audience behaviour is out of control... | behind the fights, insults and entitlement at the theatre

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OHMYGOD HEY!
In the time since theatres reopened after the period of shutdown, it has seemed like audience behaviour has been worse than ever before.
With reports of drunken brawls, abuse of front of house staff and overwhelming entitlement, many are questioning what has led to this rise in inexcusable conduct.
In today's new video I'm diving into this hot topic, including some shocking recent examples and a certain online article that sent shockwaves through the theatre community before it was removed...
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[@scaraponine]

I was in the audience that night at Jersey Boys in Edinburgh. It happened on the other side of the Circle from where I was sat. The guy involved was clearly drunk, disorderly and was even having a go at a woman in the audience (who I assume had made at least one of the complaints). Really intimidating but there was applause when he got taken out. It was in the speech leading up to a really emotional scene when Frankie Valli gets some bad news. Kudos to the understudy who was on that night - he restarted the speech as if nothing had happened and played it even better.

[@johndekoven7549]

I was there that night as well. It was so bizarre. Never been to a show where it got stopped like that.

[@rhiannao8468]

I had an experience last year that not only upset me but my 13 year old sister. I bought her tickets for Mamma Mia, she’s been trying to engage in theatre and this show was touring at our local theatre at the time of her 13th birthday so I decided to take her. We had a lovely time pre-show, grabbing some food and having a chat about the show and other shows coming in the near future. We got into the theatre, bought a programme and got seated - all seemed well. However, 5 minutes before the show a group of drunken adults stumbled in and sat next to us (they had a bottle of rosé wine each in their hands, some full some half drank)and sat down. I had a bad feeling as they were obviously drunk, and were extremely loud and chanting before the show . However, during the performance things got a whole lot worse. They were singing, banging their feet, clapping, cheering. My sister was seated next to one of these women , so I politely asked could they be a little bit more quiet as the singing, clapping and dancing was a bit off putting. This resulted in abuse being hurled at me and my 13 year old sister during the first act, and obviously in the interval I went to speak to a mw member of staff who told me nothing could be done, the show was sold out, but they would get some stewards down to our area for the second act. I reluctantly agreed, because it was a present for my sister and I didn’t want her to miss out. But the second act was a whole lot worse and she left the show in tears. I wrote to the theatre after this, and they explained how this is happening at almost every show. They sent their apologies and offered me and my sister tickets to another night. I couldn’t make another night because of work commitments but they were happy for my mother to accompany my sister. They had a much nicer experience, however I still can’t understand how people think it is acceptable to get so intoxicated that laughing and shouting abusive comments to a 13 year old girl is acceptable. I feel for the staff too, as this is a job I don’t think I could do with the way that some audience members behave in recent times.

[@hayleybarbara1589]

They should have been kicked out. Not sure why the theatre thought it was acceptable to have drunken adults yell at a child that is abhorrent.

[@WJLMAROON]

This is gutting and they should think shame on theirselves for shouting at a kid. Kudos to your sister as that could really have put her off the West End experience. Glad they had a better time the second night. There needs to be a proper threat of security as most ushers are quiet, kind and artsy people who don’t want confrontation. We need Big Dave, a balding or bald man in his fifties, electrician, who doesn’t mind ejecting people by their head. P.S. Tell your sister we hope she makes it to the stage one day! ⭐️

[@sourbananacandy]

The idea of people not understanding how to act in the theatre is legitimately confusing to me. I was lucky enough to go a few times a year to local theatres on school trips as a child and we all understood it - sometimes there would be a staff member that would come out onstage before the show and hype us up, call out the schools in attendance and have us all chanting and cheering and excited, but once the show itself started we were completely aware of how to behave respectfully and fully complied. If a bunch of sixth graders can comply with good theatre etiquette, I really do not understand why fully-grown adults can't hold that standard themselves.

[@mariannecalnan6782]

Totally agree - this was a really well put together video too!

[@nicoler5713]

And even if you haven't been to live theatre... there's just basic consideration. Can't these people just think of it like going to a movie, or should I just be horrified thinking about what they're probably like at one...

[@eliwatson7939]

The only thing I can think of is that maybe some people's only live music experiences prior to a show were concerts, and some acts *do* encourage audiences to sing along or dance, especially for their best known songs. I do think alcohol and various effects on attention and entitlement by the pandemic, as well as management's refusal to get involved and support their staff, are much bigger contributors though.

[@oliviadaly4795]

​@@nicoler5713 nowadays teens (what I've found anyway, and I say this based on the experience I had when I was 16) and seemingly other people don't know how to react in the cinema or theatre. I remember one person blatantly recording the beginning intro titles of a film which is illegal. Went to see the Dwayne Johnson film Central Intelligence back when I was 15. Group of teens running riot near the back. Screaming/telling, climbing the seats like hurdles, throwing empty bottles, being disruptive... People complained, police called, they were kicked out, everyone was evacuated and given vouchers to come see the movie for free. The police handled thr delinquents well Could see this becoming a news item if it were in the cinema. People of all ages need to learn to BEHAVE and not spoil it for others.

[@bookcat123]

Because some “fully-grown adults” are self-centered babies

[@callalily3994]

In the US, I'm kind of terrified that there will be a shooting at a theatre. Some Broadway theatres have added metal detectors in the past few years, but I think a lot of them still don't have them. There are usually bag checks at the door, but it would be so easy to get a gun inside. I've seen people online say stuff like, "I wouldn't go to a Broadway show unless I was carrying, because NYC has gotten so dangerous." (The theatre district is far safer now than it ever was when I was growing up, but certain segments of the media report it as if there's a murder on every corner every day, and some people react accordingly.) Someone who's scared, in an unfamiliar place, carrying a gun, and drunk is an incredibly dangerous combination.

[@itzelwisteria1819]

I don't even live in the US but now that the thought has been planted I feel nervous too.

[@ChelCM03]

I'm gonna be so real and say I'm surprised that hasn't happened yet. Especially for bigger shows like Wicked or Hamilton that are consistently packed. I mean look at what happened at the first preview of the Parade revival. Theater is getting dangerous and it breaks my heart

[@emhu2594]

Get some gun control, this shitnis not hard americans

[@annie27261]

My most horrific story as of late was at the touring production of Moulin Rouge in San Francisco. During the pivotal 'because she doesn't love you' scene where there's a huge dramatic pause, a drunk woman in the orchestra (maybe 7-9 rows in?) stood up and shouted 'we get it, it's complicated let's just move on and keep it going' or something wild to that effect. No she wasn't removed, yes the actor playing the Duke said something wonderfully snarky in return I can't remember because at this point my soul had left my body from secondhand embarrassment. Couldn't enjoy the rest of the second act because I was TERRIFIED she would act up again. Honestly nervous to go back to the theater again because after spending that much money and having my experience thrashed like that, I don't even want to risk it.

[@annie27261]

Oh! Was at Beetlejuice over the summer as well, I'm sitting in the second row of the orchestra and the woman next to me was talking to her adult daughter through the whole first act. I finally asked if she was going to talk the whole night and she shut up after that. But literally? We were so close we could see their wig caps and spit, did she seriously think that the actors wouldn't be able to hear her??

[@JillBrewerVideos]

I think everyone fancies themselves a star nowadays, and so maybe they think they are being witty and entertaining when they act up from the audience.

[@misskit123]

I've heard of someone trying to grab at the performers on stage at Moulin Rouge in London. Just... Nope. I love the show, but the audience can be awful.

[@easterslice]

@@misskit123 Interesting. I think it was during the restoration that seats were sold to audience members specifically for that purpose. They were seated either onstage (or just off) and the patrons paid dearly for the seats so that they could grope the actresses as they were coming or going to the stage.

