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Post by Deleted on Nov 5, 2018 8:40:26 GMT
I would very much enjoy it if ushers would approach people using a seat for their coat and charge them for the use of the seat. I would also very much enjoy it if people wouldn't go into the auditorium twenty minutes before the show, assume that the empty seat next to them will remain empty for the entire duration, put their coat on it, then act all put out when I turn up five minutes before curtain and want to sit in the seat I booked and paid for. If it's too traumatic to keep your coat in the seat space that you have booked and paid for, most theatres have cloakrooms, and I'm pretty sure it's a minority of those require you to pay a fee.
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Post by kathryn on Nov 5, 2018 12:29:08 GMT
I'm pretty sure it's a minority of those require you to pay a fee. I'm afraid in the West End it's the other way around - most cloakrooms charge a fee, the minority don't. Free cloakrooms are more of a subsidised sector thing, I think. Possibly because they were built-in and have the space whereas in the old WE theatres they are squeezed into an odd corner somewhere and can't really handle very much.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 5, 2018 13:20:41 GMT
And yet weirdly, the only times I've had to wrassle my seat back from someone who was clearly hoping to use it as a coat stand for the evening - including this Saturday just gone - have been at theatres with free cloakrooms. West End audiences have their own problems but, in the cheap seats at least, they seem much better at keeping their coats to themselves.
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18,774 posts
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Nov 5, 2018 15:42:10 GMT
TWICE in a row, someone asks if I want to change places with them so that they can take my carefully chosen aisle seat. IF YOU WANT AN AISLE SEAT, BOOK ONE. And for the record, no way am I trading when I had the good fortune of both the seat in front, and the seat in front of that, empty. I always book an aisle seat as well, even on planes lol. I had someone want to swap with me and we had a stare off as I said no. Me three. I’d rather miss a bit of the view than sit in the middle of a row. The thought of having someone on both sides of me makes be want to flail my arms around, punch and kick out involuntarily 🙂
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Post by Deleted on Nov 5, 2018 16:45:40 GMT
Related to that, I was sat eating in a Chipotle the other week between shows, and suddenly had a hard 'whack' on the back of my head- enough to send me forward almost into my burrito! the man in question profusely apologised, and was very sincere about it- I think he just lost his balance squeezing between the tables. It was so hard I assumed his bag or something had hit my head, nope turned out it was just him!Matron! Not the only spicy thing you'll find in Chipotle it would appear. Out of interest, which branch was this in perchance? Just for research you understand . . .
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Post by Deleted on Nov 5, 2018 17:48:57 GMT
If someone's coat is on my seat I'll sit on it. And perhaps drop the lemon slice from my G&T in the pocket once I'm done with it.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 5, 2018 18:14:28 GMT
Related to that, I was sat eating in a Chipotle the other week between shows, and suddenly had a hard 'whack' on the back of my head- enough to send me forward almost into my burrito! the man in question profusely apologised, and was very sincere about it- I think he just lost his balance squeezing between the tables. It was so hard I assumed his bag or something had hit my head, nope turned out it was just him!Matron! Not the only spicy thing you'll find in Chipotle it would appear. Out of interest, which branch was this in perchance? Just for research you understand . . . Charing Cross Road, or more accurately, just over from Soho where you pay a lot more for such things. My my sir, the size on that Burrito...
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Post by Deleted on Nov 8, 2018 13:37:53 GMT
Who could fit the most Burrito in their mouth out of all the board members that would be a fun game to try!
I'm not saying who my money would be on!
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4,458 posts
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Post by poster J on Nov 10, 2018 20:14:32 GMT
Not the theatre but the cinema today. Despite the 35 mins of adverts and trailers the person behind me managed not to turn up until 5 minutes after the actual film had started. Then spent 5 minutes rustling around in her many, many shopping bags for food and another 5 opening the rustling packets of said food. Then at about 10 minute intervals thereafter for the entire film she did even more rummaging about in the shopping bags...
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Post by NeilVHughes on Nov 10, 2018 20:43:04 GMT
At the Park tonight phones aplenty.
Beware the wrath of Henry Goodman, stopped the show and told us to check our ‘bloody’ phones or words to that effect.
A play where watching thereactions of the married couples in the audience is priceless.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 10, 2018 22:25:44 GMT
Hey friends, if there's some kind of gap or space in the chair-back just in front of you then it would be absolutely terrific if you could keep your damn feet to yourself, thanks awfully.
