 2022 17:09:55 GMT
It would've been two security guards and six elderly volunteer ushers, but let's not ruin Dot's fantasy.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2022 19:54:54 GMT
By the time I finished reading I was hoping there were enough security to take limb each and just hoik her out the front door. One for each arm and leg that is 4, any suggestions where the other 4 would grab hold.
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Post by floorshow on Feb 24, 2022 20:03:55 GMT
By the time I finished reading I was hoping there were enough security to take limb each and just hoik her out the front door. One for each arm and leg that is 4, any suggestions where the other 4 would grab hold. Ears, nose and throat? No, wait, that's doctors :/
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Post by NorthernAlien on Feb 25, 2022 9:07:50 GMT
Now I know we should always take comments with a pinch of salt, BUT... according to the comments on that article, she was in fact singing along at the top of her voice, was drunk, and there may have been a fight!
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2,146 posts
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Post by richey on Feb 25, 2022 13:18:43 GMT
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