[@misskit123]

@@easterslice At the actual Moulin Rouge you mean? Hmm. Not great, but if the performers consent.... But at the show? Hell no. Be respectful. Leave the actors alone.

[@christinaminton8441]

I used to work as FOH staff for a popular West End show, and I was shocked by how many people showed up to the show completely wasted. We had to remove people, sometimes before the show even started. I can’t imagine spending over £100 to see a West End show just to be barely conscious enough to actually watch it. So disrespectful to the cast, staff and audience.

[@alongstorycutshort]

Last time I went to a show, the single seat I had booked was surrounded by members of a youth group on an outing together, and a small child sat down next to me. They proceeded to ask if I'd seen the show before, what other shows I'd seen, rattle off every time they'd ever been to a theatre and, generally, talk my ear off. But the second the lights went down? Silence. Perfectly well-behaved because that child (at most 8 years old) understood we were there to watch and enjoy the performance. In the stalls below, a phone went off at least three times. More than one loud conversation drifted up to the circle. Rowdy patrons heckled the performers. The queues for the bars at interval jammed up every corridor in the venue. Almost every interaction I saw grown adults have with staff members was rude and entitled. I've never experienced anything like it in a theatre before. It was my first time back since covid and it's genuinely made me nervous about going again. As you say, tickets are expensive. I don't want to spend my limited funds on a night that should be a great experience and instead have to put up with loud, drunk, disrespectful people who think every musical is a panto.

[@littlemissblackbird7249]

I worked front of house in a theatre in amsterdam. We once had to remove an old lady who visited the theatre with her adult son because she was panicking and thinking she was having heart issues. We were sitting in the foyer when the ambulance personal arrived and the son pulled one of them to the side to confess he gave his mother a weedbrownie without her knowing.

[@Simplenotion]

this is nuts...but also kind of hilarious...

[@minikipp8549]

How is this the most tame story I read and its still horrifying

[@pleh7019]

Poor woman.

[@hanabanana-pj7zr]

As someone who works FOH in the West End, I actually teared up a bit at this video. My worst experience I’ve ever had is when a man ducked out of the auditorium 30 seconds before the show started to get a drink, and missed the starting and had to be taken in as a latecomer. He was understandably mad, but he was being such a dick, and when I was waiting with him in line, he grabbed my arm hard enough that I had finger-sized bruises for a week. I love my job, so I try not to complain, but this video makes me feel so SEEN.

[@LaryOrNot]

I’m so sorry that happened to you 😞

[@hayleybarbara1589]

This video and comments like yours make me feel ANGRY. im so sorry you had to deal with that..

[@emhu2594]

Should have pressed assault charges and gotten him banned. People have to be held accountable.

[@scaratthedisco]

The singing problem also happens with popular shows like Hamilton and Wicked. People seem to think we will be amazed if they know all the lyrics to wildly famous shows. More education for new theatre guests is needed for sure.

[@jenniferh3587]

I've gone to a movie screening with nerds and one guy just kept saying the lines before they happened. It wasn't like Rocky Horror where you're supposed to be that way. I want to hear the actors, not you.

[@koldkutgirl]

i will say when i saw hamilton on a wednesday matinee on broadway, a young child kept mumbling the first few songs in front of me. it was kinda cute that they were so excited, but their parents shushed them and they eventually stopped. edit-i think the child had special needs. it is unfair there arent more accessible performances for those who need them.

[@impatvish9451]

Gosh I went to Hamilton london last year and the drunk dude beside me SANG THROUGH THE WHOLE SHOW. Not mumble, not hum, sing!! He got told off by a couple in front of us and his excuse was that he waited long to see it but like, dude??? I flew all the way from Thailand to london only to listen to you sing and show off to your friends???? Don’t think so. During It’s Quiet Uptown he sang along with Angelica so loud the whole theatre stared at him (I told him off then so he stopped for the rest of the show smh) Like what’s with this behavior

[@TheIndigoSystem]

Heathers too when I went. I silently lip sync so I disturb no one

[@hedferguson]

I was front row at Hamilton (lottery obvs) & the couple behind me didn’t just sing loudly, they pretty much enacted the whole thing from their seats. There is no way the cast couldn’t hear them

[@nickpilgrim7706]

Several years ago I saw a stand-up comic play in a packed 900 seat auditorium. Half way through her set she stopped the story she was telling and called out an audience member for being on her phone by saying, "Your face is lighting up like a 'bleeping' beacon. Turn off your phone now.' Her outburst got her a huge round of applause, and to her credit at the end of the show, the comic apologised for breaking the mood. Later, at a concert I saw with Megan Hillty, the Broadway star congratulated the audience for their support and added, 'I didn't see one cell phone switched on during the show. Thank you'. It makes me wonder how some people can pay big $$$ to see live theatre, but seem to have the concentration span of a TV commercial break. If it's that hard to sit still, don't waste your money and other people's enjoyment. Stay home!

[@Erni3K]

Harry Connick Jr, noticing that a front row patron was recording him, "My dear, what's your name? Peggy? Dear Peggy, I can't see your beautiful eyes until you put down your phone, Peggy." Just name checked her over and over and over again. 'Peggy' is now the office nickname for when you're being a jerk.

[@peterdavino4408]

Come on to NYC my dear ❣️ nothing bad will happen to you. Just stay away from the ubiquitous "Juke Box" varieties & you'll be absolutely fine! Those dumbass shows are not really " Theater" experiences. They're tourist trap flop houses! I could say so much more being a FOH worker but you're too sweet to hear such vulgarities! Lol.

[@CoynieReads]

Going to Frozen last year I was prepared for the children in the audience to be loud and excited, that's to be expected. Was not prepared for the parents to be the ones really misbehaving. Two families right near me had to be told by ushers to not take photos, even though they tell you not to right at the top of the show. I was sat watching Let It Go and then suddenly had my view of the stage blocked by the guy in front of me with his phone above his head recording. When the usher told him to stop and to delete it, he was just like "What? It's not FLASH!". No, but it is ILLEGAL! 🙈

[@cassieosbourne7666]

It literally is illegal though. It’s bootlegging/piracy

[@rhonab6698]

you think it shouldn't be a hard concept as well when every movie you see in a cinema tells you no photos or filming!

[@moonbunnychan]

I saw the tour of Anastasia a few weeks ago and same. I knew a lot of kids were gonna be there and was prepared for that. But it was the adults in the audience that just would not shut up, to the point where I thought there was about to be a physical fight when someone finally told someone to shut the f up and the person who was talking got really defensive about it, stood up, and started yelling. When I saw Six over the summer, also on tour, the guy in front of me got caught filming 3 separate times, and also got really defensive about it being super loud when the usher told him he had to stop. More theaters really need to be ok with throwing people out.

[@Kylalovesbabe]

I saw frozen on tour and multiple people had their phone out recording the show and I was so shocked by how blatant it was, people are absolutely ridiculous

[@emma.328]

Same when i went to see Aladdin on Broadway. The kids were much better behaved than the adults

[@dizzyella8204]

So. Last spring I participated in a 30 minute space themed Sleeping Beauty play that specifically invited underfunded elementary/pre-k schools from around my city to come and see the show for free. For many of the kids (literally 4 at the youngest, 11 at the oldest), this was their first EVER theatrical experience. Sure, we had several instances during our two month run of some kids talking and running around the house area and acting...yknow, like children. But FOR THE MOST PART, they were completely respectable and really enjoyed the experience. I guess I really shouldn't be surprised that literal 1st graders can be more mature than drunken adults. That at least gives me some hope for the future generation of theatre goers.

[@juliannagoodwin2875]

For the sing along thing mentioning that it’s only at jukebox, it’s not. Popular musicals (and musicals that have been on trending music on social media) also have people who sing along. I saw Beetlejuice on Broadway before it closed twice, and twice I heard a person behind me sing almost every song. Same thing with Wicked and Hamilton. It’s not just jukebox. It’s soo annoying.

