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Post by inthenose on Mar 16, 2022 4:19:58 GMT
I've heard one couple talking about the "next showing" of Les Mis and how they wish they caught a later one because they ran out of time at the pub. (It was an evening performance). Later on, at the interval, the same couple (two seats down from me) asked an usher if they could leave now and watch the second half "in about an hour". Everyone around was laughing to be fair - they didn't understand why. They left after an expensive ice cream each before the lights went down - and didn't come back. I hope someone explained it's a live performance and not a film. I am adverse to getting my head caved in, so I wasn't going to volunteer! |
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Post by bimse on Mar 16, 2022 8:43:00 GMT
Overheard, about theatre, on a train from Manchester to Leeds, during 2021. I was sitting near a group of students , a young man and three girls. The young man informed the others that on arrival in Leeds they were going to a matinee at the theatre , which starts at 2.30.
(I wondered to myself why they hadn’t got an earlier train, as the train was due to arrive in Leeds at 2.15, and that would mean a rush over to the Grand Theatre).
One of the girls enquired what they’d be seeing . The young man replied “a musical”.
“Oh lovely , will there be songs? What is it called?”
“Yes, and It’s called “Waitress”
Silence , while that information was processed, followed by …
“What’s it about?”
“A Waitress”
More silence , then ….
“Will we have time to grab a burger first?”
“Oh yes, bags of time”
I got the distinct impression that there wasn’t much interest in the theatre visit, and their arrival for curtain up (if at all) was not guaranteed.
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Post by jojo on Mar 19, 2022 11:42:51 GMT
It won't help that cinemas have advertised start times that actually mean the start of twenty minutes of adverts and trailers, and the tickets for a lot of pop and rock music concerts tell you when the doors open, but not when the support acts starts (never mind the headline). Music venues in particular seem hesitant to let you know when the bit you are paying for starts, because they want you to come early enough to make at least a couple of trips to the bar.
I recently saw a very well intentioned person on social media alerting friends that a particular production started 'sharp' at 7:35pm with almost no messing about. They had been under the impression that 7:30pm was when doors opened.
I understand theatres are wary of giving precise timings, especially for new productions, but if at all possible I appreciate it when they advertise the usual times start and end times for each half (and length of interval).
Some theatres seem to have abandoned the bell to alert people the interval is coming to an end and a couple of times lately we've just made it back to our seats as the house lights went down again, because one of us interrupted the conversation to say 'surely the interval must be almost over, shall we just head back now?'
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Post by Dr Tom on Mar 21, 2022 22:52:50 GMT
“It’s really small” - not what you want to hear from men gathered around when you’re using the urinal at the New Wimbledon Theatre!
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Post by katykate on Mar 22, 2022 8:59:21 GMT
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Post by FairyGodmother on Mar 22, 2022 22:31:58 GMT
Intervals can be tricky things — a friend and I got caught out by Coppélia having two of them. We were a bit upset that they'd stopped selling ice creams when we came back to the loo and said to each other we thought it seemed a very short break. Still, all's well that ends well, we had our ice cream in the second one!  |
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Post by Dr Tom on Aug 3, 2022 19:52:10 GMT
“Didn’t want to book flights this year as they get cancelled, so asked my daughter what she wanted to do instead. She asked to visit the world’s biggest Primark, so we’re going for a night in Birmingham.”
Audience member at Sister Act (also rather enthusiastic).
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Post by crabtree on Aug 4, 2022 8:19:49 GMT
I think i posted this years ago, but it still makes me laugh. A mother and daughter next to me at the RSC Merry Wives musical, got up and left complaining loudly that they'd booked expecting Simon Cowell as a singing Falstaff....not Simon Callow. But there's an image to deal with.
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Post by bimse on Aug 4, 2022 18:05:42 GMT
I think i posted this years ago, but it still makes me laugh. A mother and daughter next to me at the RSC Merry Wives musical, got up and left complaining loudly that they'd booked expecting Simon Cowell as a singing Falstaff....not Simon Callow. But there's an image to deal with. Love it ! I’ve posted before that my elderly auntie and friend went to see the superb veteran performer Ronne Coyles in Morecambe , thinking they were seeing Ronnie Corbett . My auntie complained bitterly for years after, saying they’d been “done” and he didn’t even look or sound like Ronnie Corbett , in fact she was sure it wasn’t Ronnie Corbett, and they should have demanded their money back . |
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Post by inthenose on Aug 4, 2022 18:18:26 GMT
Another one from the Wicked dayseat queue…
“I really hated Idina, Kerry is so much better. I think Kerry is the best performer ever in musicals”…
later on, same person…
“this is my first ever musical, but I’ve got the CD and my friend says Kerry is amazing and much better than Idina”.
later on, same person…
“My friend said Idina didn’t remember her (from stagedooring a few days prior) when she was signing her programme but Kerry did, so she prefers her because they are better friends”.
I had to bite my lip, sip my extra strong Starbucks Americano from the station opposite, and plug my headphones in before my head exploded.
Edit: I’m pretty sure there was no friend
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Post by emsworthian on Aug 18, 2022 8:20:13 GMT
Overheard at Chichester Theatre during the interval of "Crazy for You": Woman to friend: "Rather than musicals set in America, I prefer to see musicals set in England, like "Phantom of the Opera"."
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Post by anthony40 on Aug 22, 2022 10:36:15 GMT
Overheard at Chichester Theatre during the interval of "Crazy for You": Woman to friend: "Rather than musicals set in America, I prefer to see musicals set in England, like "Phantom of the Opera"." Or Les Miserables, I assume? |
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Post by LaLuPone on Aug 22, 2022 10:45:56 GMT
At the final Waitress show on Saturday, two ladies, presumably talking about Chelsea Halfpenny.
