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Tag: Theater

Squirmy, Sexy Theater Patrons

admin82 Comments

I’m not sure how to handle the below situation, and thus, am requesting assistance.

I have season tickets to the theater here, and love nothing more than a Broadway show. This week, a Disney show was playing, and there were adorable little girls in their princess dresses on their absolute best behavior to come and watch the show. My issue was not with them. Directly in front of me was a woman, probably in her mid 30s, who was attending with her partner. Throughout the entire show, she was shifting from side to side, combing her long hair out with her fingers, whispering into her partners ear, leaning into the aisle- Thereby causing me to have to keep moving my head around hers to see the stage. I kept thinking that she was just trying to get comfortable, and if I did not say anything that it would finally stop, as no one could be that jittery. It never stopped, and shamefully, I just kept getting madder and madder, to the point that if I would have even tried to say something, I’m sure it would have spewed forth from my mouth like the words of the Sea Witch on stage. I hardly wanted to start a scene in front of the entire city, so I just bit my tongue. This went on for the entirety of the show- Every two minutes, I was leaning one way or the other to get around her. The family behind me (Who I apologized to during intermission) had to keep going around me as well- I just tried to slump down in my seat to lean out of their way and they put their tallest family member behind me.

So my question is- What do you say to a jittery patron who can’t sit still in a theater? At what point you actually say something? The tiny princesses were fine- But this grown adult was having a time of it. Any suggestions? 0714-14

You do what the following Ehell person did…..

I saw this article about the rudeness of theatre-goers and thought of Etiquette Hell:

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/critics-ravage-broadway-audiences-2014-06-28

It reminded me of a recent experience my husband and I had at a theatre production.

A production of Les Miserables was running in our city. This emotional, heavy show is one of our favourites, and we were looking forward to enjoying it from our very pricey premium level seats in the middle of a row in the orchestra. In front of us sat a couple who were apparently throbbing with heated desire for each other. They couldn’t stop petting, stroking, and nuzzling one another through the entire first act. It was gross. At intermission, we tapped one of their shoulders to get their attention and told them what an “adorable couple” they were, but that their undulating bodies were extremely distracting. They seemed embarrassed, and apologized. The second half of the show was much better. They still squirmed and snuggled more than was appropriate at a theatre, but at least it wasn’t borderline foreplay anymore. 0716-14

Munching Through Hamlet

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I don’t usually go to plays, but in recent weeks I’ve been invited to two of them, both in smaller theatres in a relaxed West Coast town. Both theatres had signs that said they welcomed people bringing food and drinks into the show. Is this usual for theatres? (I went to Broadway shows when I was younger, and my parents never let me eat, but I remember listening to the sounds of other people opening their food packets and chewing.)

If so, I’m not sure that the open-food policy is a good one. I know that you can’t eat or drink at the symphony, because the sounds would interfere with the music, but the actors in these plays were performing live with (mostly) unamplified sound as well. These were such small venues that I could hear people around me open their food and smell the alcohol of whatever drink the lady next to me had purchased. Then again, I’m sure the venues make lots of money off people purchasing their expensive drinks and snacks, money that allows them to stay open in the first place. What do you think?   0314-13
My first thought was,”Dinner theater”.   The last one I went to was at Warm Beach Camp during Christmas four and a half years ago.   Second thought was, “Raleighwood Grill” which is a movie theater which serves full dinners, appetizers and drinks during the showing of the movie.   Obviously the management of the theaters you have visited have no problem with clients bringing in food and drinks so if this bothers you, the onus is on you to vote with your feet and go elsewhere to enjoy a live theatrical event.

Do You Hear The People Sing? Singing A Song To Angry Men

admin95 Comments

Today’s post about lip-synching on the bus reminded me of this story from a few weeks ago.

A few days after Christmas, I went with my sister to see Les Miserables. The theater was large, and full but not packed, with maybe about 250 people in a theater that could sit 300. We got a good seat near the top, and settled in.

Seated immediately behind us were three girls who looked to be in their late teens/early 20s, and they looked to be in costume. One was wearing a slightly ridiculous blonde wig and a Renaissance Fair style dress, one was dressed like a girl dressed like a boy, and one had her hair pulled back and corpse-y makeup on her face. Okay, sure, why not? I’m only 30, I remember a decade ago when going out looking ‘different’ was a thing. No big deal. As soon as the previews began, they were forgotten.

The film started. I knew it was a musical, that the movie had singing instead of dialogue. This was new to me, but it looked interesting and I was eager to see what happened, as I was only slightly familiar with the story. When the male lead began to sing, I thought he sounded off– like, the speakers had an echo or something. Only when I heard someone down the aisle “shush” the girls behind us did I realize one had been singing along, out loud, in a deep Hugh Jackman-y voice.

She quieted down after being shushed and an hour or so went by without incident. A bit more than halfway through, a big number came on, Eponine singing “On My Own.” Apparently the drama was too much for the trio behind us, because all three of them sang the entire thing, out loud, not even trying to be quiet… poorly, might I add.