[@AKMorehouse]

I had a very similar experience at Beetlejuice. The girl who was sitting directly to my left was dressed like Lydia (first time seeing people dressed up on a Tuesday that’s not Halloween for a show) and when any Lydia song came on she was singing along and sort of dancing with her hands. It was like she was waiting for Elizabeth Teeter and her understudied to all fall I’ll and she could pop on stage. Totally weird/ annoying.

[@itzelwisteria1819]

​@@AKMorehouse I know she must've been excited but man, you could've listened to Elizabeth Teeter sing her lungs out live yet decided you would rather hear your own voice? It's a bit incredible to me.

[@Lionstar16]

Sadly society in general seems to have developed a more entitled attitude since we came out of lockdown - believe me, I work in retail and have to put up with this entitled attitude almost every day.

[@thomasmcnerney9745]

You sincerely have my sympathy. Going to basic places, such as the grocery store, can alter your mood dramatically.

[@RogieVixen]

I work at a cinema and omg i couldn't agree with you more, and it's all ages too! A colleague was only saying a few weeks a go that attitudes have got worse since everyone can go back to their lives.

[@savannah115]

Agree 100%. I work in the federal government in a 100% public service position, and not only are people in general more entitled, but they are often outright hostile to us because we're part of the federal government. (I'm a park ranger, by the way, not an IRS auditor...I cannot even imagine the hostility towards federal employees at other, less liked federal agencies. )

[@shiradiamond5683]

When I went to Hamilton there was a family of four behind me. Two children and two parents. One child spent the whole show asking a parent questions, AND THE PARENT RESPONDED. While the other child say along to Eliza’s parts. It was beyond frustrating!

[@naomibedford1312]

I’ve had that before, just children asking questions throughout and their parents answering, it’s so annoying and I felt like I couldn’t ask them to stop because it’s a kid!!

[@londome1]

Something similar happened to me at & Juliet a few weeks ago and seated behind me was this family, during the first song one of the children wouldn't stop crying, they spoke a different language and the dad kept translating bits the other child didn't understand, and the mum was singing along for a few songs. Was very infuriating

[@positivelybobbie]

When I saw Hairspray, the girl behind me sang along to every song (loudly and badly), and asked questions about every line and joke to her mum. I remember thinking it’s interesting that the kid knew every song but clearly had no clue of the plot!

[@cassieosbourne7666]

I have always been good at remembering lyrics, aged 8 I already knew all the words to Les Mis. When I was little my dad always drilled in to me that if I wanted to sing, I had to sing in my head

[@turtle1661]

this happened to me when i saw wicked last year, there was a little girl and her parents behind me and instead of just trying to let her figure things out on her own they would literally LOUDLY EXPLAIN WHAT WAS HAPPENING!! so distracting

[@xbckclairex]

It baffles me that someone would want to get absolutely smashed before going to something they’ve paid so much for and likely really looked forward to. I’d like to remember what happened at the event I paid £80 for! I’m lucky to have never experienced anything beyond someone repeatedly checking their phone and hope to god I never experience worse. My second hand embarrassment would possibly have me expire on the spot.

[@callalily3994]

And especially on Broadway, where the tickets are even more expensive. (For something like Wicked, on a Saturday night, ticket prices would range from about $110-$290, which is like 90-240 pounds.) And it's pretty likely that a lot of the people in these stories were tourists who also paid for travel, hotels, restaurants, etc., just to act like this? I feel really bad for the kids of the parents who do this stuff.

[@harlamguy]

When I saw the national tour of Hamilton years ago, I'll never forget the girl a couple seats next to me who sang along with the show for the first few songs. Finally, a woman in front of her turned around and firmly but professionally asked her to stop singing. She stopped, but her dad was next to me and was checking his phone for texts and texting on it on what seemed like the brightest setting the entire time. I'm not one to be confrontational so I didn't say anything, but come on man.

[@daveatron_]

I went to see Tina recently in London and there was a really good sign on the back of the doors in he toilets outlining theatre etiquette. It said something along the lines of 'this is not a concert, this is a musical celebrating Tina Turner's life and you have paid to see these actors tell that story'. Unfortunately while I was in the loo I overheard two women going 'have you seen this??? I've paid for this ticket, I'm gonna sing as much as I like'. Lady everyone else in this theatre has specifically paid NOT to hear YOU sing. If you wanna sing along, go to a concert, got to a tribute act. They were sat right in front of me and thankfully were actually well behaved during the show, but I was worried the whole time

[@ALittleBitShabby]

For those of us who can only afford to go see shows a couple of times a year, it's so disappointing when you have someone sat around you who blatantly does not care what they're doing, or is purposefully speaking loud to friends, singing so loud I can't hear the actors etc. There are always people who have to ruin it for others 🤬

[@averyeml]

I have been to more concerts than theater but behavior is trash across the board at events where certain behavior is expected. My general theories boil down to: 1)covid broke social expectations- not just in the “we spent two years not being able to do things and just forgot” way most people complain about, but specifically in the way that audiences are balanced with newbies vs. veteran concert/theater goers. See, every concert/show is someone’s first. But normally you have a handful of those new viewers in a room full of people who have been before and they can copy the right way to act. But post-covid, suddenly you have people who would’ve had that “first show” experience earlier all having it now, and the populations of people who haven’t caught onto the etiquette are higher in each show than ever and they feed off each other. 2) social media has driven a very “this is an experience FOR ME” vibe. A ton of people want THE good TikTok, THE selfie with a cast/band member, THE moment where the person onstage recognizes them for their cheering or humorous moment. They sing along loudly hoping (stupidly and/or drunkenly) thinking the people onstage will notice and love it. Not only does that mean more jerks have their phones out when they shouldn’t, but it also means people are acting rowdier to get noticed or get that postable moment. 3) this is partially because of a mix of the past two, but when things are more expensive, people feel entitled to more. Because everyone wants to go to shows because of the pandemic or to get to say they went, ticket prices are going up and selling out sooner. People who go want that extra special experience because it’s expensive or because they didn’t get it because the pandemic cancelled the last one or whatever. And when they don’t get it, they explode. I’ve seen that last one happen A LOT at Disney parks over the last couple years- way more fistfights happening in the parks over little human mistakes because it’s trampling on their expensive and momentous trip.

[@xxtinkerbell91xx]

Any time I’ve had a bad experience at the theatre where people sing or talk excessively through a musical it’s always been either a jukebox musical or a musical that has a popular movie of it like moulin rouge or grease. My mum had your nightmare situation at the Cher show last month where she told a couple to be quiet who still hadn’t shut up half way through act 2 and he got aggressive with her. Didn’t escalate as mum just cut him off and turned around and ignored him after that but my heart dropped!

[@IvyroseGullwhacker]

Same. As a marketer who works for a theatre I have began to incorporate "Do not talk or sing during the show" into pre-show messaging.

[@xxtinkerbell91xx]

@@IvyroseGullwhacker it absolutely needs it. It drives me mad when people do it! I feel for you!

[@tracimcmurray3992]

That was my experience at &Juliet over the summer. There were a ton of school kids and adults who sang along the entire show

[@linaluna575]

Mine was moulin rouge- touring- I was suppposed to take my son to it for his senior trip in 2020, but we never made it to New York 😢 So I saw it was close to us, got overpriced tickets for balcony seats, but view was still amazing. My son was so excited and loved it! But the adults, next to me were singing. The people row in front of me were not only singing but talking to the cast. Like when Crazy came on. They would say yes you are…. Then they kept taking pictures. And so loud. I almost wanted to address them or tell staff but I was stuck in the middle of a row. However I think these ppl would be aggressive if confronted. My son, didn’t notice and had an amazing time. It was a great experience for him. Plus the person playing Christian was amazing, I can’t wait to see what he is in next ❤️🤩

[@xxtinkerbell91xx]

@@linaluna575 aww no that happened to me in grease. I did have a mini situation in moulin rouge in the uk but a few well chosen glares shut them up haha. At least your son had an amazing time and wasn’t distracted by anything!

