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Post by BurlyBeaR on Jul 1, 2017 22:58:40 GMT
Hideous wasn't it? This should have been on my list of ones I didn't leave, but should have. Yes. If anything, it got worse. However, I *loved* Will Young in the following (proper) tour... It wasn't a case of 'Leave Right Now' for Will then hahaha. will you risk it with Will and Redknapp? |
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Post by SageStageMgr on Jul 2, 2017 1:43:55 GMT
Yes. If anything, it got worse. However, I *loved* Will Young in the following (proper) tour... It wasn't a case of 'Leave Right Now' for Will then hahaha. will you risk it with Will and Redknapp? Absolutely not!!! Ha ha |
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Post by Snciole on Jul 2, 2017 23:18:37 GMT
I was just going through my diary because I feel like I have escaped a lot (either due to lack of interest or illness in the case of King Charles III) but I haven't done it for a while, mainly because of the blog but also I am a lot more discerning about what I pay to see now.
It was usually at The National too so;
The Doctors Dilemna
Scenes of an Execution
She Stoops to Conquer
Children of the Sun. I just did not care what happened or what was happening plus my seat was awful
I stuck with Damned by Despair and Amadeus as well as Robert Icke's shockingly dull "Uncle Johnny" though.
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Post by mistressjojo on Jul 3, 2017 2:32:17 GMT
At the local production of the Robert Icke '1984' last week.
I was fine but I think the ladies next to me would have scarpered if they had a chance!
That was probably why there wasn't an interval.
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Post by zahidf on Jul 3, 2017 13:07:29 GMT
Which play was it which had Simon Callow in lingerie screaming 'Mummy' just before the interval?
I didn't go back for the second half of that.
I've left a few over the years in the interval, if it's a) cheap and b) I'm REALLY not feeling it.
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Post by raider80 on Mar 17, 2019 15:55:01 GMT
With rumors going around that Stephen Sondheim leaving, "Be More Chill" I started to think have any of you guys ever walked out of a show or left during intermission.
I never have, I'm too stubborn to leave but, I have thought about it twice. The first time was probably 15 years ago, I saw a truly awful tour of Cats. It was still in the top 3 longest running shows so I stay for the seconded act and, it got worse. The second time was the U.S. tour of "Dreamgirls" it was a massive misfire and Adrienne Warren couldn't even save that disaster. But, I stayed to bored out of mind for the second act.
So, what are your stories?
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Post by longinthetooth on Mar 17, 2019 16:07:32 GMT
The worst show I ever saw was "The Opinion Makers", with Daniel Boys, Mel Giedroyc and Julie Atherton, back in 2013. It was supposed to be a musical comedy, set in an advertising agency in the 1960's I think. It was absolutely dire, and after the interval I was the only one left in my row. The cast tried their hardest, bless them, but to no avail. On leaving the auditorium, I overheard someone saying they'd never left in total silence before - usually people were chatting about the show, the performances, the music etc, but on this occasion zilch. It was performed in Colchester and Derby, I believe, and presumably died the death after that.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2019 16:22:03 GMT
I walked out of Anthony & Cleopatra at the Nash as I had a throbbing headache and was rather bored.
And Hadestown, simply because I thought I it was awful and didn't fancy wasting another hour or more of my life on it!
I don't think I've ever left early prior to that as the other times I would have wanted to I have been with other people so unable to walk out!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2019 16:33:09 GMT
The shows I've left at the interval of are Kismet at the ENO, God of Soho at the Globe, Great Expectations in the West End, and The White Devil at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse. I just couldn't bring myself to stay for the second half of any of them. I left a play called Bear at one of the pub theatres because I was taken ill halfway through but I'd've stayed if I could. And I wish I'd left England People Very Nice and Obsession before the end, even though the latter didn't have an interval.
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Post by duncan on Mar 17, 2019 16:34:31 GMT
I refuse to walk out as I always think that if I do I'll miss THAT moment that makes the production unmissable.
I have though fallen asleep during performances of the Swayze Guys & Dolls, Stomp and Becketts Endgame.
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Post by richey on Mar 17, 2019 16:58:07 GMT
The only one I've considered walking out of was the current Rock of Ages tour. I decided to stay to see if it would improve after the interval...it didn't
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2019 17:05:18 GMT
As a performer and director myself (albeit in am-dram circles),I have always felt bad about the idea of quitting on a live show that has taken a lot of stress,sweat,time and pressure to realise,but I really, really should have bailed out of Jersey Boys and Rock Of Ages.Just my personal taste.Once fell asleep in a production of Showboat in London many moons ago and was awakened by an usher for snoring.Really embarassing! Went to the stage-door afterwards to pass on profuse apologies.My excuse was that I had been staying in a Youth Hotel Association dorm in Rotherhithe and the noisy nocturnal habits of other patrons meant that sleep was hard to come by!
