Bad Behaviour at a Show

[alece10]

Sue Pollard is another but its always a joy to see her as she is as mad as a box of frogs.

[BurlyBeaR]

Aug 13, 2024 22:24:37 GMT kit66 said:

I had the misfortune of sitting behind Vanessa "look at me!" Feltz at a performance of "Once".
If she could have worn a hat with a flashing neon arrow pointing to her head she would have so no one would have missed her taking her seat.

Vanessa was one of the “of course audiences should be allowed to sing at musicals, that’s what they’ve bought their ticket for” brigade wasn’t she, along with Alison Hammond. 

[Talisman]

Aug 14, 2024 7:38:08 GMT alece10 said:

Sue Pollard is another but its always a joy to see her as she is as mad as a box of frogs.

Nothing excuses the appalling, indulgent and selfish behaviour I have witnessed from her.

[sph]

Aug 14, 2024 8:26:18 GMT Talisman said:

Aug 14, 2024 7:38:08 GMT alece10 said:

Sue Pollard is another but its always a joy to see her as she is as mad as a box of frogs.

Nothing excuses the appalling, indulgent and selfish behaviour I have witnessed from her.

Ooh what have you seen?

[Talisman]

Completely dominated show in a very small theatre constantly commenting and chatting loudly. Place too small to ignore her Unfortunately no one including me had the courage to say anything.

[sph]

Aug 14, 2024 13:12:44 GMT Talisman said:

Completely dominated show in a very small theatre constantly commenting and chatting loudly. Place too small to ignore her Unfortunately no one including me had the courage to say anything.

Sounds familiar actually - I might have been there! What show was it?

[Talisman]

Musical in small theatre, possibly in pub, in Walthamstow

Wonderful Town

[nickel1997]

I went to see stranger things tonight and the behaviour was just not great 😅 The two people in front of me spoke the whole way through act 1 (they'd had a touch to drink) and I asked them during the interval to stop and they told me they don't remember talking....but they were fine the second act so all was well!
Through the whole show there was multiple people taking photos (one with flash), sitting on their phones for extended periods of time, and it just really ruined the show. Tried to tell the usher during the interval and he tried at the beginning of act 2 and then it kept going on!
Oh well!

[theglenbucklaird]

Went to see the History Boys in Bath last night. Thought it very much a Chichester audience. Older than me couple twelve seats down the rowing discussing they didn’t like the play and should they leave in ‘quiet’ voices?? They did leave.

And the two very well spoken ladies sitting next to me who were discussing the house that one of them had just bought that wasn’t their ‘forever home’. Both halves they needed to be asked to stop talking as I paid to watch the performance. I thought house looked nice but not nice enough to discuss during the show.

[Paulw]

Aug 24, 2024 10:14:45 GMT theglenbucklaird said:

Went to see the History Boys in Bath last night. Thought it very much a Chichester audience. Older than me couple twelve seats down the rowing discussing they didn’t like the play and should they leave in ‘quiet’ voices?? They did leave.

And the two very well spoken ladies sitting next to me who were discussing the house that one of them had just bought that wasn’t their ‘forever home’. Both halves they needed to be asked to stop talking as I paid to watch the performance. I thought house looked nice but not nice enough to discuss during the show.

or nice enough to be their forever home either!

[fiyero]

My recent trip to Frozen reminded me of this post from the overheard thread

May 26, 2024 12:33:41 GMT TallPaul said:

You get a pre-show announcement at Nottingham Playhouse. Something along the lines of: "The performance is about to begin. Please ensure all phones are switched off and the rustling of sweet bags is kept to a minimum."

Three women in the seats next to mine. As soon as the announcement ends, the one in the middle says to her friends,"People don't realise how noisy their food is."

"Hurray! Someone who gets it," I thought to myself.