[@laurissa1790]

As someone with severe emetophobia, I would be hysterically crying and having a panic attack if someone vomited on me. New fear unlocked, now I'm terrified of Broadway. 😭

[@ShatteredMirror]

Can I just say, thank you for clarifying the stuff about very strict theatre etiquette sometimes being inaccessible (not all etiquette, but very strict etiquette) - I'm autistic, and whilst I am generally very well behaved in theatres, when I get very excited, I can be 'louder' than normal without realising I'm doing it. I will clap and woop very loudly after the songs, laugh loudly at the funny bits, flap my hands excitedly (but silently, btw), and will probably talk very excitedly in the interval (singing along is a no-no, although I may mime along). One time, a man in the theatre got very upset at how loudly I was clapping after a song, and turned around to aggressively tell me off for it, snarling that I was a 'stupid little girl' who would 'never amount to anything in life'. Speaking of bad theatre behaviour, and aggression, I genuinely was scared this man was going to hurt me, ironically. We need rules and etiquette, and to empower ushers to enforce it, to combat the genuinely awful behaviour that I've seen in the theatre, but I love that we're having conversations about maintaining behaviour in the theatre (especially towards ushers, people are AWFUL to them) whilst also acknowledging that there's an area of some give where very, very strict etiquette is actually inaccessible.

[@ShatteredMirror]

Anyway, some of my worst experiences with bad audience behaviour: - the person who had a whole meal of barbecue chicken wings laid out on their lap and tried to eat it during the performance - the phone went off during Paul's monologue in A Chorus Line (a very quiet, serious moment), three times, and on the third time, THE PERSON ANSWERED IT (they were then tutted and shushed into shutting up). - the time I was sitting on the end of the row at the front, and someone asked me to stand up and move to the side so they could get to their seat, and then immediately sat down in my seat and said they were 'too tired' to get up and move to their actual seat. I had to go to the ushers in tears and they ended up having to virtually physically remove them from my seat. EDIT TO ADD: omg how could I forget the person who was in the front row seat next to me at Phantom of the Opera (NOT CHEAP) and proceeded to be texting AND TAKING WHISPERED PHONE CALLS throughout Think of Me, Phantom of the Opera, AND Music of the Night until the usher came over and told them to put their phone away. All of these were pre-covid, which is interesting, but also I haven't been to the theatre much recently as still very anxious about covid, so I dread to think what I'd have seen if I was still going with regularity!

[@memorian8472]

Personally, I don't think any of your behavior was poor theatre etiquette (I like seeing people really into the show in the way you expressed it, especially if it's usually silent, I don't mind if people can't help but make a little noise tho). If anything I find that one man that confronted you to be the one that exhibited poor theater etiquette. I'm sorry he said that shit to you. There's a difference between how you conducted yourself and someone that's legit causing distractions like singing along too loudly, talking too much and too loudly or pulling out a phone and taking pictures.

[@CindersSpot]

That man was behaving inappropriately, not you. Nothing wrong with enjoying the show loudly!

[@JanaShakespeare]

Erin, I also don't think any of the things you do a bit more of when excited are bad theatre etiquette. I personally can usually tell when there are things like that going on that someone is likely autistic and it doesn't bother me. In fairness, I'm a mum of four autistic girls and neurodivergent myself, so my perspective and radar is different than most. I had to comment on the person who took your seat though. Oh my word! That just blew me away. I've never heard of such a thing. That was obviously premeditated and crazy. I'm just stunned that someone would even try that. I'm glad you didn't let them get away with it at least.

[@sophiec7498]

I went to the Lion King back in 2021 and the whole way through the first act, a group of women behind us were singing along rather loudly, then an audience member who was sat in front of them turned around and shouted “I didn’t pay all this money for you to all keep singing!”. We were so grateful for this woman’s kind service (even though she didn’t help by shouting) before she proceeds to get her phone out and start texting with the brightness on full 😥

[@daisyrovai2971]

Back in December, I went to see Les Mis for my birthday. A woman who was sat directly in front of us chatted to her partner over the show for the first 30 minutes, while vaping! Really didn’t appreciate the constant stream of smoke in our faces. Around 45 minutes in, she vomited all over herself. Her partner then encouraged her to leave, which she argued against, slurring her words and falling over everyone she was stepping over. The vomit was left there until the interval, at which point staff just poured sawdust over it and left. I’m not sure what the solution would be, but really ruined my experience, and that of everyone else sat around her!

[@daaesviolin]

Two recent bad experiences come to mind: the first was in NYC for My Fair Lady a few years ago, and I was lucky enough to have third-ish row seats. We were mere feet from the stage and these two girls next to me could NOT stay off their phones. It was so incredibly rude and I wished I’d had the gumption to say something, but luckily somebody else did. The second was this last year seeing Hamilton for the first time. There was a group of women and girls and while I was glad to see children attending, their chaperones would not shut up. Literally talking in a normal level voice every few minutes throughout the performance. It was terrible and incredibly awkward.

[@rhonab6698]

considering how much theatre tickets can cost, especially post lockdown, it baffles me that people will pay that much money just to sit on their phones the whole time and not pay attention to the show. absolute waste of £40-300!!!! depending on where you got seats

[@daaesviolin]

@@rhonab6698 absolutely! I went with my BFF - it was our first trip to NYC and the tickets weren't cheap. It completely baffled me that these girls were glued to their phones - they didn't even seem to want to be there!

[@TJJQ24893]

Not just musicals. When I went to see Frozen, I expected that there would be kids singing along. What I didn't expect was, when I went to see Hamlet, to hear several adult audience members whispering Hamlet's soliloquy alongside the actor!

[@pseudonymous9153]

You just know they probably thought everyone would be soooo impressed with how "cultured" they were for knowing that (completely missing the irony)

[@AKMorehouse]

My worst fellow audience member experience was before the pandemic and had nothing to do with phones. Spring 2018 a friend convinced me to see a Saturday matinee of Spongbob. At one point a women held 4-7 year old kid up over her head like she was reenacting Circle of Life from the Lion King in the middle of a song. I heard other audience members loudly say “Stop Simba-ing your kid,” “Put the kid down,” and “This is Broadway, not the Wiggles.” She then started yelling back that her son could not see, etc. all before the ushers were able to intervene, and throughout all of this the show continued. Looking back it was wild.

[@memorian8472]

LOL what.... like lady, I know tickets are expensive but if it's a problem of your kid not seeing....I just... Buy tickets with a better view or don't go?? I don't get how she couldn't comprehend that people behind her wouldn't be able to see.

[@asterismos5451]

ok this one is kind of funny.

[@clairlusher3011]

Stop Simba-ing your kid is one of the greatest things I ever read

[@oliviadaly4795]

@@memorian8472 I agree. It's mental, but kinda funny. If your kid is small (don't know if this is a thing on Broadway) in the UK you can hire a booster seat so the kid can see for a nominal fee of about £1-2

[@jaynesmith8509]

Funniest one I saw that I couldn’t really be mad at was a drunk woman who decided she needed to go to the toilet half way through the first act. The theatre was relatively empty on a Thursday night (it was a local am-dram group performing) and there was no one sitting in front of her and she tripped and fell over the seats and got stuck in between the chairs 😂😂😂

[@StephVV]

One of my best friends is an usher at one of the Broadway theaters. We both agree, it’s as if people have forgotten how to behave in polite society.