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Post by david on Mar 17, 2019 17:07:58 GMT
I’ve never walked out early, though I was very close to doing so at the NT’s Common. That was 2hrs+ of my life I’ll never get back.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2019 17:08:09 GMT
I've never left a show at the interval, but have been tempted twice. Second preview of Stephen Ward because it was god awful and Mamma Mia on a return visit, because a group of Spanish people treated it like a sing-along to the point you couldn't hear Diane Pilkington sing.
I have had one occasion where I did have to leave toward the end of Act 1 at Bend it Like Beckham because I felt like I was about to have an epileptic seziure so I went to the bar and had to sit down for a minute. Very helpful staff I must say! But I did pull myself together and returned for Act 2.
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Mar 17, 2019 17:10:49 GMT
Merged
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2019 17:26:46 GMT
Only one occasion at the interval of Spamalot. Tired from a long day at work coupled with a long journey home from Wimbledon and the corniness of the production itself led to the decision being made. The only other time I was most tempted to scarper was at Doctor Faustus with Kit Harrington, and that was partly due to the appalling seats’ zero legroom and frankly disgracefully poor sight lines (also I found the production to be considerably less than entertaining).
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2019 17:56:01 GMT
I don’t leave shows until the end for reasons of taste, I make sure I do my research beforehand so that I know what to expect. I do sometimes not go to shows I’ve booked but mostly that’s because I decided to book something else that appealed more to fill that slot and my London visits are more limited since I moved north.
Once or twice I’ve felt ill but that’s different. I remember a ‘secret’ room that FOH staff took me to at Avenue Q (Noel Coward Theatre?). I had a massive headache but was there with students (and another colleague) so couldn’t just leave and would have been struggling if I’d gone anywhere anyway. The FOH staff were brilliant, I was laid out on a chaise longue, they brought me an ice pack, drinks, checked up on me and I felt well enough to travel back with the students at the end.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2019 18:12:30 GMT
I refuse to walk out as I always think that if I do I'll miss THAT moment that makes the production unmissable. I don't think I've ever experienced that moment. Unless the writer had a flash of enlightenment and thought "Damn, I suck at this, I'd better get someone else to finish it off" I generally find that the end of a bad show is just more of the same. |
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Post by alece10 on Mar 17, 2019 19:21:36 GMT
I've only left at the interval twice. Once was at a musical at The Mayfair hotel. It was so bad I can't even remember the name of it but it had Nancy Dell'Olio in it.
The other time was The Killing of Sister George at The Arts Theatre. I left at the interval as I had acute back pain and the next day had to go to A&E and had my gallbladder removed. So had a good reason to leave.
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Post by alicechallice on Mar 17, 2019 19:46:04 GMT
Stephen Sondheim also left London Road at the interval the night I was there,
too.
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Post by Dawnstar on Mar 17, 2019 20:17:34 GMT
I don’t leave shows until the end for reasons of taste, I make sure I do my research beforehand so that I know what to expect. While that works in terms of not seeing pieces you don't like, and I always do research & check plots in advance, it doesn't help if it's a new production that you can't stand. I've left 2 opera productions in the interval not because I disliked the operas but because I found those particular productions unbearable. I've seen the same operas in other productions & enjoyed them. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2019 20:21:34 GMT
It's not always possible to research yourself out of booking something on taste grounds. Based on his previous works, I was quite hopeful for A Very Very Very Dark Matter, but by the time anyone knew anything useful about it, I'd already had my ticket booked for months.
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Mar 17, 2019 21:12:17 GMT
I noticed ALW not coming back after the interval of Spend Spend Spend with Babs Dickson back in late 1999.
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Post by joem on Mar 17, 2019 21:16:00 GMT
Never walked out, will never walk out (other than through illness). It's rude to the performers and rude to the audience. If you do your research about what you're watching you shouldn't need to walk out. If I want to waste money I can think of many other ways of doing it which don't involve paying for tickets which I then don't use.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2019 21:26:21 GMT
Never walked out, will never walk out (other than through illness). It's rude to the performers and rude to the audience. If you do your research about what you're watching you shouldn't need to walk out. If I want to waste money I can think of many other ways of doing it which don't involve paying for tickets which I then don't use. It's not rude to anyone if you leave it at the interval as you aren't disturbing anyone, and I doubt any performer is counting the number of empty seats they can see before and after the interval. And "if you do your research" is a naive attitude - no-one knows exactly how they are going to react to a production, or how they are going to feel on any particular day. If you're lucky enough to never get a migraine, or psychic enough to predict months in advance when you will get one, then fair enough, but not everyone is. Life is too short, I'm not going to be apologetic about taking risks on theatre, but neither am I going to apologise for not wasting more time than absolutely necessary on something I'm not enjoying. Anyway, we've already had this debate several pages ago so I apologise for rehashing it, but judgmental posts like yours are entirely unnecessary. |
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