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Post by Deleted on May 10, 2019 11:10:30 GMT
It's more a preventative method than about being meticulous. Having a security presence, dutifully inspecting elements of personal items at every entrance will put off anyone with malicious intent. I hope you’re right, but I’m not convinced. ‘I’m sorry madam, but you are not allowed to bring AK47s into this Theatre. If you refuse to comply I will flash my torch in your eye.’ Of course, if the intention is to shoot the place down with machine guns, a few SIA badged operatives aren't going to put you off. But for those chancing it with home made devices in bags etc, the fact that bag checks occur is going to slightly hinder the plan of getting the device into the venue, I'd also hope.
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Post by missthelma on May 10, 2019 11:37:50 GMT
So arriving for my Sweet Charity performance I note that my row seems to be full. So with apologies and hat doffing I wend my way down to 'my seat', and yes it is occupied. Obviously as I must look rough as a badgers arse, other people check that I know what I'm doing, right day, right performance, right part of the theatre whilst the interloper stares blankly at me. Eventually but very slowly a ruffle into a bag and a pocket occur and tickets are produced and pored over for 17 1/2 minutes, looking at the back, the front, the side, forming them into an origami swan to hear the eventual words, 'they put us in different rows but I wanted to sit with my husband, do you mind moving?'
So, you knew you were in separate rows but performed this agomising pantomime making me look like the idiot. You had removed coat scarf bag etc and settled in without so much as waiting for me to arrive to discuss (it wasn't 30 seconds to start either, though should that matter?) and then presented me with a fait accompli.
Yes I moved, the seat was marginally better but should I have? I hadn't booked a specific aisle or view or anything. I think it's less the moving than the sense of entitlement and the diminishing of me.
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Post by lynette on May 10, 2019 12:34:06 GMT
Interesting because we were also confronted with being in the wrong seats last night at Charity. I wasn’t of course and he was wildly out. He and wife were one behind the other in row D and C on the side stalls. He had plonked himself down behind me in facing stalls and thought I was in the wrong place. There was ‘no, I’m sorry, could we check, I’m Not sure etc . It was ‘you are in the wrong seats ‘ from the start. Same people I wonder, missthelma?
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Post by xanady on May 10, 2019 17:15:34 GMT
missthelma,you have encountered the issue of entitlement that seems to be cropping up all over the place.Don’t enable them,I say.Had a difference of opinion with a single guy parking his car in a disability spot in a supermarket recently even though he wasn’t entitled and his defence was basically ‘nobody is using it’.Victor Meldrew would have been proud of me.
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Post by andrew on May 10, 2019 17:30:51 GMT
Yes I moved, the seat was marginally better but should I have? I would ask where they were suggesting I move to, and if I like the sound of it I would do it. If it sounded less central, further back, in a part of the theatre I don't like, it's a hard no. They sound like a particularly entitled couple, so it would bring me a dark pleasure in denying them their victory. Maybe I'm weird though.
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Post by wickedgrin on May 10, 2019 17:42:41 GMT
It would depend how they asked. The people you describe it would have been a definite no!
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Post by floorshow on May 10, 2019 18:53:57 GMT
the seat was marginally better but should I have? Even if offered a better seat I think would I have been very happy to patiently wait while they said their goodbyes to each other I'm guessing you would have had to sit next to one for the show tho?
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Post by poster J on May 10, 2019 22:27:10 GMT
Serial vouchers, people dropping plastic cups and rustling bags and a couple of phones going off at All My Sons tonight.
Worst by far though was the idiot in front of me who was mouthing off about the bar staff in the interval because someone dared to make a mistake in his order (and apparently that entitled him to push in front of everyone else to get it fixed, and he was livid that they didn't refund him...) and who would not sit still for more than 30 seconds at a time. And he was tall, so he could have seen everything clearly without moving. I had to apologise to the person sitting behind me for the amount I'd had to move my head to see anything at all as a result of him!
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Post by poster J on May 10, 2019 22:59:57 GMT
And a separate entry for bad behaviour at a stage door:
Two girls who are clearly Jenna Coleman fangirls, both talking at length at the top of their voices (basically shouting so everyone there could hear) quoting lines from the play, discussing what Jenna did and didn't do in particular scenes (only one of them had actually seen the show tonight) and desperate to tell every single cast member that they'd seen the show 10 times and often got to the theatre at 7am to day seat so they could have front row rather than the tickets a whole six rows back that they'd already bought...it was excruciating. And they were blocking so many people who had actually seen the show that night for the first time from saying a quick thank you and getting an autograph.
Poor Jenna looked incredibly uncomfortable when she saw them as she came out of the stage door, and I couldn't help but giggle to myself a bit when they asked her if she remembered their friend and she very clearly didn't but had to lie to keep them happy!
And poor Lily James as well, they are clearly obsessed with her too given they also talked about the Noel Coward stage door and how often they'd seen that show and are going again tomorrow night...