[@mattbonner5281]

“But they don’t want the audience to do it, that’s too immersive” 😂😂😂 oh Mickey you never fail to crack me completely up watching your videos! But on a serious note like I was looking at booking some of the Broadway shows and noticed a message among the rules for the theatre/show was ‘No weapons in the premises’ at the time I found it funny cause we don’t have that in the uk but after hearing all these bad things, I’m genuinely terrified for theatre staff and fellow audience members! 😮

[@beckyBWwilliams]

i work at a theatre, we are a theatre that has a variety of touring productions using our auditoriums and people not understanding theatre etiquette is a real problem. If people know the songs they want to get up and dance/ sing along/ record and it's so hard to keep them under control. If you tell them to sit down and respect the other customers or that recording is not allowed you are instantly shouted and swarn at and they get so hostile especially if they have had a drink. If you point out to them that our rules were clearly posted all over the building and on their tickets and at the beginning of the show they just don't care. They think because they have bought a ticket they are entitled to do what they want. You shouldn't have to endure this at work. Then the theatre gets complaints and refund requests by other customers whose experience was tainted by these disrespectful customers. Please if you are at a standing gig then fine sing and dance u heart out but if you are at a seated performance respect the other customers, respect the performers and respect the staff, it is not karaoke or a club night! Not to mention it's a health and safety nightmare if drunk people are dancing in the balcony! These people are putting off respectful customers from coming back and making our jobs so much harder then it needs to be. I agree these people should be removed but when your trying to remove a group of drunk people its super hard especially when they are big burly blokes and i'm just one person with my 75 year old colleague as back up. Do theatres need to hire extra security guards now specifically to remove people? We are on our asses atm so we cant afford to hire security for every single performance. This shouldn't be something we need to think about. This is a problem that selfish people are making for other people and its so incredibly frustrating because i love the theatre but these people are slowly chipping away at my love, but i am fighting hard to not let them taint my enthusiasm for my job or theatre in general. Anyway rant over... i needed to vent can you tell lol.

[@itzelwisteria1819]

Ugh, it is really frustrating. It's like every possible solution you can think of isn't really feasible and then you're stuck in the same position. It's baffling to think this would all be okay if people had basic manners that were taught to me when I was 5 years old.

[@MrAaronWomball]

I find it utterly fucking bonkers that theatres are seen as "night out" entertainment but no theatres have security. That's what I think is really needed. You get one chance from the usher telling you nicely to stop being a twat, if you continue your behaviour, security drags your ass out.

[@beckyBWwilliams]

@@MrAaronWomball yes but that will mean theatres need to hire extra security for every show and how are they going to afford that...by putting ticket prices up etc! Every solution has a negative impact on normal theatre goers down the line. If these people were just respectful we wouldn't have a problem that is what is sooo frustrating.

[@MrAaronWomball]

@@beckyBWwilliams You're not wrong there, but that has to do with the arseholes that make theatre so expensive and take all the profit for themselves, like ALW and Machintosh. Theatre in the UK is one of the highest grossing industries yet everyone who works in it is underpaid expect the producers and theatre owners. We need to first get rid of them before any meaningful change will ever happen.

[@beckyBWwilliams]

@@MrAaronWomball That's true for bigger theatres owned by big names. my theatre is little and owned by the local council, we make a loss each year (and the pandemic didn't help) so the council has had to top us up to keep us going. We cant afford extra expenses just because of disrespectful customers. and like i say if we do hire more security to police the audience then the money for that is either going to come from ticket sales or the local council tax, we have no where else the money can come from. We don't qualify for grants etc cos we are council owned. if these people just took into consideration other people there would be no problem which is the frustrating thing for me. These people are costing other people money indirectly and ruining their nights all because they cant behave like normal respectful humans. I feel like the pandemic gave some people a sense of entitlement they didn't have before. Maybe once the novelty of not being in lockdown wears off they will realise that they can't do whatever they want. Probably something a psychologist should study.

[@laurenouterson5801]

The Edinburgh Playhouse is my local theatre and The Bodyguard is here. We went on a Monday night praying the audience would be respectful but shocker they were not. During a quiet scene, there was a drunk group of women next to me, which I counted at least 4 drinks each, one of them decides to say “this is shite” so loudly people turned to stare at them. We were 4th row so I just hope the performers didn’t hear. On a separate note, the FOH staff are wonderful and so kind. I had a panic attack at The Lion King cause we were surrounded by a school group who who were being so rude and one of them kept kicking my seat so I decided to leave but the staff sat me down and gave me water until I was calm and then moved us to seats which were much better. It breaks my heart that I am to a point where I don’t want to go to the theatre anymore and I actually think we as a theatre community need to say enough really is enough because we all know the solution is no more alcohol but no theatre will take that stand.

[@MsJaytee1975]

Every Glaswegian breathed a sigh of relief that the Jersey Boys incident was in Edinburgh. As a disabled person I’m laughing at the idea that people were asked to stay home for a extraordinary length of time. Example 935 that most people wouldn’t last a week if they were disabled. I think that a rise in political intolerance is a factor. Certain groups in society think they’re hard done by because people not like them are getting human rights and becoming more visible, and they are constantly looking for an argument. Just one thing, if you see people checking notifications, I know people who use their phone for medication reminders, I actually do it myself, diabetics can track their blood sugar on their phone. We don’t want a repeat of the incident where someone was challenged when using a captioning device. I mean you would think most people have an idea of how to behave at the theatre, I mean I’m autistic and I know how to behave. But not every show is the same. I saw Mamma Mia about 15 years ago and it seemed to be okay to stand up and dance at some point, but that wouldn’t be appropriate even at shows like Cabaret or Chicago so maybe some guidelines at the start of each show is the way to go. Sounds like front of house staff on Broadway need a union. Interestingly years ago, when I lived in Glasgow I used to work in the bar at one of the theatres, and they were either owned or part owned by the council, so all staff were unionised (or at least had that option). I’m trying to imagine my old union steward if a member of staff was threatened and still got to watch the show.

[@filmsociety1311]

I'm from Edinburgh. I saw Jersey Boys at the King's Glasgow in May last year. I'll need to read up on the story because I hadn't come across it until now.

[@rainbowpearlvlogsandanimations]

As am I, and I was actually thinking about going to see Jersey Boys in Edinburgh when it came… perhaps I dodged a bullet? (It’s ABSOLUTELY not the fault of the show, I’m sure they’re very talented and possibly even more exasperated by this behaviour than the rest of the audience… but people really need to learn their theatre etiquette, and in terms of the fighting and the phones… common sense?)

[@PhantomOnABudget]

Was at Her Majesty's this past Friday night. Two middle-aged women were sitting directly behind me and had clearly pre-gamed before the show. They were loud and aggressive in just how they acted before the top of the show. No fists thrown that night, but both women talked through both the overture and entr'act. When someone nearby in the audience shhhh'd them, the louder one told them to "f*ck off." 🤬 I glanced back at them several times but was reluctant to say anything for fear of verbal backlash. They were also eating crisps and whatever else out of crinkly bags for the ENTIRE PERFORMANCE. I had spent the last two weeks supporting grieving families and needed a night at my favorite show to lift my spirits. They ruined the evening for me. 😔💔

[@MickeyJoTheatre]

So very sorry to hear this happened to you.

[@mango-tang082]

I always thought i was pretty bad myself with theatres, but i can't imagine trying to inflict harm on staff. I'm autistic and disabled (chronic pain) so i often need to shift around in my seat a bit, and with autism, i can overreact often with joy or laughter somewhat. Hearing these stories of the abuse of staff and the disrespect in theatres beyond general annoyance makes me respect the staff so much more. Hope security will step it up in the near future.

