Mashinka Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 Badly behaved audience members are a recurring theme on Ballet Talk, here are some examples from today's Times of peoples experiences in theatres going back quite a number of years: http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol...icle6723375.ece The example of Spike Milligan re-starting the performance for a latecomer must have been in the comedy 'Son of Oblemov' and I think he always did this if someone turned up late, he certainly did when I saw that show. Link to comment
dirac Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 Many thanks for posting this, Mashinka. It's a perennial topic, for obvious reasons - bad manners are always with us. Link to comment
bart Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 I agree. Thanks, Mashinka. My heart went out to the Guide Dog accompanying his blind master to the performance of Lucia at Covent Garden. So he fell asleep and started snoring. Big deal. I've seen plenty of tired executives doing the same at the Met and the end of a long hard day. I was quite impressed by the lady who responded to the group of bored and talkative teenagers at The Tempest by hitting one on the head with her program. Here in the U.S. a riot might have resulted. Or a serious allegation of "child abuse." Link to comment
carbro Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 I've done my share of kvetching about fellow audience members in these forums, but the absolute worst was at ABT this past spring when one of my neighbors -- how to describe this politely? -- was having digestive problems. After the third or fourth emission and in the midst of dancing, I had to move. Fortunately, there were vacant seats nearby but out of olfactory range. I don't know how other neighbors managed to keep in their seats. Beano, people. Beano. Link to comment
dirac Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 Badly behaved audience members are a recurring theme on Ballet Talk, here are some examples from today's Times of peoples experiences in theatres going back quite a number of years:http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol...icle6723375.ece The example of Spike Milligan re-starting the performance for a latecomer must have been in the comedy 'Son of Oblemov' and I think he always did this if someone turned up late, he certainly did when I saw that show. I read that Nathan Lane used to do something similar to latecomers for 'A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,' singling out the unfortunate late arrivals and launching a rapid fire summation of what had gone before. Link to comment
Helene Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 I was at a performance of "Much Ado About Nothing" by the Royal Shakespeare Company in London, and a woman, who was trying to tell the usher she'd rather sit in an empty seat close by, was pushed down the aisle towards the front -- her actual seat was in the middle of that row -- while the actor playing Benedict interrupted the show to seat her, in character. She was mortified. Link to comment
cubanmiamiboy Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 I was quite impressed by the lady who responded to the group of bored and talkative teenagers at The Tempest by hitting one on the head with her program. That's my kind of girl!! Link to comment
Petra Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 Wow, compared to some of those stories I really have nothing to complain about. Although the 'lady' I sat next to last night at the theatre dropped her handbag on my feet, couldn't stop texting and drank soda (!) throughout, she did leave during the interval... Link to comment
Anthony_NYC Posted July 28, 2009 Share Posted July 28, 2009 In case you missed it, Patti Lupone had at a whack at somebody taking pictures during "Rose's Turn." And we can all hear it because meanwhile somebody else was recording! Link to comment
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