Bad Behaviour at a Show

The urge to be a decent human being is usually what forces me to wait until the interval to leave. At WWRY a few weeks ago the need nearly overcame me, but I sucked it up and waited, despite wanting to throw the sweaty waste of carbon sat next to me to his death from the upper circle. No sir, it is not your right to invasively record the whole show on your phone whilst sloshing beer on those around you and singing the wrong words loudly. God knows the show was painful enough, but he was a whole immersive experience in himself.

That reminds me of those who post dramatically they are leaving Facebook (they're normally back the next day...)

Just go. You don't need to announce your departure. Do they expect people to beg them to stay perhaps?

I don't know whether this is "bad audience behavior" - but when did London audiences become New York audiences where everything gets an instantaneous standing ovation? Before the cast even starts lining up for bows? We haven't been in London since 2019, but both my bride and I commented on the change.

So true! And not just Facebook! 😉

Oh, this drives me nuts! In the US, I'm frequently the only person not leaping to my feet and screaming with delight because the cast managed to do a credible job. Sometimes I'll stand reluctantly to actually be able to see the bows.

It used to be a refreshing change to come to London and be in the majority (unless, of course, the show was fantastic, in which case I'm one of the first doing the leaping). Sadly, a few years ago even London audiences started giving standing ovations based on how good they feel after the show, not how good the show was. Although I think that's less common with 'serious' plays.

(Another thing that surprised me in London is sometimes at the curtain call people boo the actor playing the heavy (and not at a panto!). No... they're not in character at the curtain call, you're acknowledging the actor, not the part.)

At Tina the actor playing Ike Turner got the panto boos, which seemed inappropriate given he wasn’t playing some fictional panto villain. He was playing a real life domestic abuser.

The first time I saw this (maybe 3-5 years ago), the actor looked briefly taken aback, then smiled wryly and made a sweeping bow. More recently, the actor took it in stride. Has this always been done (outside actual pantos)?



My initial thought was that the real Ike Turner would have deserved the boos. But, yes, doing so to the actor does seem to trivialize the behavior.

Going to go ever so slightly O/T here...

I've seen several Javert's booed at the curtain call - interestingly to me they are always the performers I didn't personally like in the role.

It's such a tricky part; Javert is meant to be a principled, deeply religious man who truly believes his views on justice and serving God in his profession are morally right. He is a man who is only in his early 50's when he takes his own life, with Valjean being around 11 years his senior.

In recent years, the nuance and quality of the acting of both parts has dropped considerably. I've seen manic Javert's (Jeremy Secomb), shouty 2D Javert's (Tam Mutu) and painfully miscast, manic AND shouty Javert's (Bradley Jaden).

All of which got hearty panto boos at the bows, something I can't remember ever happening with town's best ever Javerts I've seen live, like Earl Carpenter, Hans-Peter Janssens, Nic Greenshields, Michael McCarthy...

The audience isn't meant to *hate* Javert per se, he'd not a moustache twirling baddie, he's a man blinded by his quest for "justice", which he believes is mandated by his faith.

If the performance can be read that he is an outright villain and deserving of boos, then the actor and director haven't done a good job in portraying the character as intended.

Yes, I’m inclined to agree. I don’t think I’ve noticed Javert get booed at any of the performances I’ve seen in London, but it was definitely noticeable when I saw the show on tour in Southampton back in March. It didn’t bother me at the time but I can see how it does sort of cheapen the show - it’s not a panto is it!

I went to see a concert at a big arena recently. We were all in a big security queue moving very slowly and one women decided to pass the time by video calling pretty much everyone in her contact list telling them where she was and how she'd got her tickets for free.

Awful behaviour. I hope she never gets a free ticket again!

Is that a thing? Can we make it a thing, and for more than just opera? (I'm thinking of Benedict Cumberbatch in Lyndsey Turner's 2015 Hamlet. He was great.. the production was a hot mess.)

At Jitney yesterday there was one man in the front row who burped quite loudly on not one but two occasions! Can’t exactly say it added to the drama…

Oh and at The Southbury Child tonight an audience member’s phone alarm went off. Didn’t seem to be any effort to switch it off and whilst the actors weren’t phased several audience members were audibly miffed. Must have been ringing for almost a minute. I’d be mortified!