She then proceeded to spend most of Act I rustling her sweet bag. 😡

There was a French family, 2 in front and one to my side. The son and mum in front, little bits of talking a lot - mainly explaining things. My glares were powerless but it is Frozen, I knew what I was in for. The funniest thing was her loudly shushing when a phone went off or a toddler talked (guessing they don't enforce the over 4's rule any more). Umm, you should be receiving not giving shushes!

[amyja89]

Bizarre and brief, rather than badly behaved moment at Next To Normal last night. Perfectly silent wife and husband behind me, not a peep from them all first act... second act starts and Diana's 'treatment' sequence is about to begin. I feel the wife behind me lean really far forwards and she, quite loudly and excitedly, exclaims "oooh here we go!!!!".

Myself and a few others did a little bemused turn of the head towards her direction, and then they went back to being consummate audience members. So strange! I often experience little moments like that right after an interval, it's like people haven't clicked back into show mode yet.

[ceebee]

Aug 30, 2024 9:50:20 GMT amyja89 said:

Bizarre and brief, rather than badly behaved moment at Next To Normal last night. Perfectly silent wife and husband behind me, not a peep from them all first act... second act starts and Diana's 'treatment' sequence is about to begin. I feel the wife behind me lean really far forwards and she, quite loudly and excitedly, exclaims "oooh here we go!!!!".

Myself and a few others did a little bemused turn of the head towards her direction, and then they went back to being consummate audience members. So strange! I often experience little moments like that right after an interval, it's like people haven't clicked back into show mode yet.

Some folk are really just a bit odd.  I'm always amazed at the number of people (always seem to be sat near me!) who feel the need to share their inner tumbleweed with the rest of the world.

[nash16]

Truly baffling behaviour at Hello, Dolly on Friday night.

Man sat on the aisle in B21 resolutely refusing to stand up to let a woman get to her seat because she was “on the other side” of his row of 10 seats. She seemed to beg as the show was just about to start, and he just sat there, shaking his head and saying no repeatedly. So she then had to walk allllll the way back and then down.

A man on the front row seemed to try and help, but still he refused to stand up. Note: he got up fine at the interval, so it wasn’t a mobility issue.

Front of House came to speak to the man on Row A at the interval, but seemingly to reprimand him for telling the guy in Row B off.

What a farce!

[ceebee]

Sept 2, 2024 21:19:16 GMT nash16 said:

Truly baffling behaviour at Hello, Dolly on Friday night.

Man sat on the aisle in B21 resolutely refusing to stand up to let a woman get to her seat because she was “on the other side” of his row of 10 seats. She seemed to beg as the show was just about to start, and he just sat there, shaking his head and saying no repeatedly. So she then had to walk allllll the way back and then down.

A man on the front row seemed to try and help, but still he refused to stand up. Note: he got up fine at the interval, so it wasn’t a mobility issue.

Front of House came to speak to the man on Row A at the interval, but seemingly to reprimand him for telling the guy in Row B off.

What a farce!

I find this behaviour so odd. What kind of man does that?! Whatever happened to chivalry?

[musicbox]

It's taken me quite a while to be able to share this with anyone, but I experienced a really traumatic incident whilst seeing Opening Night at the Gielgud in April - It might actually fall more under 'despicable' behaviour rather than bad...

I've been living with an auto immune condition since I was a child (basically all of my life) that I manage quite well, but on bad days it can affect my mobility quite badly. This could probably be considered an 'invisible disability' as I look totally healthy on the outside and sing for a living, so I don't blame people for assuming that there's nothing wrong with me. I also kind of like it that way to be honest, as I'm far from a victim and don't let it rule my life. Unfortunately as a result of this though, I've had my fair share of really inconsiderate treatment whilst using the accessible toilets in theatres over the years, both from staff and patrons.