People were telling them to be quiet, my sister and I included. They were cowed for the end, when they got to their feet to sing the epilogue.

On the way out, the crowd was giving the girls a hard time. One woman told them they had ruined the movie for her, and the one dressed as Fantine countered that the rest of the theater had ruined the film for them by telling them to be quiet. And then they ran out of the theater singing “Do You Hear the People Sing” as loud as they could. 0124-13

Duct Tape Finds A New Purpose In the Serial Seat Saver’s Arsenal

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My daughter has been dancing at the same dance studio for 10 years. Every year there is a big recital at our convention center’s auditorium. The owner does want to fill up the auditorium so she has a contest for the most tickets sold. It’s low key with just a small prize. Usually the winner is someone with a large family but with grandparents, siblings, etc. it can end up being quite a few people. What resulted from this is rather an interesting example of entitlement. Several of the “big” ticket sellers’ moms, feeling that they were entitled to good seats because of all the tickets their child sold decided to hold these seats in an unusual way. This is how I found out what they were doing.

I like to arrive early to events in order to get good seats. The first year my daughter danced I brought along my 87 year old grandmother, my mom, and son. We were about 10th in line. The doors opened and I made a beeline for the seats I wanted for my family. And I watched 3-4 women taking MASKING TAPE and taping off ROWS of seats. Not two or three seats. These were several rows of 15-20 seats for people who were not at the auditorium and who we watched arrive over the course of the next half hour and sit down in these saved seats. We were relegated to seats much farther back than where we wanted to be. This was partly because as we had headed up towards the front we wasted time trying to figure out what was going on with all the taped seats and by that time we made our way back through the crowded aisle much of the auditorium was filled up. I was stunned. I felt so bad that my sweet little grandmother stood in line like a trooper and then was deprived of a seat close to the stage by people who had not earned the right to that seat by standing in line. I can understand saving one or two seats but entire rows? These women had taped off at least 60 seats in the best part of the auditorium. And just so it’s clear–these were not employees or volunteers marking off reserved seating for guests of the studio or dancers. These were just moms with tape. I am sure no one questioned the taped seats because they thought there was an “official” reason thee seats were being reserved. I figured it out because I had arrived so early and saw the taping actually happening. In response I did two things and I don’t think either of them will send my to etiquette hell but I will be interested in the response to this story.

One thing I should say is that at the time I was new to dance studio etiquette so I wasn’t sure if I had a right to be mad. Maybe this was something that was acceptable or that the owner allowed? So I didn’t complain but I did gather info and opinions. I found out that the owner had allowed it to happen for many years but it wasn’t encouraged. She just let them get away with it. So when recital time came around and the same thing happened I just took the tape off the seats and sat down with my family. Taking the tape off one end of the row resulted in much of it coming off so other people just moved on in to those seats too. The looks on the tape moms’ faces were priceless. I am sure they thought I was several bad names but how could they protest? Their families weren’t there and 50 other people were. After that, another mom and I mentioned to the owner how unfair this behavior was to her other dance families and she put a note in recital newsletter that taping seats was not allowed. It’s never happened since. I still can’t believe it happened at all! 0313-12

 

Movie Theater Texter Gets The Boot And A Starring Role

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Alamo Drafthouse, a local chain of dine-and-screen movie theaters in Austin, Texas, has long waged a war against impolite moviegoers. And the latest customer to object to their firm rules against talking and texting during an evening out has become the unwitting star of a Public Service Announcement released by the company on Monday.

According to Tim League, the Drafthouse’s founder, the woman in question was warned twice about texting during a screening, and then, in accordance with company policy, was escorted out without a refund. “I don’t think people realize that it is distracting,” League told The Lookout. “It seems like nothing, but if you spend as much time as I do at the movies, you realize the entire theater sees it and it pulls you out of the movie experience. It’s every bit as intrusive as talking.”

However, the determined texter was not about to let the matter rest. She called up the Alamo Drafthouse and left a profanity-laced (and perhaps slightly inebriated) message decrying the theater’s policies. “Yeah, I was wondering if you guys actually enjoy treating your customers like a pieces of sh*t,” she opened, “Because that’s how I felt when I went to the Alamo Drafthouse!”

“So excuse me for using my phone, in USA magnited States of America” she raged, “where yer-you are free to text in a the-a-ter!”

But the theater (and its future patrons) are getting the last laugh. The Drafthouse took audio of the woman’s voicemail, transcribed it, and turned it into an in-house preview that warns theatergoers against cell phone use during movies. Given the former patron’s colorful language, they’ll only be screening it before R-rated films. We’ve embedded a clean version of the PSA below, with objectionable language beeped out:
To read the rest of the news article, click HERE.

Did you all catch the texter’s definition of polite behavior?  Being polite means letting her get away with selfishly annoying the bejeebers out of her fellow moviegoers as she defies movie theater rules and good courtesy for others.