|
Post by Deleted on Sept 8, 2018 7:08:42 GMT
I’ve had a bad cold all week, and I’m just coming to the tail end of it, so I’m hoping my nose/throat will behave and not cough or sneeze during the show.
|
|
1,517 posts
|
Post by anita on Sept 8, 2018 9:23:36 GMT
At Barry Manilow last night (O2 not theatre but he's still very theatrical) the couple in the section above me had 2 largish cameras they attached to the barriers and must have filmed most the show. But overall while people did take pictures and videos during the show it wasnt all phones in the air all the time, felt like being at a concert 20 years ago. Was quite lovely. But people stood up & made it impossible for people behind to see until the man next to me shouted at them to sit down. Someone behind me was singing along to all the songs.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 8, 2018 21:12:32 GMT
At Iain Sterling show in Birmingham Rep Studio tonight when Iain came on stage for 2nd half a woman in the front row was sat with her feet semi up on the stage. Iain said to her "Are you in show business" she replied no and he retorted "Well take your feet off the f*****g stage then!". Her feet quickly were put down on the floor.
Yay, a Blazing Saddles reference!
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2018 21:33:49 GMT
Typical bad behaviour from a couple of girls who should know better next to me at 'The King and I' tonight, chatting constantly and checking their phones. I told the one next to me to turn it off and she put it away but her scummy friend checked hers several times.
However this was balanced out by the straight boy with his girlfriend in front of me unashamedly crying during the Tuptim capture scene. I salute you Sir.
|
|
349 posts
|
Post by kimbahorel on Sept 10, 2018 23:57:08 GMT
I am so glad I got the seat I did. Two women had two VERY young kids at Les Mis sitting end of slips. So all they way through the two kids talked and talked. But where I was you couldn't hear it as much.
|
|
888 posts
|
Post by lonlad on Sept 11, 2018 1:42:17 GMT
Did they behave at PattiLu's talk ce soir?
|
|
2,041 posts
|
Post by 49thand8th on Sept 11, 2018 17:20:42 GMT
This past weekend I saw Beautiful on Broadway next to some TALKERS. (I think it was Portuguese they were speaking; either way, I couldn't understand them.) Instead of shushing them, I tried a David Blaine stare — and after the second time, it worked! I'm not sure this would work with everyone, but IMO it's lingering and creepy enough, and doesn't need any words. The husband/boyfriend of the couple even thanked me when I made room for them on their way back from intermission, so I guess he felt sorta bad. He could've said nothing or passive-aggressively stepped on my feet, I suppose.
More accurately, though, I was channeling this guy, not the real David Blaine:
|
|
|
Post by Mr Snow on Sept 13, 2018 5:55:41 GMT
Maria Stuarda by Opera Up Close at Sutton House last night. Lovely pannelled roomin a NT property and the oldest house in east London.
First act went fine but after the interval no sooner had Elizabeth launched into a sinister aria, when some imbecile currator had left the GrandFather Clock in the room on! Nine bloody chimes!
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 13, 2018 7:54:06 GMT
At Foxfinder some members in the adience seemed to want to make it known that they found the show risible, laughing in the wrong places etc. Rude. A man behind me very loudly went rummaging in his bag for confectionary then there was the sound of wrappers being torn followed by munching. He talked all the way through - I think he was translating for someone who was either hard of hearing or couldn’t speak English. He kept sighing with boredom so I hoped he would leave after the interval but he came back but was a bit better behaved, although the talking continued. He wasn’t whispering either. I didn’t dare issue any death stares because he was much bigger than me and looked like trouble. And to cap it all off the woman sitting next to me had an unusual smell which was somewhat distracting. Now I come to think of it she had the smell of Fox about her.
|
|
1,064 posts
|
Post by bellboard27 on Sept 13, 2018 8:00:07 GMT
Maria Stuarda by Opera Up Close at Sutton House last night. Lovely pannelled roomin a NT property and the oldest house in east London. First act went fine but after the interval no sooner had Elizabeth launched into a sinister aria, when some imbecile currator had left the GrandFather Clock in the room on! Nine bloody chimes! Bloody modern technology. Never got this problem with a decent sundial. Where will it all end?!