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307 posts
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Post by stuart on Nov 10, 2018 23:50:55 GMT
Sorry for the long post but I would be intrigued to hear how the forum would deal with what I experienced at today’s The Comedy About a Bank Robbery tour matinee in Glasgow.
We were sitting to the side of one of the Circles. Our seats weren’t restricted view but the ones immediately next to us were as would’ve been the ones in front of those. Right before curtain, a family consisting of 2 parents and 2 children (a girl and boy aged 7 and 9 I’d say?) sat in the row in front of us including in 2 of the aforementioned restricted view seats. As the show started, the young girl clearly realised her seat was restricted view and decided she wanted to sit on her dad’s lap, thus blocking half of the stage for those behind. However, as his seat was most likely restricted view too, she then leaned forward quite considerably which resulted in her blocking our view of almost two-thirds of the stage. A few loud tuts from my party had no reactions from the parents who seemed to largely be enjoying the show and ignoring their restless children.
I was really at odds with what to do here. There was nobody sitting in the restricted view seats next to me and I tried shuffling along but the father/daughter continued to take up most of the view. As I was essentially at the end of the row, I managed to sneak out the side to speak to an usher and explain the situation. She (very helpfully I should say) told the father that she had to sit in her seat and even provided a booster cushion to the young girl. That helped for approximately 6 minutes until she wanted back on her dad’s lap again. It was at this point that the young boy in this family also decided his view wasn’t good enough and stood up to watch the end of the first half, meaning our view of the stage was now just the very extreme right corner. Again, neither parent addressed this.
At the interval, I spoke to the same usher again who said that we could move to the very back of the circle but these seats would be restricted view. She also contacted a manager who offered seats in the back row of the Stalls, but these would also be restricted view. We were at odds with what to do but when the family didn’t arrive back for the start of Act 2, we just remained where we were. Oh, how we were wrong! A few minutes in (and after a false start owing to a tech problem) the family arrived back at their seats. The entire spectacle repeated itself during the second act - girl can’t see, gets on dad’s knee, usher tells her to sit down, parents don’t react, son then decides to stand up again. It was when the son stood up for the second time that the mother took action, by sending him to the end of the row to stand in the aisle and watch the show! This meant the little girl then decided to move seat a few times and sit on her mum’s knee before finally deciding she wanted to stand in the aisle too. I think the parents realised it was a lost cause by this point and made a hasty exit 20 minutes before the end.
In my view, I would’ve been happy to move to a restricted view seat at Intermission just to see some of the show but as my friends pointed out, we’d paid full price for non restricted view seats. Why should we have to move to a cheaper seat because of others?
What was the right thing to do here? In my opinion, the show isn’t exactly child friendly so were the parents in the wrong for bringing their children into a show they wouldn’t enjoy? Were the ushers in the wrong for not being proactive in managing the situation? Was I in the wrong for not asking the parents to deal with it?
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Post by lynette on Nov 11, 2018 0:08:21 GMT
It isn’t a kids' show,is it? So they should do something about the publicity for this. IMO, the usher should have been more proactive and offered the children alternative seats! No loss to anyone and good will all round.
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307 posts
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Post by stuart on Nov 11, 2018 13:17:09 GMT
It isn’t a kids' show,is it? So they should do something about the publicity for this. IMO, the usher should have been more proactive and offered the children alternative seats! No loss to anyone and good will all round. The theatre website did say “Suitable for ages 12+” at the top of the page so I presume these parents either ignored said warning or thought it would be appropriate regardless.