I went to see Opening Night alone with a day seat in April and had a really great seat in the front stalls. I wasn't feeling particularly well on the day and almost decided to leave it, but I had a rare day off and wanted to make the most of it. Unfortunately I really didn't enjoy the show, but I really rate Sheridan as a performer, so was enjoying being so up close to the stage regardless. During the interval I went to the accessible toilet in the front lobby and waited as there was someone in. A small queue started to form behind me, but just as the person in the loo was about to come out a woman came from the side and stood next to me, rather than behind in the queue. The lady had a walking aid, so I gave her the benefit of the doubt as she might not have been able to walk all the way back...but I was absolutely stunned by what she did next.

Just as the person in the toilet opened the door, the lady walked forward and barricaded herself in the door frame, making her arms and legs into an X shape, shouting "This toilet isn't for you, you're a disgrace!". I was absolutely in a state of shock and just looked at her with a stunned expression, she then repeated "You're not allowed in here, how dare you!". I said to her in a really shaky voice "I also have a disability, please let me through", to which she replied "You don't but I'll let you in because I'm a nice person, but it's not for you" and then swore under her breath, but I couldn't make out exactly what she said. I was literally shaking and felt like I was about to faint when I got into the toilet, but pulled myself together and decided I would speak to a FOH. I was having a really bad day with my illness as it was, but then being misunderstood and spoken to in such a way is a vile feeling.

When I opened the toilet door the woman was now at the front of the queue and barely gave me a moment to get out before barging in front of me. I then went and spoke to a FOH who was utterly disgusted by what I had told her and took me to speak to the theatre manager. I can't begin to say how lovely the manager was, obviously she couldn't reverse what had happened but she made me feel totally at ease and reassured me that I had done nothing wrong - You always have that self doubt in your mind when you have a disability that doesn't require a visible aid, it's quite hard to explain.

She also went on to explain that the accessible toilet wasn't exclusively for disabilities, but also for those who suffer from sensory issues and mental health disorders, so the woman's behaviour was totally unacceptable - thankfully another FOH who was standing near the bar witnessed what had happened and came over to back me up as I was explaining it. Just as we were speaking the lady left the toilet and I signalled to the manager that it was her. She then said she was going to speak to her and ask her to leave. I went back to my seat and never found out what the outcome was, but it totally ruined my evening and made me feel ill for days afterwards.

At the risk of sounding dramatic, this experience really affected me and I didn't go to a single other show as an audience member for the whole of May or June, as I was worried it would happen again. I finally decided to face my fear head on and went to see Kiss Me Kate alone at the start of July, but was literally feeling physically sick before it. Thankfully it was a great experience and I had nothing to worry about, but honestly this experience has totally affected me even to this day.

I'm sharing this now because I wanted to get it off my chest, but also just to say if anyone one else here suffers from an invisible disability, you're not alone despite how isolating it can feel. I've also experienced some amazing kindness over the years, so keep your head up and don't let it stop you from doing what you want to do, as people like the woman I experienced are usually the minority!

[ceebee]

musicbox Your story sounds awful and I'm sorry you went through that experience. Like you, I have an autoimmune condition which is not obvious (unless my face is puffed up due to steroids) but if only people could understand the absolute excruciating pain and discomfort that living with chronic inflammation can bring, they would be more sympathetic. Like you, I don't see myself as a victim, and on the outside I'm sure people see this jocular, friendly, easygoing person, so might assume that all is well. However, quite often, simple things like walking can be a task in itself, often resulting in taking pauses due to the sheer pain.

Because I'm not "entitled" to a blue badge, I will often park in the mother and child spots in the supermarket. I try to park further away from the prime spots so I don't inconvenience anybody, and once was challenged on why I was parked in such a bay. Aside from being a parent myself, I explained my circumstances and that being able to open my door to the max and get in and out of the car easily was helpful. The person was sympathetic and went on their way.

People should be a little kinder and, if in doubt, give people the benefit of the doubt.

[max]

musicbox , that's terrible. Frankly if this was the USA you'd have been pressing the theatre to identify the person via their seat number and suing them. As it is, I wish they just knew the lasting effect this had on you - they should be utterly ashamed.