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Post by sparky5000 on May 10, 2019 23:19:13 GMT
So arriving for my Sweet Charity performance I note that my row seems to be full. So with apologies and hat doffing I wend my way down to 'my seat', and yes it is occupied. Obviously as I must look rough as a badgers arse, other people check that I know what I'm doing, right day, right performance, right part of the theatre whilst the interloper stares blankly at me. Eventually but very slowly a ruffle into a bag and a pocket occur and tickets are produced and pored over for 17 1/2 minutes, looking at the back, the front, the side, forming them into an origami swan to hear the eventual words, 'they put us in different rows but I wanted to sit with my husband, do you mind moving?' So, you knew you were in separate rows but performed this agomising pantomime making me look like the idiot. You had removed coat scarf bag etc and settled in without so much as waiting for me to arrive to discuss (it wasn't 30 seconds to start either, though should that matter?) and then presented me with a fait accompli. Yes I moved, the seat was marginally better but should I have? I hadn't booked a specific aisle or view or anything. I think it's less the moving than the sense of entitlement and the diminishing of me. Ugh to the entitlement! All they had to do was wait until you got to your seat, explain the situation to you, that the other seat was better, and ask you politely if you wouldn’t mind moving! To be sitting there already when you arrived is pretty rude. They gave you no choice pretty much which isn’t right
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Post by amp09 on May 11, 2019 0:16:56 GMT
So arriving for my Sweet Charity performance I note that my row seems to be full. So with apologies and hat doffing I wend my way down to 'my seat', and yes it is occupied. Obviously as I must look rough as a badgers arse, other people check that I know what I'm doing, right day, right performance, right part of the theatre whilst the interloper stares blankly at me. Eventually but very slowly a ruffle into a bag and a pocket occur and tickets are produced and pored over for 17 1/2 minutes, looking at the back, the front, the side, forming them into an origami swan to hear the eventual words, 'they put us in different rows but I wanted to sit with my husband, do you mind moving?' So, you knew you were in separate rows but performed this agomising pantomime making me look like the idiot. You had removed coat scarf bag etc and settled in without so much as waiting for me to arrive to discuss (it wasn't 30 seconds to start either, though should that matter?) and then presented me with a fait accompli. Yes I moved, the seat was marginally better but should I have? I hadn't booked a specific aisle or view or anything. I think it's less the moving than the sense of entitlement and the diminishing of me. I’m too soft, and would probably have agreed to move as well as I wouldn’t have wanted to cause a scene. Although their sense of entitlement is pretty shocking. Had a strange lady at Rocky Horror in Bath a few nights ago who was sat in B21 but when a couple came along to take their seats in B20 and B21 she did the whole act of “this is definitely my seat” etc. to then be chucked out of her seat and she moved to sit beside me in B8 and admitted she’d moved to B21 because of the restricted view she had (pillar) in her original seat. She then moved in the interval, telling me “she’s going to sit with some friends.” Another one who felt she was entitled to a better seat and how dare the person who’d actually paid for the seat she was in turn up to claim it.
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Post by 49thand8th on May 11, 2019 14:27:06 GMT
This is fascinating and I'm sure it's useful for someone wholly unfamiliar with theatre (let's face it, it has a snobby reputation that makes many people feel theatre isn't for them), but I'd have to show it to a true newbie to see if it comes off as patronizing, because I'm getting a slight sheen of that: www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/entertainment/arts/2019/05/11/theater-newbie-problem/39467409/(FWIW I don't know much about Lansing, Michigan or their culture of live theatre.)
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Post by xanady on May 11, 2019 14:37:35 GMT
^This article is brilliant.Obvs not aimed at someone like me but laugh out loud funny all the same.Almost at the level of -‘football is a game played with a ball and you have to kick the ball with your foot’...love the comment about the cloakroom and if it’s cold/raining...bring a coat! Rather than say a banana or a canoe...
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Post by floorshow on May 11, 2019 18:11:37 GMT
Too much reading but I did enjoy "eat as much as you can in the lobby."
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Post by shady23 on May 12, 2019 11:24:41 GMT
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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 12, 2019 11:36:16 GMT
This is fascinating and I'm sure it's useful for someone wholly unfamiliar with theatre (let's face it, it has a snobby reputation that makes many people feel theatre isn't for them), but I'd have to show it to a true newbie to see if it comes off as patronizing, because I'm getting a slight sheen of that Thought it was quite a good article to be honest - didn't come across as patronising to me (although I agree the target audience are better qualified to comment on that!) and I thought pitching it as "here's the difference between going to the cinema and going to the theatre" was a good angle. Although I'd add "they don't have trailers or ads so the start time is the time the show starts" here! (I think this may be different in US cinemas though? UK cinemas generally start the film 20 minutes after the stated start time)
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Post by 49thand8th on May 12, 2019 17:13:11 GMT
Oh, no, we can have 10-15 minutes of trailers too!