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 13, 2018 9:30:15 GMT
Not a show, but a cinema experience today.
Two guys talking at full volume during The Nun, ruining all the suspense and the atmosphere (not that there was much of that considering it was a terrible film), and at one point one of them was on his phone scrolling through Snapchat stories, the glare of the screen clearly noticeable from the back row.
Eventually they had the sense to up and leave halfway through.
|
|
1,465 posts
|
Post by foxa on Sept 15, 2018 21:48:40 GMT
I suppose this was more clueless than bad. At Sylvia, we were sat towards the back of the stalls with a clear view. The woman in the seat next to me had a thick pillar in front of her and understandably moved over a seat once the lights went down and there was a spare. There were some late arrivals and kerfuffle at the end of our row. At the interval, a woman apparently associated with the kerfuffle people interrupted our conversations with 'Hey guys, there is spare seat next to you, so would you shuffle down so I can sit with my friends.' I said no as then I'd be looking at a pillar (which she could see.) She looked annoyed and stomped off.
If you are going to ask something ridiculous of someone at least do it politely.
|
|
4,458 posts
|
Post by poster J on Sept 15, 2018 22:41:02 GMT
Lots of talking, singing and phone usage tonight at Dreamgirls, including in very quiet moments. I told the person next to me to shut up but the annoying phone usage was sadly too far away to deal with.
The worst though was premature applause in what are meant to be (and are very obviously) dramatic pauses. Ruins the whole effect!
|
|
3,081 posts
|
Post by Dr Tom on Sept 16, 2018 9:27:20 GMT
I suppose this was more clueless than bad. At Sylvia, we were sat towards the back of the stalls with a clear view. The woman in the seat next to me had a thick pillar in front of her and understandably moved over a seat once the lights went down and there was a spare. There were some late arrivals and kerfuffle at the end of our row. At the interval, a woman apparently associated with the kerfuffle people interrupted our conversations with 'Hey guys, there is spare seat next to you, so would you shuffle down so I can sit with my friends.' I said no as then I'd be looking at a pillar (which she could see.) She looked annoyed and stomped off. If you are going to ask something ridiculous of someone at least do it politely. Same thing as happens on aeroplanes, where someone asks you to swap your carefully gained aisle seat for their middle seat a few rows back, so they can sit with their partner. Then look disgusted when you say no and after proceed to spend half the flight in the aisle talking over you. They also never suggest making the trade in the opposite direction, where they'd end up together, but in the less desirable seats.
|
|
196 posts
|
Post by rockinrobin on Sept 16, 2018 10:31:12 GMT
I suppose this was more clueless than bad. At Sylvia, we were sat towards the back of the stalls with a clear view. The woman in the seat next to me had a thick pillar in front of her and understandably moved over a seat once the lights went down and there was a spare. There were some late arrivals and kerfuffle at the end of our row. At the interval, a woman apparently associated with the kerfuffle people interrupted our conversations with 'Hey guys, there is spare seat next to you, so would you shuffle down so I can sit with my friends.' I said no as then I'd be looking at a pillar (which she could see.) She looked annoyed and stomped off. If you are going to ask something ridiculous of someone at least do it politely. Ah yes, happened to me as well. I usually swap seats with people on airplanes and in theatres when they ask nicely and there's not much difference in terms of view/comfort but I hate when someone expects me to do it. At "Mojo" a few years ago a lady asked me to swap seats with her - hers was, of course, behind the pillar... - because she wanted to sit closer to her friends and I was on my own (it seemed kind of obvious to her that since I am a loser who goes to the theare alone, I wouldn't care where I sit). I politely refused. She said "pfff", returned to her seat and gave me the "you ruined my life" stare when I passed her in the interval.
|
|
1,465 posts
|
Post by foxa on Sept 16, 2018 10:36:48 GMT
Yeah, I don't like to say 'no' but the difference in quality of seat was SO great. But also - she paid for a certain seat, she was able to talk to her friends at the interval - why was this suddenly my problem? I imagined someone more compliant than me agreeing and miserably staring at that pillar for the very long second half of the play.