[@joeevans5770]

I’m relatively lucky the worst thing I’ve seen at a theatre is someone phone going off and said person looked at their phone numerous times during the performance

[@LegalVampire]

Jersey Boys crowds really seem to be the worst kind of people for a theatre audience. I went to see the show for the first time ever before the pandemic and a fight almost broke out there, too. Two people shouting at each other during a song and had to be taken outside... So embrassing. And people were asked not to sing along during the show at the beginning (obviously, because it's a theatre piece not a concert... we want to hear the talented performers sing not a crowd of people), bit so many people sang anyway. Even when Can't Take My Eyes Off You began, and you could barely hear the actor sing.... Disgraceful behaviour imo.

[@Kylalovesbabe]

I went to see this show and women drunk women spilled wine on me, laughed and kept talking…

[@LegalVampire]

@@Kylalovesbabe So awful 😞

[@jessajayne1982]

What is happening at Jersey boys? I’ve never seen it live but like isn’t it just about making it in music and someone named Sherry? WTH??

[@LegalVampire]

@@jessajayne1982 I think because it's about the story of Franki Valley and the Four Seasons & it's a jukebox musical with their songs, people who wouldn't usually go to the theatre come because they love the songs and it's nostalgic. Unfortunately, some people don't treat it with the proper theatre etiquette and act more like they're at a concert... 🙄

[@pseudonymous9153]

​@@jessajayne1982 it's because it's a boomer show and we all know they're the one who do this shit

[@milo8473]

I worked front of house at a theatre in the south west, this situation freaked me out so much that I quit. It was the night the queen passed and at this point, only the FOH staff knew as most people in the theatre were just waiting for the performance to start when it was announced. There was this elderly man in the stalls who had been incredibly lovely to our staff before the show, telling us how much he appreciated our work etc. Before the start of the performance, we had the orchestra play the national anthem and a respectful announcement was made regarding her death. The same man immediately stood up, shouting abuse at our staff for not telling him earlier when me and a co-worker were speaking to him 15 minutes prior. When the show started he marched out of the stalls and into the lobby where he continued shouting abuse and making threats towards our staff. When we refused to exchange/refund his ticket, he threw a drink on my co-worker and we had no choice but to ask him to leave. He kept refusing and tried to return to the auditorium where we then got shouted at again before we asked security to remove him. I quit right after and do not regret it

[@floridathunderfuck1340]

I also was working the night the queen died - at our briefing (prior to the announcement) they said the show - a stand up comedian, I might add - would still go ahead even if the announcement happens. I was working the bar and the announcement happened just as we opened, so it was a weird atmosphere from the start as customers were arriving having just heard about the queen. They were asking whether the show was still happening but all we could say was as far as we knew, it was. Fifteen minutes before the show, we heard over the radios that the comedian has decided to cancel the show out of respect for the queen. Before we could even figure out what to do, a guy overheard the supervisor replying to the call and shouted out for the entire bar to hear "DID YOU HEAR THAT? THE SHOW IS CANCELLED." The responses were mostly understanding and were so lovely about it, but of course there was one guy that started demanding refunds on not only his ticket but his train tickets and just being so rude to the supervisor. His girlfriend looked so embarrassed and another customer stepped in to tell him to have some respect. We just had to close down the bars and got out early. Definitely a strange night but I guess I'll always remember where I was when the queen passed away...

[@linivore7435]

Thank you for the mention of smart watches. Recently I went to the theater for the first time since before covid, and by far the most distracting thing was the smart watch of the person in front of me lighting up every time they moved their arm, which was incredibly frequently. Thankfully they weren't actually checking it, but it was ridiculously bright. Audience members seemingly turned off phones when asked to at the beginning, but it probably wouldn't be hard to extend that request to all forms of light-up tech.

[@daniucman1910]

My worse story was a few months ago when I saw Ain’t Too Proud on tour. There was a women in front of me taking photos of the show. I leaned forward just to ask her to put her phone away and it turned into her and her husband telling me that they were going to fuck me up and beat the shit out of me. I ended up leaving the show at intermission and didn’t get to finish the show. So now I understand the fear of saying anything to people.

[@itzelwisteria1819]

Literally wtf, I would've run out of there too

[@RogieVixen]

That is so awful and I really wish they'd have been dragged out instead of you feeling like you wouldn't be safe if you stayed. Hope you managed to get complimentary tickets or something!

[@jaynesmith8509]

The most annoying thing for me is either people being on their phones or, even worse, people seeing a musical drunk (and sometimes sober) and suddenly think they’re part of the show and sing along 🤦‍♀️

[@Wheelyadventures]

I’ve found this happening more on more at Disney Productions. It clearly asks for children under 6 not to attend. One woman was complaining about being turned away with her 3 year old from Beauty and the Beast, only to buy a ticket for the next theatre on the tour and was angry when ushers asked her to leave when her child wouldn’t stop singing loudly in the quiet moments as kids will be kids and it’s a kids show. I’ve had it happen with babies crying throughout frozen- it cost us £600 for tickets and couldn’t hear parts of the show due to so many young kids running and playing. They are kids films but not kids shows and it clearly states on the tickets and during the purchase process, it’s ridiculous.

[@booluther]

I saw Parade many years ago in London and you had to walk across the stage to get to the seats. Part way through the show, a couple decided to leave and literally just walked across the stage in the middle of a scene

[@piratedino6218]

Three really bad theatre audience experiences come to mind, The worst one, being when my family went to see the touring production of frozen in Cleveland Ohio. To set the scene, we had bought the tickets just before the pandemic, so this was two years in the making. A family of grandparents, and their seemingly 3 year old, or even younger grandchildren were behind us. Throughout the entire show one of the children would keep making comments and the grandparents instead of asking them to be quiet, would keep talking back to them in a louder then hushed tone. We tried to tell them to be quiet/ go “sshh” to them, which I feel is the standard way of going about it, and when we did the grandparents instead of apologizing, proceeded to say that “they’re 2! You need to shush” to which we had ti remind them, that’s younger then even the recommended age for the show. They continued to be a disturbance, and even still came back for the second act. They were better then but still not great. Genuinely one of, if not the most disruptive audience members I’ve seen My second instance was recently here in London at dirty dancing. The people around us were generally speaking louder then they should’ve, but by the second act, the already tipsy group in front of us came back with a full bottle of wine, which led to them to go even rowdier. By the time the finale dance was starting, an older woman in that group literally leap to her feet and started dancing IN THE AISLE. A member of staff came and spoke with her, to which she didn’t really back down and kept dancing, and nothing was done about it. So the biggest moment of the show, I had a women dancing in front of me distracting from what I was trying to see. The last was simply when I went to go see Woman In Black, there were some young school groups who overreacted at so much, to the point serious moments you could just hear people laughing for some reason. It was kinda insane

[@minbirk96]

I've worked as FOH for 5 years now and the audience has only gotten worse as times gone on. The show does effect what kind of audience we got, the worst shows I worked at were Mamma Mia! and Phantom of the Opera. The party atmosphere at Mamma Mia ended up with the theather hiring security guards who sat and watched the audience during the show and would remove overly intoxicated audience members. With Phantom the problem was people drinking until they vomited. We usually would have to clean up either vomit or urin or both at least once during a weekend, sometimes even multiple times for one showing.