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5,582 posts
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Post by lynette on Nov 11, 2018 13:28:00 GMT
The problem often when the younger child is younger than the recommended age, you just ignore it.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 11, 2018 15:12:11 GMT
Sorry for the long post but I would be intrigued to hear how the forum would deal with what I experienced at today’s The Comedy About a Bank Robbery tour matinee in Glasgow. We were sitting to the side of one of the Circles. Our seats weren’t restricted view but the ones immediately next to us were as would’ve been the ones in front of those. Right before curtain, a family consisting of 2 parents and 2 children (a girl and boy aged 7 and 9 I’d say?) sat in the row in front of us including in 2 of the aforementioned restricted view seats. As the show started, the young girl clearly realised her seat was restricted view and decided she wanted to sit on her dad’s lap, thus blocking half of the stage for those behind. However, as his seat was most likely restricted view too, she then leaned forward quite considerably which resulted in her blocking our view of almost two-thirds of the stage. A few loud tuts from my party had no reactions from the parents who seemed to largely be enjoying the show and ignoring their restless children. I was really at odds with what to do here. There was nobody sitting in the restricted view seats next to me and I tried shuffling along but the father/daughter continued to take up most of the view. As I was essentially at the end of the row, I managed to sneak out the side to speak to an usher and explain the situation. She (very helpfully I should say) told the father that she had to sit in her seat and even provided a booster cushion to the young girl. That helped for approximately 6 minutes until she wanted back on her dad’s lap again. It was at this point that the young boy in this family also decided his view wasn’t good enough and stood up to watch the end of the first half, meaning our view of the stage was now just the very extreme right corner. Again, neither parent addressed this. At the interval, I spoke to the same usher again who said that we could move to the very back of the circle but these seats would be restricted view. She also contacted a manager who offered seats in the back row of the Stalls, but these would also be restricted view. We were at odds with what to do but when the family didn’t arrive back for the start of Act 2, we just remained where we were. Oh, how we were wrong! A few minutes in (and after a false start owing to a tech problem) the family arrived back at their seats. The entire spectacle repeated itself during the second act - girl can’t see, gets on dad’s knee, usher tells her to sit down, parents don’t react, son then decides to stand up again. It was when the son stood up for the second time that the mother took action, by sending him to the end of the row to stand in the aisle and watch the show! This meant the little girl then decided to move seat a few times and sit on her mum’s knee before finally deciding she wanted to stand in the aisle too. I think the parents realised it was a lost cause by this point and made a hasty exit 20 minutes before the end. In my view, I would’ve been happy to move to a restricted view seat at Intermission just to see some of the show but as my friends pointed out, we’d paid full price for non restricted view seats. Why should we have to move to a cheaper seat because of others? What was the right thing to do here? In my opinion, the show isn’t exactly child friendly so were the parents in the wrong for bringing their children into a show they wouldn’t enjoy? Were the ushers in the wrong for not being proactive in managing the situation? Was I in the wrong for not asking the parents to deal with it? I would be tempted to write to the theatre to explain what happened and to ask for a refund because the usher should have moved the family to the restricted seats at the back of the stalls. That way, the kids standing up/ sitting on laps wouldn't have disturbed anyone else. It isn't OK that you paid good money for seats (they ain't cheap!) and didn't get to see the show. You may not get your money back but I think it's at least worth trying.
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Post by Cardinal Pirelli on Nov 15, 2018 18:32:02 GMT
There are no words.... “A man laced the atmosphere of a Baltimore theater with menace when he began shouting “Heil Hitler! Heil Trump!” during intermission of a classic play set in a Jewish village in czarist Russia. The patron’s pro-Nazi and pro-Trump outburst during a Wednesday night production of “Fiddler on the Roof” sent dozens of panicked people running for the exits at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre.” time.com/5455842/fiddler-on-the-roof-heil-hitler/(It appears to be the tour of the Bartlett Sher revival).
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Post by Lemansky on Nov 16, 2018 14:11:31 GMT
At The Inheritance Pt 1 last night, both the women behind us were vocalising and just making noise throughout the entire show. Generally murmuring agreement with the lines or reacting in shock/sympathy etc. They were both American and, having never been fortunate enough to go and see anything over there, I'm not sure whether this was just something that audiences in the US just do more than in the Uk? Either way, it was incredibly annoying.
One of them was also leaning forward in her seat, so everything she said was loud & very close to my ear, I'm sure I could feel her breath at points.
Before it started a man did walk through the row behind and hit me over the head with his bag. I didn't really know how to react but my wonderful friend said something to him and then made sure everyone else entering the row didn't do anything similar!
However, the show was fab and the above didn't ruin the right. The noisy ladies nearly did, but I managed to remain calm.
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Post by floorshow on Nov 16, 2018 23:28:07 GMT
Saw Dave Gorman tonight, he has developed the ability to say "Put your phone away, don't be a dick" without it breaking his delivery or rhythm.
Shame he had to do it twice..
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Post by Roxie on Nov 17, 2018 1:35:53 GMT
Not the theatre but the cinema today. Despite the 35 mins of adverts and trailers the person behind me managed not to turn up until 5 minutes after the actual film had started. Then spent 5 minutes rustling around in her many, many shopping bags for food and another 5 opening the rustling packets of said food. Then at about 10 minute intervals thereafter for the entire film she did even more rummaging about in the shopping bags... I had similar when I went to see La La Land. About halfway through the film, two middle aged women Came in and sat down behind us and started to unpack an actual picnic. I’m talking butties, crisps, sweets, bottle of pop. While they were doing this they were having a conversation quite loudly. After about 2 minutes I turned around and said “are you two gonna talk through the whole film?” And the reply was “have you got a problem with us?” I said “yes, you’re talking and I can’t hear the film. Be quiet please.” Very shortly after that, they left. Not entirely sure why there were there in the 1st place, cos it wasn’t to watch the film!! Ah, Stoke!