On the reverse side, my children had aisle seats towards the back of the circle at Billy Elliot, someone who had anxiety and needed to sit on the end of a row asked them to change - and they ended up with wonderful centre of the row seats closer to the stage. So everyone happy.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 16, 2018 10:46:13 GMT
Yeah I agree- classic of 'not what you said but the way you said it' but also the fact it was a worse seat!!
I've quite often volunteered to swap seats- as a solo theatre goer it's usually quite easy, but obviously if it's not going to give me a worse seat. And not if someone is rude!
My recent favourite of this was at Carmen Jones in NY when our row engaged in an elaborate game of 'musical seats' for a group of about 6 blokes who had booked together, but too late to get all the seats in a row- Mum and I ended up with a nice aisle seat, another lady didn't end up stuck in the middle of their group, and as all the seats had the same view it didn't matter, and everyone involved was so nice it made for an excellent pre-show atmosphere. That's how you do it people!
|
|
18,917 posts
|
Post by BurlyBeaR on Sept 16, 2018 11:02:19 GMT
Yeah, I don't like to say 'no' but the difference in quality of seat was SO great. But also - she paid for a certain seat, she was able to talk to her friends at the interval - why was this suddenly my problem? I imagined someone more compliant than me agreeing and miserably staring at that pillar for the very long second half of the play. On the reverse side, my children had aisle seats towards the back of the circle at Billy Elliot, someone who had anxiety and needed to sit on the end of a row asked them to change - and they ended up with wonderful centre of the row seats closer to the stage. So everyone happy. I do! If ive made the effort to get somewhere early in order to choose the seat I want I’m not moving for sone chancer who turns up 2 minutes before. They can get stuffed.
|
|
349 posts
|
Post by kimbahorel on Sept 16, 2018 12:01:38 GMT
I did a swap with a guy at Southwark playhouse for Toxic Avenger. I must have booked my dead centre front row first because an entire group of friends were sat around me. So I said to the guy on the end "if you want you can have my seat." He agreed. Little did he know I had seen the show before and booked both tickets together. Only to dread the front row on this occassion because the actress in it felt up members of the audience at certain points. I did get hit with water though.... but it wasn't someone touching me so I could deal with that. She didnt touch the guy I swapped with it was the one sitting next to him.
As a whole I wouldn't swap if there was going to be a marked difference in the view of the show.
|
|
494 posts
|
Post by ellie1981 on Sept 16, 2018 13:26:38 GMT
Not the same, but when I saw Kinky Boots recently, we were stuck behind a rather tall couple with very large heads. To make it worse they kept leaning over to each other to talk so we could barely see anything between them. By the interval we realised there were a few empty seats further along our row so we moved, having to step past two quite small women, who understood our plight when we explained why we were moving. When the second act began, the two tall people with big heads in front had also inexplicably moved along, now to be sitting directly in front of the two small women in our row. They then moved into our original seats to be able to see themselves!
One thing I find about tall people is that very few I've ever had the misfortune of sitting behind, ever look behind them to be conscious of themselves. No-one can help their height and some things just can't be fixed, but even me at 5'5" always look over to see who is behind me. There was a time last year when I went to a sold out cinema screening with my mum and we noticed two young children behind us, so we made sure to slouch down and ask them if they could see properly.
|
|
|
Post by d'James on Sept 16, 2018 14:10:08 GMT
Not the same, but when I saw Kinky Boots recently, we were stuck behind a rather tall couple with very large heads. To make it worse they kept leaning over to each other to talk so we could barely see anything between them. By the interval we realised there were a few empty seats further along our row so we moved, having to step past two quite small women, who understood our plight when we explained why we were moving. When the second act began, the two tall people with big heads in front had also inexplicably moved along, now to be sitting directly in front of the two small women in our row. They then moved into our original seats to be able to see themselves! One thing I find about tall people is that very few I've ever had the misfortune of sitting behind, ever look behind them to be conscious of themselves. No-one can help their height and some things just can't be fixed, but even me at 5'5" always look over to see who is behind me. There was a time last year when I went to a sold out cinema screening with my mum and we noticed two young children behind us, so we made sure to slouch down and ask them if they could see properly. It’s difficult you can’t expect people to do that though. I’m very conscious of my height (just because you don’t see someone look, doesn’t mean they’re not aware) and I try to not sit up as straight as possible. However, sometimes it gets uncomfortable and I have to sit up straight. I’ve paid to see the show just like everyone else so shouldn’t have to feel bad about it. I’m sure I’ve seen the discussion on here before, I don’t want to feel like I should sit at the back of the Theatre.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 16, 2018 14:24:36 GMT
If a tall person is sitting in front of me, I can deal with it. It happens, I can adjust my position, and I do my best to get a decently raked seat when booking. If however the tall person is, say, constantly shifting and rocking from side to side throughout the entire show, then it gets a LOT harder to deal with. Should you have to slump? Should you have to sit at the back? Maybe not, but you can still be considerate of the people around you without having to do these things.
