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Post by marob on Sept 3, 2021 8:22:44 GMT
I went to see Jersey Boys on Saturday night and it was a really weird experience. The constant singing from the audience really got on my nerves, but at the same time it was kind of kind of an incredible atmosphere. Ben Joyce (playing Frankie Valli) looked genuinely overwhelmed by the reception to one of the songs, and tweeted about it afterwards. Unusual to be a part of an audience that are so “up for it,” but at the same time I feel like the atmosphere changed a bit during some of the longer scenes like following the death of his daughter. Felt like there wasn’t much investment in the actual story, more like they’re just there to see a singalong tribute act.
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Post by cavocado on Sept 3, 2021 10:22:18 GMT
Has disciplining your child gone completely out of the window? This is going to make me sound like a child-hating harpie (which I may be but that’s beside the point) but I paid to hear trained actors perform and would rather 6 year old Pandora from Buckinghamshire kept her singing and incessant questions to the privacy of her own home From what I remember when my children were younger, it's always worse at musicals and family shows in August when Kidweek discounted tickets are available. Not to criticise Kidweek, which is a great initiative and gets lots of families visiting theatres who might otherwise not, but how are people to know what is normal theatre behaviour if they haven't been before? Maybe they're behaving as they would at a pop concert, which is logical if you see a musical as a type of concert with characters and narrative? I wonder why theatres don't do behaviour announcements asking people not to chat of join in with the singing as well as 'switch off your phone', or add that to the info sent out with tickets, like the Covid rules?
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Post by inthenose on Sept 3, 2021 11:05:20 GMT
Has disciplining your child gone completely out of the window? This is going to make me sound like a child-hating harpie (which I may be but that’s beside the point) but I paid to hear trained actors perform and would rather 6 year old Pandora from Buckinghamshire kept her singing and incessant questions to the privacy of her own home Can't do it. That's restricting their individuality and freedom of expression. It's 2021, get with the program. Everyone is special and perfect, and nobody has to conform.
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Post by adrianics on Sept 3, 2021 12:00:28 GMT
This discussion reminds me of seeing Bat out of Hell many years ago. A group of about 15 people, all of whom were more than old enough to know better, were reprimanded at least three times by an usher for singing along. Each time, they would wait until the usher was gone then start again.
Eventually the usher got the FOH Manager, who walked right up to the group and said "you've been told not to sing along three times. This is the fourth and final time. If I have to explain to you that you shouldn't sing along for the fifth time, it will be as we're walking down the stairs and you're making your way outside".
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Post by Dawnstar on Sept 3, 2021 18:25:36 GMT
Has disciplining your child gone completely out of the window? This is going to make me sound like a child-hating harpie (which I may be but that’s beside the point) but I paid to hear trained actors perform and would rather 6 year old Pandora from Buckinghamshire kept her singing and incessant questions to the privacy of her own home From what I remember when my children were younger, it's always worse at musicals and family shows in August when Kidweek discounted tickets are available. Not to criticise Kidweek, which is a great initiative and gets lots of families visiting theatres who might otherwise not, but how are people to know what is normal theatre behaviour if they haven't been before? Maybe they're behaving as they would at a pop concert, which is logical if you see a musical as a type of concert with characters and narrative? I wonder why theatres don't do behaviour announcements asking people not to chat of join in with the singing as well as 'switch off your phone', or add that to the info sent out with tickets, like the Covid rules?
I've never been to a pop concert but would parents really take 6 year olds to them?!
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Post by cavocado on Sept 3, 2021 18:47:32 GMT
I've never been to a pop concert but would parents really take 6 year olds to them?!
Ha ha, probably not, although I did once take my small children to see the Wiggles, who were very much into audience participation! I meant the parents may not have been to the theatre until someone tells them about Kidsweek cheap tickets, but many (most?) will have been to a pop concert. And shows like Bat Out of Hell, We Will Rock You, etc are targeting people who already know the music, but may never have been to the theatre, so assume it's something like a concert. Or maybe I'm just dreaming up excuses for people who can't behave in a considerate way!
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Post by The Matthew on Sept 3, 2021 19:48:38 GMT
Has disciplining your child gone completely out of the window? "But my Kaieyleighee would never cause trouble! Besides, all children set things on fire, and that couple didn't look like they were enjoying the show anyway."
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Post by longinthetooth on Sept 3, 2021 20:00:46 GMT
Has disciplining your child gone completely out of the window? "But my Kaieyleighee would never cause trouble! Besides, all children set things on fire, and that couple didn't look like they were enjoying the show anyway." When my friend gently remonstrated with a child who had persistently been kicking her seat, the parent told my friend she was "a f***ing snob". Thankfully they left shortly afterwards.
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Sept 3, 2021 20:23:19 GMT
I’ve told this story before so forgive me old timers if you’ve heard it before…
A couple of friends of mine went to see the palladium Panto a few years Ago, it was probably the second one because I told them about the rave reviews the first one got. They were in the stalls and all the way through Act 1 the kid behind was kicking the back of one of my friends seat very hard with the knock-on vibration carrying over to friend #2.
