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Post by Paul on May 2, 2019 0:02:28 GMT
At the matinee of Lion King today, three women decided to upgrade themselves from the back of the upper circle to the front of the upper circle as there were two rows empty. I felt so smug when a class of school children were led in to the two empty rows after "circle of life." The women had to come back to their original seats, apologising to everyone on the way past as they were in the middle of the row.
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Post by harrietcraig on May 2, 2019 2:13:29 GMT
Just funny this evening at the Bridge. A bloke says, 'we're in row D.' Woman replies 'no we're in row B' She sits in row A. Has to moved by usher to row B. And somebody else, after struggling to identify row E said 'they should have designed this theatre better' They must be related to a woman who was in the audience when I saw King Lear (the one for which Glenda Jackson did not get a Tony nomination) on Broadway last week. An usher told the woman, “You’re in the very first row”, whereupon she proceeded to take a seat in the second row. It’s a conventionally configured Broadway theatre, so there couldn’t possibly be any confusion (except that there was) about which was “the very first row”.
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Post by Backdrifter on May 2, 2019 6:41:14 GMT
Recently saw an elderly lady with a luggage trolley pushed aside as she was trying to get on a train by a well-dressed city gent. I love that this image persists of the well-dressed man getting on a train, who is therefore a city gent. Please tell me he had a bowler hat and furled umbrella. Even if he didn't, I still want you to tell me he did. And was carrying a copy of the FT.
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Post by Backdrifter on May 2, 2019 6:47:31 GMT
I too book front row when affordable partly to avoid having to look at the the rest of the audience, though even front row doesn't help for certain issues (see my post at the end of the previous page). Yes I book front row for everything mainly as I don't want to have people in front me. I can't bear looking at people - I mean, actual real people. You know, the public.
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Post by Backdrifter on May 2, 2019 6:50:34 GMT
I would expect that if someone cares enough about seeing a performance to pay over £100 for a ticket then they'd also care enough to have bathed before attending. Unfortunately the woman I was sat next to at the ROH yesterday afternoon evidently didn't think that. I spent the performance leaning as far away from her as I could - fortunately I had a wall the other side of me so could do that without inconveniencing anyone else, although it made my view worse & gave me back ache - and sprayed loads of perfume on myself just before each act started. Luckily it's been a while since I've had a Mr or Ms Stink near me. As I mentioned a while ago in another thread I always carry a pot of tiger balm with me to combat Theatre Stench.
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Post by Polly1 on May 2, 2019 8:00:04 GMT
Just funny this evening at the Bridge. A bloke says, 'we're in row D.' Woman replies 'no we're in row B' She sits in row A. Has to moved by usher to row B. And somebody else, after struggling to identify row E said 'they should have designed this theatre better' Slightly off-topic here but I was thinking on Wed eve that for a new theatre, the Bridge is very poorly designed. Not sightlines, which are brilliant, but all those very long rows round to the side with only one entrance.
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Post by peggs on May 2, 2019 9:58:28 GMT
Just funny this evening at the Bridge. A bloke says, 'we're in row D.' Woman replies 'no we're in row B' She sits in row A. Has to moved by usher to row B. And somebody else, after struggling to identify row E said 'they should have designed this theatre better' Slightly off-topic here but I was thinking on Wed eve that for a new theatre, the Bridge is very poorly designed. Not sightlines, which are brilliant, but all those very long rows round to the side with only one entrance. Yes was sat right on end nearest stage of I think gallery 1 for the Alan Bennett play and it took an age to get out, lots of people were determined there must be another route and went off down what I suppose must be a fire escape and were firmly sent back.
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Post by Deleted on May 2, 2019 10:09:08 GMT
The head wants to say they must have been limited by the fact that the theatre is but a part of an overall complex, but the heart just can't quite believe there was NO scope for a few extra doors in the auditorium filtering even into just one long corridor on either side like at the Young Vic.