Regular tube travellers will be aware of the 'not all disabilities are visible' signage, and perhaps theatres could carry this on doors of accessible toilets. If they don't already it may be because it could open the way for lots of people to take advantage and jump the otherwise dreadful queues. However, any doubts or suspicions about users should be directed to FOH staff, never taken on by a grandstanding self appointed 'toilet security guard' like that awful woman.

[lynette]

Yes i think the not all disabilities are visible would be useful. Don’t stand for it musicbox, ever again. Practise that low but loud response - “ excuse me, you are an ignorant person and have no idea of my needs. Go away. “ or something along those lines. Seriously, practise, so you can respond fast and firmly. I can understand how upsetting this incident was. It can dwell, can’t it?

[BurlyBeaR]

It’s also true to say that the woman was pushing her luck because someone other than musicbox might have reacted very differently and given her a right gob full or worse. If she carries on with that sort of behaviour it’s a matter of time before someone does.

[ceebee]

Sept 3, 2024 12:08:54 GMT BurlyBeaR said:

It’s also true to say that the woman was pushing her luck because someone other than musicbox might have reacted very differently and given her a right gob full or worse. If she carries on with that sort of behaviour it’s a matter of time before someone does.

Indeed, I might have reacted differently.    People should just mind their own business.  A friend of mine has MS and a stoma - surely they shouldn't have to "prove" their right to use such facilities.

[nancycunard]

Top work from the ushers at the Wyndham’s who snagged someone filming in the first act of Next to Normal just now. No fuss, just pulled her out. Great stuff.

[musicbox]

Thanks everyone for your supportive replies regarding my post above, I just wanted to share so that anyone else who has experienced something similar doesn't feel so alone or isolated.

I agree that I maybe could've ben firmer with the lady on the night, but I'm generally quite a shy person and am allergic to confrontation - She was acting deranged and I was genuinely at a loss of what to do or say.

I'm really fortunate that the Gielgud staff were really supportive and handled it well, but the fear of it happening again is always there now and I generally try to use the loo at Charing Cross now when I'm en route to something.

Sept 3, 2024 8:08:20 GMT ceebee said:

musicbox Your story sounds awful and I'm sorry you went through that experience. Like you, I have an autoimmune condition which is not obvious (unless my face is puffed up due to steroids) but if only people could understand the absolute excruciating pain and discomfort that living with chronic inflammation can bring, they would be more sympathetic. Like you, I don't see myself as a victim, and on the outside I'm sure people see this jocular, friendly, easygoing person, so might assume that all is well. However, quite often, simple things like walking can be a task in itself, often resulting in taking pauses due to the sheer pain.

Because I'm not "entitled" to a blue badge, I will often park in the mother and child spots in the supermarket. I try to park further away from the prime spots so I don't inconvenience anybody, and once was challenged on why I was parked in such a bay. Aside from being a parent myself, I explained my circumstances and that being able to open my door to the max and get in and out of the car easily was helpful. The person was sympathetic and went on their way.

People should be a little kinder and, if in doubt, give people the benefit of the doubt.

It sounds like we may have something similar, so I totally relate. My condition makes me extremely dizzy, so typical toilet stalls are a nightmare for me and the rails in accessible toilets are really helpful - I just wish more people would take the time to understand at times (Although many kind people do).

[hannechalk]

A friend of mine is currently on tour with his own show 'The Best of Tommy Cooper'.

During a recent show a member of the audience took pride in that he knew every gag, and would say the punchline loudly just before my friend did as the performer.

Although on one hand nice to have an enthusiastic audience member, on the other it was disruptive and annoying.

[iwanttix]

For some reason the woman sitting next to me last night at Kiss Me Kate decided to take her shoes off. Not bad behaviour as such, but bloody weird sitting in your socks in the front row. She put them back on during the interval - trainers 🤣.