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Post by Deleted on Nov 18, 2018 15:24:12 GMT
Saw Dave Gorman tonight, he has developed the ability to say "Put your phone away, don't be a dick" without it breaking his delivery or rhythm. Shame he had to do it twice.. If people are stupid enough to do it during a comedy show then they are going to get picked on.
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Post by theglenbucklaird on Nov 18, 2018 21:06:21 GMT
Saw Dave Gorman tonight, he has developed the ability to say "Put your phone away, don't be a dick" without it breaking his delivery or rhythm. Shame he had to do it twice.. If people are stupid enough to do it during a comedy show then they are going to get picked on. No they said it was Dave Gorman
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2,137 posts
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Post by richey on Nov 20, 2018 8:14:39 GMT
Great pre-show 'warning' about using phones at Kinky Boots tour last night (not sure if it's the same as the west end version?) which got everyone cheering and checking they'd turned theirs off. Shame it didn't extend to the idiot in my sight line with an apple watch which came to life every time he (frequently) scratched his neck
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Post by Deleted on Nov 20, 2018 20:19:39 GMT
Sat in a row as follows: Me. My friend. Unsold seat. Older daughter (~16year old). Younger daughter (~12 year old). Mother. My friend has had enough of the chocolate so puts the half full grab bag on the empty seat to his right. Show closes, applause, bows start, mother and daughter rise to leave. Older daughter grabs her coat and in doing so slyly but still quite obviously swipes the bag of chocolate on her way out mid-bows.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 22, 2018 21:08:53 GMT
Sat in a row as follows: Me. My friend. Unsold seat. Older daughter (~16year old). Younger daughter (~12 year old). Mother. My friend has had enough of the chocolate so puts the half full grab bag on the empty seat to his right. Show closes, applause, bows start, mother and daughter rise to leave. Older daughter grabs her coat and in doing so slyly but still quite obviously swipes the bag of chocolate on her way out mid-bows. You should have caught up with her and leaned over and said "I've had my hands in that grab bag and I don't wash my hands when I go to the toilet. And I've been to the toilet a LOT tonight. Bye".
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Post by vdcni on Nov 22, 2018 23:16:00 GMT
It's not really bad behaviour but the lady who spent a good chunk of the first act of Measure For Measure asleep tonight might have been better going home rather than sleeping through almost all of the second!
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Post by Deleted on Nov 23, 2018 11:19:38 GMT
It's not really bad behaviour but the lady who spent a good chunk of the first act of Measure For Measure asleep tonight might have been better going home rather than sleeping through almost all of the second! That's fair I think. Having a snooze is preferable to being beaten about the head with the obviousness of the second half.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 25, 2018 16:54:18 GMT
We had an... unusual let's say... lady next to us yesterday at Don Q. When we sat down, she immediately started talking to us, very animatedly and excitedly. She had a giant rucksack, which she had in the aisle, and a strange beret covered in badges. The chap asked her to move her rucksack, which she did. She then moved it back out again and told us she didn't believe them that the actors needed to come past that way. They had to her to move it again. Then she started waving and yelling at her friend on the other end of the same row. She stayed quiet through the play, but when Sancho Panza's wife gave her a baby puppet part way through act 1, she proceeded to wave it about for the rest of the act. She then almost refused to give it back to the usher at the interval and was arguing that she wanted to keep it. Then she got a packed lunch out - LOTS AND LOTS of sandwiches wrapped in foil - and scoffed the lot. And at one point she leant over and poked my friend and went *oooh look, there's intestines!* (when the puppet sheep were disembowelled).
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Xanderl
Member
Not always very high value in terms of ticket yield or donations
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Post by Xanderl on Nov 25, 2018 17:14:21 GMT
We had an... unusual let's say... lady next to us yesterday at Don Q. When we sat down, she immediately started talking to us, very animatedly and excitedly. She had a giant rucksack, which she had in the aisle, and a strange beret covered in badges. Did she ask if you'd seen her friend Kimberley?
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Post by Deleted on Nov 25, 2018 17:29:07 GMT
Ha! Sadly not.
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