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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 May 2, 2019 10:35:17 GMT
There is another way out! In the stalls at the end nearest the stage there are doors at the side, these lead to a corridor which takes you up to the dowstairs lobby where the loos are. I was directed this way by an usher when I saw "A Very Very Dark Matter"
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Post by vdcni on May 2, 2019 10:38:00 GMT
Agreed, from my one visit the Bridge was a pain to get in and out of, random queues blocking the stairs & that long long wait to be able to leave.
Even the foyer which is spacious enough so that you'd expect it to be easy to navigate becomes a bit confused as people drift aimlessly around.
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Post by Polly1 on May 2, 2019 12:10:31 GMT
There is another way out! In the stalls at the end nearest the stage there are doors at the side, these lead to a corridor which takes you up to the dowstairs lobby where the loos are. I was directed this way by an usher when I saw "A Very Very Dark Matter" Yes, someone mentioned this before, but you still have to get out of your row! I was in row E and there is no exit from the seats nearest the stage so you still have to wait for everyone to file out.
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Post by peggs on May 2, 2019 13:27:43 GMT
The revolving main door seemed to be causing problems as well last night, do they fear we'll escape?
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Post by Dawnstar on May 2, 2019 18:15:34 GMT
Yes I book front row for everything mainly as I don't want to have people in front me. I can't bear looking at people - I mean, actual real people. You know, the public. I realise you (probably) mean this sarcastically but that is pretty much how I do feel about people en masse.
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Post by xanady on May 2, 2019 18:28:38 GMT
Hey Backdrifter just seen your message saying I ASSUMED that the guy who pushed his way on the train was a city gent.Not that I have to explain anything but I had been standing next to him on the platform for ten mins and his mobile phone conversations gave him away.End of.
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Post by 49thand8th on May 2, 2019 18:44:10 GMT
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Post by 49thand8th on May 2, 2019 19:55:04 GMT
I found that a fascinating article 49thand8th . It really polarises the experience, doesn't it. On the one hand, the author feels that his culture should be celebrated wholeheartedly. On the other, a man has a point that he did pay to see a show, not hear an audience member - no matter how relatable she felt the material to be. Taking a step further, if we behave according to the culture of the piece rather than the norm expected within the place it is staged - then should the Jewish audience join in with "Fiddler On The Roof," the audience separated by gender as they would be in the culture? Should all those who were there in the 60s be prepared / compelled to strip at the act 1 close of "Hair."? Can French upper class audience members shoot students during "Les Miserables."? It is probably very different in America, but my English view is that you act in the manner of your surroundings, not your culture. I think that's ingrained in English culture due partly to our class system and history. I accept it's a white, male, working class opinion, but I think it is my angle. Up for discussion of course, as I'm sure I'm missing something fundamental in that article that I'd appreciate being highlighted. I'm not black nor white, and this article gave me a LOT to think about, including why I'd feel more comfortable shushing an old white person singing along at Jersey Boys than I would an old black person at Ain't Too Proud. As for manner of your surroundings: in the writer's view, the black audience members singing along ARE acting in the manner of their surroundings as well as their culture. You can't separate those in the experience of Ain't Too Proud. I think it's also important to point out that Dominique Morriseau, Ain't Too Proud's book writer, has had a history of NOT having a problem with vocal audience members: www.larktheatre.org/blog/rethinking-theater-etiquette/I also think since none of those things have happened in your second paragraph, that that's not something we have to worry about!
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Post by Backdrifter on May 2, 2019 19:56:28 GMT
Yes I book front row for everything mainly as I don't want to have people in front me. I can't bear looking at people - I mean, actual real people. You know, the public. I realise you (probably) mean this sarcastically but that is pretty much how I do feel about people en masse. I wasn't being 100% sarcastic in fact, probably 50-60%. I queued for an All About Eve dayseat today. Because of the stupid system you only get 2nd row seats. Consequently I had a bloke's gigantic beachball head blocking a big chunk of my view.
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Post by Backdrifter on May 2, 2019 20:01:26 GMT
his mobile phone conversations gave him away.End of. "Hello, City Gent here." Funnily enough, moments after I posted that reply this morning when I was in a dayseat queue on St Martin's Lane, a besuited bloke walked past, wearing a bowler hat and carrying a furled umbrella. Continuation of.