The kid and his dad went off somewhere at the interval leaving mum alone so my friend took the opportunity to turn around and politely ask if she could stop the child kicking his seat. Mum explained very apologetically that the child had cerebral palsy and the kicking was involuntary but she would do her utmost to stop him. And she was lovely and charming with it.
My friends: 😐☹️😣😖😫
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Post by ellisael on Sept 7, 2021 7:35:14 GMT
In the interest of historical preservation: woahhhh this is crazy!!!
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Post by mjh on Sept 7, 2021 11:50:24 GMT
At Frozen on Sunday afternoon I was fully prepared for an audience of children...was I was not expecting was the mother in the box next to me taking a photo of her child with flash on mid show then after the interval, both answering her phone, struggling to hear anything, hanging up then calling back (!!) mid show. Absolute trash.
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Post by sph on Sept 7, 2021 14:09:02 GMT
Parents seem to think taking their children to the theatre is like going to a theme park attraction or the London Dungeon. Just a big laugh and a photo opportunity. I also wish more theatres actively enforced their age admittance policies. If tickets state children under 5 or 7 or whatever won't be admitted, they shouldn't be!
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Post by marob on Sept 7, 2021 15:47:49 GMT
I saw the touring version of Mischief Theatre’s Groan Ups the other day. Website said recommended for 13+, could hear some kid(s) asking what was happening throughout. Must have lead to some awkward questions during the middle bit where a lot of the jokes revolve around teenage relationships and sexuality/puberty.
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Post by Dawnstar on Sept 7, 2021 20:55:07 GMT
marob The frequent ignoring of age guidelines for Mischief shows is one of my theatre pet peeves. Just because The Play That Goes Wrong, Peter Pan Goes Wrong & the TV shows are suitable for children does not mean all their shows are. I vividly remember exiting a Bank Robbery performance & overhearing a boy who looked about 7 saying in an upset-sounding voice that he hadn't liked all the guns. Note to parents: do not take your evidently fairly sensitive young child to a show that's recommended for 11+ & kills off half the characters in Act 2!
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Post by fiyero on Sept 8, 2021 19:13:57 GMT
Has disciplining your child gone completely out of the window? This is going to make me sound like a child-hating harpie (which I may be but that’s beside the point) but I paid to hear trained actors perform and would rather 6 year old Pandora from Buckinghamshire kept her singing and incessant questions to the privacy of her own home I was at the first and last previews of Frozen. I expected children. I even expected small children, below the recommended age of 6. At the first preview there was a mum with 2 daughters behind me, one girl was a bit fidgety in the first act and ended up on her mum's lap. For the whole of act 2 I had the noise of their paper bag full of bags of sweets being rummaged in and then kicked. My glares were powerless! Last night there were lots of little princesses around and one little girl, maybe age 3 - 4 max, spoke through what seemed the entirety of act 1. She was quite far from me but I saw her parents were just ignoring her! not shushing her or anything, just letting her carry on. She wasn't so bad in act 2 but I heard her a few times. I was around 4 rows and 10 seats along from her! It isn't the little ones' fault that they don't understand the etiquette but the parents should control them. I paid a lot of money for my seat and deserved to hear the show not their little angel! This isn't a DVD!
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Post by sph on Sept 8, 2021 20:06:19 GMT
That's the thing about Frozen. To the masses, it isn't a West End musical, it's "Frozen LIVE! Direct from Disneyland!" Bring your light-up tiara and don't forget to sing along!
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Post by christya on Sept 9, 2021 14:41:08 GMT
I wish they'd do the occasional adults-only performances of things like Frozen. I'd quite like to see it, but I just can't stand the thought of paying good money for a ticket only to hear kids talking, stuff rustling, and general distractions the entire time. When I saw Matilda, it was almost unbearable, and for that one no individual kid was being overly disruptive - it was just that one or two rustles or shuffles per kid, multiplied by a couple of hundred kids, meant constant noise. Just a couple of performances a year with no kids in would be amazing.
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Post by hitmewithurbethshot on Sept 9, 2021 16:31:38 GMT
I think Germany does something like that, when Tarzan was running there they had a few performances a month where no one under 13 would be admitted. The dream!
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Post by fiyero on Sept 9, 2021 20:14:16 GMT
I wish they'd do the occasional adults-only performances of things like Frozen. I'd quite like to see it, but I just can't stand the thought of paying good money for a ticket only to hear kids talking, stuff rustling, and general distractions the entire time. When I saw Matilda, it was almost unbearable, and for that one no individual kid was being overly disruptive - it was just that one or two rustles or shuffles per kid, multiplied by a couple of hundred kids, meant constant noise. Just a couple of performances a year with no kids in would be amazing. I discussed recently with a friend that we need the opposite of relaxed performances, up-tight performances. No kids No food No thin, crinkly plastic water bottles No talking No singing rule breakers will be executed as an encore to the show. I already know it won’t work as so many people think the rules don’t apply to them but I can dream!