1: I think I’ve seen her before?
2: In Corrie (obviously it was Emmerdale she was in but easily mixed up)
1: Oh yes. She’s changed her accent…
Well yes I don’t think a Geordie Jenna would quite work!
Then at Frozen yesterday, as the opening chords of Let it Go began, a five year old girl said in the most deadpan voice I’ve ever heard “I hate this song.”
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Post by emsworthian on Aug 22, 2022 11:31:09 GMT
Overheard at Chichester Theatre during the interval of "Crazy for You": Woman to friend: "Rather than musicals set in America, I prefer to see musicals set in England, like "Phantom of the Opera"." Or Les Miserables, I assume? I don't get people who go to see an American musical and then complain about it being "too American". Some years back I heard someone voice this complaint, again at Chi, during the interval of "Guys and Dolls." I felt like saying: "The clue is in the title. It's "Guys and Dolls", not "Blokes and Birds"." |
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Post by sfsusan on Aug 22, 2022 15:26:13 GMT
I felt like saying: "The clue is in the title. It's "Guys and Dolls", not "Blokes and Birds"." I wonder if someone could do a Peaky Blinders-era rewrite. Or the Kray twins. (Boy, that would be creepy....) |
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Post by fiyerorocher on Aug 22, 2022 15:55:06 GMT
I have to say, I'm very tired of people who are fully aware they've booked standing tickets, moaning about having standing tickets. If you didn't want to stand - book a seat! When you sit in the back row and have the standing places behind you and all you hear for the 20 minutes before the show is 'my feet are already sore' and 'maybe someone won't turn up and we can take their seat' and people asking the ushers if they can be upgraded to a seat (for a sold out show), you slowly lose your mind.
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Post by sph on Aug 22, 2022 23:46:59 GMT
I have to say, I'm very tired of people who are fully aware they've booked standing tickets, moaning about having standing tickets. If you didn't want to stand - book a seat! When you sit in the back row and have the standing places behind you and all you hear for the 20 minutes before the show is 'my feet are already sore' and 'maybe someone won't turn up and we can take their seat' and people asking the ushers if they can be upgraded to a seat (for a sold out show), you slowly lose your mind. Back when I worked in theatres you wouldn't believe the amount of people who would book balcony seats and very conveniently develop terrible, crippling vertigo when they entered the auditorium. Everyone is always grifting for an upgrade. |
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Post by fiyerorocher on Aug 23, 2022 8:32:17 GMT
I have to say, I'm very tired of people who are fully aware they've booked standing tickets, moaning about having standing tickets. If you didn't want to stand - book a seat! When you sit in the back row and have the standing places behind you and all you hear for the 20 minutes before the show is 'my feet are already sore' and 'maybe someone won't turn up and we can take their seat' and people asking the ushers if they can be upgraded to a seat (for a sold out show), you slowly lose your mind. Back when I worked in theatres you wouldn't believe the amount of people who would book balcony seats and very conveniently develop terrible, crippling vertigo when they entered the auditorium. Everyone is always grifting for an upgrade. Yeah I've had plenty of that too. Used to work in a theatre with a show that never sold out and the regulars would book the cheapest seats at the back of the circle and upgrade themselves to premium stalls seats they could bet on being empty. Then they got annoyed when the show closed because of poor ticket sales! |
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Post by marob on Aug 23, 2022 20:30:59 GMT
I went on a tour of the local theatre recently. Except for the main auditorium the building is closed for extensive renovations, but they’re showing people round the now-empty building while there’s a pause in the work. I ended up in a group made-up mostly by a bunch of old ladies who seemed much more interested in chatting amongst themselves.
One was with a boy I’d guess to be about 9 or 10, and she said to him “are you bored?” He said no, and she replied “oh, I thought you’d be bored.” Kinda gave the impression she was bored to death herself. Nothing wrong with that particularly, but the fact she said it quite loudly, while she was directly behind the guy showing us round struck me as quite rude.
Another one, despite being on a tour, didn’t seem to realise that they’d have to walk…
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Post by anthony40 on Aug 24, 2022 8:44:57 GMT
I was at South Pacific last night at Saddler Wells and I overheard the older couple next to me mention that the missing nurse had been found- (given that I'd actually missed the news in order to grab a bite to eat before seeing the show)- this was the best news I'd heard all day!
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Post by LaLuPone on Aug 25, 2022 16:36:14 GMT
A couple on the way out of Sister Act;
Lady: I just don’t know where they get all that energy from!
Man: Drugs.
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Post by inthenose on Aug 26, 2022 6:41:29 GMT
A couple on the way out of Sister Act; Lady: I just don’t know where they get all that energy from! Man: Drugs. Judy Garland doesn’t disagree! |
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Post by anthony40 on Aug 26, 2022 8:19:46 GMT
A couple on the way out of Sister Act; Lady: I just don’t know where they get all that energy from! Man: Drugs. What? Drugs! They're nuns! Surely not!- Though, to be fair, underneath her wimple Maria did have curlers in her hair, so.... |
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Post by Dr Tom on Oct 16, 2022 19:22:53 GMT
Two good ones today.
“London is like a city” at Jersey Boys
“I’ve just realised it’s half term” young guy to his girlfriend five minutes into the interval wondering why everyone hadn’t left at Get Up Stand Up (which must attract one of the audiences least able to control themselves in the West End).
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Post by crabtree on Oct 18, 2022 21:19:52 GMT
a couple walking out of a production I was in of Habit of art last month - 'huh, they don't know their lines' the couple grumbled - Habit of Art is a play within a rehearsal of a play with a character deliberately needing prompting.
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