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2019 8:36:22 GMT
Between trailers at the cinema and supporting artists at gigs, I think it's definitely worth clarifying that the start time for a theatrical show *is* the start time on the ticket. Just because it feels obvious to maybe 90% of people doesn't mean we shouldn't consider telling the other 10% about it.
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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 13, 2019 9:25:35 GMT
Yes - a bit like some cinemas (eg the BFI and my local independent) warn people that they don't show adverts or loads of trailers so the film starts at the start time.
Always annoys me going to gigs when the ticket gives you no idea of what time the band will be on stage.
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Post by The Matthew on May 13, 2019 12:15:33 GMT
There have been a couple of times I've been to the cinema at seriously off-peak times (Sunday morning, that sort of thing) where they've gone straight into the film. It's never good to rely on a late start.
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Xanderl
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Not always very high value in terms of ticket yield or donations
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Post by Xanderl on May 13, 2019 14:29:19 GMT
There have been a couple of times I've been to the cinema at seriously off-peak times (Sunday morning, that sort of thing) where they've gone straight into the film. It's never good to rely on a late start. I had a weird experience at a member's preview screening at a Curzon cinema - it was a Netflix film and for some reason (I heard the usher explaining) they weren't allowed to show adverts before the film. So we just had a blank screen and music for 10 minutes instead.
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Post by floorshow on May 13, 2019 18:43:30 GMT
It's starting to annoy me at both Wembley Arena and the O2 the websites only state door opening times clearly, not actual show start times. It's not so bad at Wembley but you're taking a massive risk not turning up at the O2 promptly, their airport security and queues are notorious.
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2019 19:13:53 GMT
It's starting to annoy me at both Wembley Arena and the O2 the websites only state door opening times clearly, not actual show start times. Pretty standard across the music industry, with the aim to get more beer sold.
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2019 19:15:50 GMT
I've only visited the O2 once (X Factor live 2017) and it kind of annoyed me, as the doors opened at 6.30 and the show didn't start until 8.
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Post by poster J on May 13, 2019 20:15:30 GMT
It's starting to annoy me at both Wembley Arena and the O2 the websites only state door opening times clearly, not actual show start times. It's not so bad at Wembley but you're taking a massive risk not turning up at the O2 promptly, their airport security and queues are notorious. It's never taken me more than 10 mins to get through the security queues at the O2...I usually turn up an hour after the time stated on the ticket unless I want to see the support act.
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2019 0:58:20 GMT
Often concert stage times aren't decided until fairly late on and then as Poster J says a lot of people don't bother to see the support act for whatever reason.
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Post by showgirl on May 14, 2019 3:35:53 GMT
There have been a couple of times I've been to the cinema at seriously off-peak times (Sunday morning, that sort of thing) where they've gone straight into the film. It's never good to rely on a late start. I had a weird experience at a member's preview screening at a Curzon cinema - it was a Netflix film and for some reason (I heard the usher explaining) they weren't allowed to show adverts before the film. So we just had a blank screen and music for 10 minutes instead. I've also experienced this with Curzon and as they hadn't the courtesy or sense to let the audience know and because I have known them have technical issues in the past, I went out again to ask an usher and was told almost the same: not that they weren't allowed to show ads beforehand but that they didn't. Curzon do stick to a standard 20-minute pre-film combination of ads and trailers but at most of the main chains I also use (eg Cineworld and Vue), it's more like 30 mins of having your eyes and ears assaulted by a succession of crap ads and trailers full of flashy visual effects and at deafening volume. So I feel free to skip any or all of that if I wish.
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Post by floorshow on May 14, 2019 8:05:12 GMT
It's not so bad at Wembley but you're taking a massive risk not turning up at the O2 promptly, their airport security and queues are notorious. It's never taken me more than 10 mins to get through the security queues at the O2...I usually turn up an hour after the time stated on the ticket unless I want to see the support act. Last 2-3 times I've been, the headline start time has been delayed due to the number of people still outside. Worth getting an O2 sim just to avoid all that
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Post by zahidf on May 14, 2019 8:35:39 GMT
People who fiddle with their paper tickets throughout the play. Just put your ticket away FFS
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Post by asfound on May 14, 2019 10:05:31 GMT
People who fiddle with their paper tickets throughout the play. Just put your ticket away FFS Why is it so hard for people just to sit still for a couple of hours in general. Rustling their coats, scratching their hair, jangling bracelets, heads lolling about from side to side, crossing and uncrossing their legs and knocking into my seat each time - people are the worst. As an aside I'm pretty sure I've become over-sensitised to bad audience behaviour at this point. I'm so used to it I seem to spend the first 15 minutes of a performance just looking out for people to start being irritating, and then any minor distraction sets me off. It's a bit like how I used to be able to sleep through noise, but I had a complete moron of a neighbour who started playing loud music from 2am to 8am a few times a week and even though I got that shut down I'm now on edge before I go to sleep listening out for anything that might keep me awake. Anyone else feel they used to not notice it as much?
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