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Post by lynette on Sept 9, 2021 20:16:49 GMT
When I saw Matilda on two occasions, the kids were silent and absorbed. In the interval the noise and movements around were chaotic but then they start the second half with something that draws em in again and it was immaculately quiet. Kids know quality and performers can control them. Same with School of Rock which had an entire school in the audience when I went.
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Post by eua78 on Sept 9, 2021 20:23:43 GMT
I remember going to see Matilda a few years ago, and one child felt the need to sing every song in act one, I always seem to choose the seats one row away from something or another going on. I wouldn’t mind seeing Matilda again as I missed the majority of the actual cast singing 😂.
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Post by mkb on Sept 9, 2021 21:01:14 GMT
Secondary school groups at serious dramas can be awful. There's always some who snigger during poignant moments, and they have no self-discipline to save discussing their thoughts until the interval/end.
I remember one more earnest group of older students who were taking notes throughout. Not only was this visually distracting, who knew that a scratchy fibre-tip pen could be so noisy in a quiet theatre.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2021 19:33:20 GMT
The worst kind of audience behaviour I have experienced has to be at Only Fools and Horses: The Musical. Absolutely abhorrent. Beer throwing, loud jeering throughout, litter everywhere. Police were even called after the show to escort a bad behaving audience member out. It's not always children, Just men and women who act like children.
School groups are hit and miss, it's really dependent on how strict the teachers are. Some teachers don't care and let their pupils run amok and think it's down to theatre staff to sort their students out. You will never be able to get rid of all bad audience behaviour, I just wish sound engineers would crank up the volume higher so I can actually hear the performers over any other distracting noises.
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Post by richey on Sept 11, 2021 16:39:32 GMT
Not a theatre experience but still some disappointing behaviour at the Classical 80s concert in Leeds last night. You would have thought that after so many months without live music, people would be appreciative of the opportunity to experience some great artists from the 80s singing classic tunes backed by a full 60 piece orchestra. But no,there were latecomers arriving with handfuls of drinks, people in and out of their seats to get more drinks/use the loos and general fidgeting. Worst of all though was a constant background of chatter throughout the songs which was really distracting. Maybe it was because it was an outdoor concert people felt the usual rules didn't apply, but it was a disappointing return to live music for me.
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Post by sfsusan on Sept 11, 2021 21:55:38 GMT
I find people are generally disrespectful of live performances of popular music. In bars, clubs and concerts, people treat performers like living Muzak... there to provide a background to whatever they're doing. The Green Note in Camden describes itself as a "listening venue", specifically forbidding talking during the performances. And more places are apparently doing this.
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Post by forevercolours on Sept 12, 2021 10:07:24 GMT
I work in a primary school and I was truly dreading taking my class to the theatre as I was afraid they would be rowdy and wouldn’t sit still (cause this is exactly what they are like in class!) but they were so well behaved the entire time. The adults in the room at the time were the ones with phones going off and having loud conversations which rightly made my little ones annoyed!
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Post by fiyero on Sept 12, 2021 17:34:13 GMT
I came close to murder yesterday.
At the matinee of Back to the Future yesterday we noticed a lot of alcohol coming in and as soon as the adult family behind arrived my friend said “uh oh”. They were generally noisy and restless through the whole show, particularly the new bits that weren’t in the film. Nothing over the top but a big version of how little kids behave at the theatre!
In the second act during For the Dreamers one of the group farted. Followed by laughter. Then talking, more laughter, and repeat. My glares were useless, not even recognised. It went on for most of the song. For those that don’t know it is a sentimental quiet song from Doc. Ruined.
Throughout I kept hearing the clinks of glass bottles. I hate that at all in the theatre (by all means have a drink but one drink on its own doesn’t clink!!)
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Post by peggs on Sept 12, 2021 19:30:17 GMT
Old Vic yesterday, pleasantly surprised to find everyone wearing masks as queued to get in etc, then realised most people took them off as soon as they sat down. Man to my right whistled every time he breathed in, woman in front kept fixing her hair, woman to left, left phone on so kept lighting up bag, man behind kicked me through out and did some running commentary.
Reverted straight back to pre pandemic thoughts of hitting or screaming at people but perhaps just as well I'm still a wimp and just passive aggressively glared at them instead.
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Post by lynette on Sept 12, 2021 22:39:35 GMT
Old Vic yesterday, pleasantly surprised to find everyone wearing masks as queued to get in etc, then realised most people took them off as soon as they sat down. Man to my right whistled every time he breathed in, woman in front kept fixing her hair, woman to left, left phone on so kept lighting up bag, man behind kicked me through out and did some running commentary. Reverted straight back to pre pandemic thoughts of hitting or screaming at people but perhaps just as well I'm still a wimp and just passive aggressively glared at them instead. So how was the play? 😂
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Post by Deleted on Sept 13, 2021 6:25:40 GMT
A lady loudly rustling a packet of something behind me at Cinderella on Saturday night. Thankfully the man sat next to me turned around and told her to quit it, which she did immediately. Also a lot of getting up and down during the show as people kept leaving to go to the bar or to the toilet.
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