|
|
1,115 posts
|
Post by Stephen on Sept 16, 2018 14:34:05 GMT
If a tall person is sitting in front of me, I can deal with it. It happens, I can adjust my position, and I do my best to get a decently raked seat when booking. If however the tall person is, say, constantly shifting and rocking from side to side throughout the entire show, then it gets a LOT harder to deal with. Should you have to slump? Should you have to sit at the back? Maybe not, but you can still be considerate of the people around you without having to do these things. This, and the price tag, is why I think premium stalls seats can be a huge rip off! Even at Hamilton in the lovely new seating I struggled with the tall man infront. That was in the most expensive seats.
|
|
18,917 posts
|
Post by BurlyBeaR on Sept 16, 2018 14:43:05 GMT
If you’re tall and your legs are jammed up against the seat in front there’s a limit to how much you can slump. I’m super conscious of blocking people’s view but I don’t fidget and always go on an aisle so people are rarely blocked completely. Doesn’t stop them tutting or mumbling though. Not much I can do about it other than cut my head off.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 16, 2018 14:47:46 GMT
On a related note...one thing EVERYONE can help is not constantly leaning over to whisper/snuggle with your seat companion. Honestly if you're so in lurrrvve you can't go say 90 minutes without pawing at each other please stay home...
|
|
3,113 posts
|
Post by david on Sept 16, 2018 14:53:05 GMT
Personally if it was legal I would use a taser to solve a lot of problems in the theatre. It has the benefit of eliminating bad behaviour as the person or people would no longer be conscious to cause any issues as well as preventing poor views of the stage as they would be slumped in their seats rather than upright.
|
|
821 posts
|
Post by ensembleswings on Sept 16, 2018 15:02:21 GMT
I hate swapping seats with others purely because I keep my tickets and I like for the ticket to match the seat I'm actually sat in (weird and pointless I know) but if people ask polity then I will though only if my view stays similar or improves. As for tall people I'm well aware of the fact it can't be helped and generally it doesn't bother me as I can adjust my position to see around them, even if they shift around in their seat a little midway through the show to regain comfort that's fine as long as it's minimal. But when they start constantly shifting around or leaning towards whoever is sat next to them to chat that bugs me, mind you that applies to everyone not just those who happen to be tall
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 16, 2018 15:19:17 GMT
Personally if it was legal I would use a taser to solve a lot of problems in the theatre. It has the benefit of eliminating bad behaviour as the person or people would no longer be conscious to cause any issues as well as preventing poor views of the stage as they would be slumped in their seats rather than upright. Why limit it to just the theatre!
|
|
1,936 posts
|
Post by wickedgrin on Sept 16, 2018 16:37:24 GMT
I don't have an issue with tall/large people in front but I have a massive issue with leaning together and fidgeting! Recently the first act of a show was ruined for me (I moved seats after the interval) by a woman in front CONSTANTLY playing with her hair! How I restrained myself from grabbing it and violently banging her head on the back of the seat I will never know!!!!!
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 16, 2018 19:44:33 GMT
Personally if it was legal I would use a taser to solve a lot of problems in the theatre. It has the benefit of eliminating bad behaviour as the person or people would no longer be conscious to cause any issues as well as preventing poor views of the stage as they would be slumped in their seats rather than upright. Why limit it to just the theatre! They would be very handy for use on queue jumpers.
|
|