[@heresalook]

As someone who hates confrontation and has “go see Wicked on Broadway” on my bucket list and still has yet to see it, this video made me SO SCARED lol but it also definitely opened my eyes to what is currently going on in the world of theatre and ways I can be a good audience member, thank you for making this video MickeyJo! 👍🏾

[@leesauer6695]

Hi Mickey Jo, When I was in college (in the early '70s) in the San Francisco Bay Area, there was a program where we could sign up to usher at Broadway touring companies. You had to show up 45 minutes before curtain time and you ushered until 5 minutes after the show began. If there were empty seats, you could watch the show from one of them. If there were no empty seats, you could sit in the aisle or stand behind the last row to watch the show. As an impoverished student, it meant that I was able to see virtually every show that came to town for free. It was wonderful, and I never had the slightest problem with any audience members. The most confrontational situation I encountered as an usher was at a performance of the wonderful Victor Borge. I was stationed at the door from the orchestra area to backstage, and was told by the House Manager to let no one go through that door, NO EXCEPTIONS!!! About five minutes before curtain, this very nice middle-aged woman came up and wanted to go through to backstage. I followed my instructions and told her she could not go through. She was amused, and asked me to find either the House Manager or the Producer. I spotted the House Manager and beckoned him over. I explained the situation, and he started to laugh. "This is Mrs. Borge, he told me. She is permitted to go backstage." Mrs. Borge smiled very sweetly at me and proceeded through the curtain as I attempted to crawl under carpet. As an audience member (I'm a very frequent theater-goer both where I live in California and on trips to New York), I've seen a dramatic increase in the number of people staring at their phones rather than at the stage. Hey Guys! The good stuff is up on the stage, not in your palm!!! I've never experienced anything like the horrible things you described in the video, but (like you), I find any light (or worse, talking) horribly distracting. The worst thing I ever experienced was, I think, about 15 years ago. I was sitting in the 4th row of the Orchestra (stalls in Brit-speak), and there was a middle-aged woman in the row ahead of me, about six seats to my right. In the middle of the first act, she pulls out her phone and MAKES AN OUTGOING CALL! She then proceeds to have a long and loud conversation with her friend "Shirley". Not only is she disturbing both the audience and the actors, but she actually says, "Well, this show really isn't very good. I don't recommend it." By the time she makes that remark, everyone near her has been (quietly) trying to get her to shut up to no avail. Some of the people closest to her have tried, unsuccessfully, to grab her phone without success. Finally the woman directly behind her pulls out her (substantial) purse and wallops her over the head with it. This gets the woman's attention, and in her attempt to enact some physical payback, the ushers (who've finally arrived en masse) manage to get both the woman and her assailant out of there, and the play resumes. Two observations. First, alcohol does not appear to have been a factor. The woman was merely rude and entitled. Second, she was unfortunately spot on in her review of the show, so much so that I can no longer remember the name of the play nor who was in it. The caller never returned, but the assailant came back to her seat, just after the start of intermission. It would be a nice coda to the story if the audience gave her a standing ovation, but I think I was the only one who noticed her return. Thank you so very much, Mickey Jo, for all the fascinating things you post. Completely off-topic, you have the most amazing eyelashes I've ever seen that weren't glued on. I'm insanely jealous. Best wishes, Lee Sauer

[@bigjedimullet]

Just popping in to say-I was introduced to Borge’s comedy as a little kid, and it absolutely shaped my sense of humor. Your story here sounds like the kind of thing he would probably turn into a joke-and laugh about himself!-onstage. Thanks for sharing it, I think I’ll go watch his Hungarian Rhapsody bit! ❤

[@lindaodd5667]

The worst thing I experienced in a british theatre was a cursed child performance in early march 2017. It was the end of Part 1 and the staff und Ushers were already waiting to clean up and loudly (but still polite) asked people to take their trash with them. The amount of empty cups I saw on the floor 😯 one could barely walk out of the aisle. And everyone seemed to just brush off what the staff just said. It was sad to watch and I still feel sorry for them

[@AwkwardMarina]

One time I was at the off-Broadway production of Heathers, and there were a bunch of drunk/high people there who laughed and hooted and hollered throughout the entire ballad "Kindergarten Boyfriend". It was shocking

[@billieluscombe4334]

Being thrown up on in the theatre is the stuff of nightmares. I’d never even considered this as a risk of theatregoing 😐

[@LiveMusic1st]

It is denegrating to an abhorrent extent these days to my horror. I was speaking to the stage doorman at the lyric theatre and he said during the run of the Bob Marley show he had to call the police several times to break up and evict people for fighting. He told me he has worked in the West end on the doors of several theatres for over 25 years and he has never had to call the police before.

[@jasminda2401]

Thankfully, the worst thing I've had to deal with is a pair of late comers who kept walking back and forth past me at Les Mis two weeks ago. After hearing about what happened at MJ, though, I'm super paranoid and disgusted with the way people feel comfortable acting in public.

[@overlydramaticpanda]

I've got 2 stories (both from the West End): 1) When I went to go and see Wicked for the first time back in (I think) 2018, there was a group of about 6 women sitting a few seats away from me on what I'm presuming was a hen night or some kind of party. They turned up already the wrong side of tipsy and were just generally in a fairly loud and "squealy" kind of mood. They'd all clearly been to see the show before and spent most of the first act singing along, in some cases gesturing along with the actors and during the scene between Elpheba and the Wizard where she casts the spell on the monkey, one of them said (not whispering but at normal spoken volume) "can't they hurry up and get to the good bit? I need to pee!". They all wandered off during the interval and didn't show up again for Act 2 so I don't know if they were asked to leave or just didn't come back of their own volition (if I had to guess, I'd say the former) so at least Act 2 was fine, but yeah. Distracting as all hell... 2) (This didn't happen during the show, but...) For context, my mother is disabled with severe arthritis in her knees and (at the time this story happened; she's since had a knee replacement) needed to walk with crutches. We went to see Young Frankenstein at the Garrick and everything was fine until about 10 minutes before it was due to start. Then a man comes up and tells my mother that she's in his seat. We get out our tickets and look at them and we're definitely sitting in the right seats; he shoves his ticket under my mother's nose and it says he has the same seat. Thing is, he bought his tickets from the ticket booth in Leicester Square while we bought ours direct from the theatre (because we could get a reduced price due to my mother's disability). We point this out to him and he snaps at us that it doesn't matter, we are in *his* seat. An usher comes over and this guy starts railing about how we're in his seat and blah blah blah and so the usher brings the man to the ticket office and I go along as well with our tickets to sort it out while my mother waits with our bags. Long story short, it's all settled in our favour (I guess since we bought the tickets direct from the theatre) with the man being moved another seat that wasn't sold; unfortunately, that doesn't stop him from then having a go at me and saying that he bets my mother wasn't really disabled and it's just not fair on him to have to move when he already paid for his tickets (the new seat was a free exchange, by the way). I'm not exaggerating even a little when I say he was by far the single most unpleasant man I've ever met in my life. When I got back to our seats, my mother was on the verge of a full-on panic attack until I reassured her that we were fine and it was all sorted out. The usher and person at the ticket office both couldn't have been nicer, I have to say; the man had a right go at them as well, of course. These people do not get paid enough to deal with crap like this... And a story that isn't recent but is a favourite of one of my mother's from when she worked as an usher at the Phoenix Theatre in the late-1970s/early-1980s, there was apparently one performance where she and her friend witnessed an audience member sitting in the very front row eating a full chicken dinner with cake as dessert during the first act of a play that was on at the time (in fairness, apparently it was a pretty empty auditorium), but still... Lockdown has definitely made the entitlement issues worse but bad audience behaviour of all kinds isn't a new thing. *Edit* : Re: the ATG response...honestly, it feels ridiculously weak to me. It strikes me as being along the same lines as the whole "playing violent video games will make people want to go out and shoot people IRL" argument, like...yes, *maybe* that's true for the relative handful of people who can't tell the difference between a metaphor and an instruction, but I feel "marketing language" is so far down the list of things they could be focusing on that would make a real and immediate difference with regards to this issue that it's almost laughable that *that's* what they've chosen to focus on. I don't know, it just feels like it's yet another case of those at the top doing quite literally the barest minimum to be seen to be addressing the problem so that they don't hurt their bottom line rather than actually doing something genuinely productive. I sincerely hope they're doing something more but it's still odd that rather than saying "we're talking to management to find ways of empowering them to remove unruly patrons" or the like...nah, we're focusing on what gets put on the posters...