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Post by xanady on May 2, 2019 20:02:56 GMT
😀
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Post by floorshow on May 2, 2019 20:43:51 GMT
I realise you (probably) mean this sarcastically but that is pretty much how I do feel about people en masse. I wasn't being 100% sarcastic in fact, probably 50-60%. I queued for an All About Eve dayseat today. Because of the stupid system you only get 2nd row seats. Consequently I had a bloke's gigantic beachball head blocking a big chunk of my view. I have a gigantic beachball head but was in the 3rd row. Sat next to a literal giant, a massive unit
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Post by Backdrifter on May 2, 2019 21:31:20 GMT
I wasn't being 100% sarcastic in fact, probably 50-60%. I queued for an All About Eve dayseat today. Because of the stupid system you only get 2nd row seats. Consequently I had a bloke's gigantic beachball head blocking a big chunk of my view. I have a gigantic beachball head but was in the 3rd row. Sat next to a literal giant, a massive unit Ooh-er. Today, was this? Matinee or evening? I was at the matinee and didn't notice a giant but then didn't particularly look at the row behind me. Your head isn't that big, is it?!
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Post by floorshow on May 2, 2019 21:48:51 GMT
I have a gigantic beachball head but was in the 3rd row. Sat next to a literal giant, a massive unit Ooh-er. Today, was this? Matinee or evening? I was at the matinee and didn't notice a giant but then didn't particularly look at the row behind me. Your head isn't that big, is it?! Matinee today, on the end of stalls C. Kind of hard to complain about bad behaviour - not really his fault he didn't fit into his seat... It has been compared to a pumpkin so technically smaller than a beachball. Just.
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Post by christya on May 2, 2019 23:27:05 GMT
Singing along as supposedly acceptable behaviour? Not unless it's clearly stated when people buy tickets. The author of that article behaved like a bully.
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Post by 49thand8th on May 3, 2019 0:37:40 GMT
I generally hate being around anyone who's singing along, but I've been thinking about why that is, and it's maybe not so simple.
As far as Ain't Too Proud, I'm mostly withholding saying anything too extreme until the cast/crew/orchestra voices an opinion one way or another, which they probably won't. I'm perfectly fine knowing there's a space within Broadway not entirely being "mine," culturally (because I'm already not entirely fitting into it as it is, at least in New York). As Helm writes, it'd be different to see the movie Us in a primarily black neighborhood, and a different audience behavior is to be expected.
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Post by harrietcraig on May 3, 2019 4:19:37 GMT
I saw Ink on Broadway last night, and was amused to see an insert in the program that was made to look like a page of the Sun, with the headline on the lead story “CELLPHONE HUMILIATES PLAYGOER” (subhead: “‘I wish I’d turned it off,’ says ashamed beauty”). Does anyone who saw the play in London remember if something similar was done there?
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Post by kimbahorel on May 3, 2019 5:15:13 GMT
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Post by winonaforever on May 3, 2019 12:18:16 GMT
Singing along as supposedly acceptable behaviour? Not unless it's clearly stated when people buy tickets. The author of that article behaved like a bully. I couldn't agree more!
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Post by 49thand8th on May 3, 2019 13:53:36 GMT
And then there are those who wonder why people won't go to the theatre because it's perceived as stuffy...
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Post by 49thand8th on May 3, 2019 14:05:36 GMT
(Also, no, I'm not saying anything goes in a theatre for the sake of getting new audiences interested in the genre, but a lot of theatergoers enjoy gatekeeping, whether they want to admit it or not.)
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Post by winonaforever on May 3, 2019 14:56:56 GMT
And then there are those who wonder why people won't go to the theatre because it's perceived as stuffy... I don't think that having respect for other people and not disturbing them/ potentially ruining their theatre visit, by talking/singing/texting/eating and drinking noisily etc is stuffy. And I couldn't care less if it is anyway, I totally judge badly behaved people in the theatre, that's the entire point of this thread!
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