[@rachaelhynard7130]

I've been super lucky being able to go to most shows without any interruption, but have also had some really bad audience behaviour. Two main stories come to mind - I went to Mamma Mia with my mum and a hen party came in and sat behind us, during Act 1 one member of the group was loudly singing along and waving her hands in the air, we asked her to quieten down and she did for a little bit, however she then started to kick my mum's chair, so in the interval we asked her nicely to stop but she claimed to not be doing these things and then just burst into tears. Another time I was at Anything Goes with a friend and during Act 1 the woman in front of us was continuously filming the whole show, so my friend tapped her (as she was sitting in front) and asked her to stop filming as it isn't allowed. The woman refused to stop filming and then at the beginning of the interval the woman became very angry and kept shouting at my friend and even threatened to send her to a hospital. Thankfully the staff at the Barbican were great and moved us away from the woman for Act 2.

[@hannahgreen8999]

I should've waited for the end of the video to comment as now thinking of more examples. "Super fans" who think they're better than everyone else drives me crazy as well. I'm a huge theatre fan and before prices got excessively expensive I used to see shows several times but would still sit quietly and watch but some people feel the need to say the punch line or the lines before they were said on stage, so annoying.

[@Maggie.can.hug.every.cat.]

I work in customer service. Today I had someone swear at me via email. A few rude messages later they asked to speak to my superior. They did not know that after the first swear I was talking to my manager and they were flagged and by the time they asked to speak to a manager I had already passed it on to my manager to advise they had been blocked from our service and would not be able to use our services or contact us anymore. Management need to have strict rules to protect their workers. That poor usher who got pushed down the stairs probably doesn't have health insurance either.

[@scribbly2983]

I would like to see Mickey touch on what happened at Parade yesterday. It was vile.

[@corinneferrarolam5101]

What happened at Parade?

[@scribbly2983]

@@corinneferrarolam5101 Nazis showed up and screamed at people in line.

[@PS-DLMA]

@@scribbly2983 Wtf?!?!?!?!?!

[@edramirez1240]

Welcome to the typical Broadway theatre experience. Either someone is drunk, loud or obnoxious. Or they come in late, and are seated in the middle of the row, then realize they have to go the restroom. I really love it when a brat has a bad habit of kicking the back of my seat.

[@robynb2162]

I wish they wouldn’t let people in late if the performance has started and Id love the phones dealt with. I’ve never seen violence but these stories are shocking. Maybe its time to trial some ‘fully visible security’ at offending venues for certain performance times and see if this makes a difference? The sight of uniformed security might act as a deterrent and if it doesn’t, then at least trained professionals would be on hand to deal with any incidents. Sending huge support and appreciation to all ushers and front of house teams.

[@hannahgreen8999]

I'm so glad you've made this video, it's getting so bad. We were at a show the other day and it was one where we expected it to be a bit rowdier than usual but the women in front of us were so drunk and facetiming/taking calls all the way through. The show was less than 90 minutes and they must've gone to the bar about 3 times during the show. It makes me so angry when you've spent a small fortune to go and see something to then not be able to hear it because of people around you.

[@katkrywolt7]

During a performance of a touring production of The Phantom of the Opera, my mom and I were seated in a relatively empty row near the doors and enjoying the show. I had seen Phantom before, but my mom had not. Just before "Notes/Prima Donna", the doors open up and four people enter the house. Three were seated right next to us, and the fourth was in another row. After the interruption, we resumed watching the show (even though I missed all of "Notes"), when the person next to my mom pulled out his iPad (full brightness) to read the show synopsis to 'catch up on what he missed'! My mom told him it wasn't her fault they were late and to put it away. He did not return after the intermission (although the rest of his group did), as he chose to watch the show from the lobby where it was essentially live-streamed. At intermission, I spoke with the front of house staff who apparently got into an argument with management about letting them in so late into the show. FOH did not want to admit them, but were strong-armed by management!

[@DarkDarkDarthVader]

As someone who worked in front of house for a few years, had a number of other theatre jobs across the industry, and seen my share of audience on staff and audience on audience violence: - alcohol is 100% a factor. Selling drinks brings in the dough for the company, be it a huge west end theatre or a tiny fringe one. And yes, the material also affects it. What you say about jukebox theatre translates into things like, say, a party-like immersive productions. - reluctance to remove patrons is a thing. A lot of it is fear of refunds and bad publicity, especially now that “bad publicity” can arrive instantly via social media and public reviews. - the entitlement of “I have paid all this money therefore I should be able to do whatever” is also a factor. That one is getting worse. - all that said, I think it is somewhat elitist to assume that audience knows how to behave in theatre or at a out-of-proscenium theatrical production. There are comments here - and I’m among those people - from people who grew up going to theatre productions. To you and I perhaps speaking or answering a phone, or singing along, or being disruptive, or walking around (or, if we’re talking immersive, having physical contact) is unthinkable. But, this really can’t be a given, especially now that the prices are rising so dramatically. Being able to frequent theatres is becoming a real luxury. So many patrons I have spoken to in the past were confused, apologetic, and changed their behaviour when they learnt that theirs was unacceptable. We cannot assume that every single patron going through the doors just knows what is expected of them. I think as well as punitive measures, we should consider the way in which the rules are stated, and restated. In other words, let’s educate our audiences on how to engage with a theatrical performance, and have a clear stated rules with clear stated and actionable repercussions for breaking them.

[@lisahall3332]

I had it recently seeing six, the people behind us were singing almost all the way through, i still enjoyes it but honestly took away from the whole experience and I was too afraid to say anything Most of the time I feel like my issues come from hearing people talk all the way through, it's just frustrating!

[@nickpilgrim7706]

Urgh. When I saw SIX last year, the prime demographic appeared to be older teenage girls who had a habit of screaming and cheering throughout the entire show. Granted, SIX is closer in format to a SPICE GIRLS concert than a standard Broadway/West End musical, and the show's format appears to encourage that level of audience participation. Still, it was a shock to my conservative theatre going sensibility, as well as my ear drums.

[@JillBrewerVideos]

Society has lost civility. I haven’t been to the theatre since before the pandemic, and at this rate I’m not likely to go back. I have worked in every aspect of the theatre, including front of house, and we have to remember that ushers are not police officers and cannot be expected to practice crowd control. Do we have to have paid security in the theatre? Then again, I think of Shakespeare’s Globe and all the hootenanny that went on in the pit. Is this what a lively crowd is all about? Alcohol abuse is clearly another problem that needs to be addressed. I don’t know the answer, but in my view, we are witnessing a devolution of humanity on many levels. We have had one mass shooting a day here in the States since the beginning of 2023. Do we have to worry about this in the theatre now too?

[@AuthorCertifiedGoof]

My friend and I went to see The Secret Garden once and there were two moms and their daughters in front of us. One of the girls kept blowing HUGE bubble gum bubbles throughout act 1. It was constant and distracting because the bubbles kept catching the stage lighting. During the intermission I tapped the mother that was sitting next to the girl and asked if we could experience act 2 without the bubble. To her credit, she was very angry with the girl and it didn’t happen anymore, but how did she NOT see them during act 1?!

[@leerkat4885]

I've been an usher for 6 years and we had a huge fistfight at jersey boys in 2018, in the gallery. Show stop and everything, had to throw out half the level. The city I work in has kind of been the canary in the coal mind for this kind of behaviour, we're used to dealing with it, but it's gotten so much worse over the past year. Theatres around the country need to be more comfortable about throwing people out, with managers protecting their ushers. We've been doing it and it's hard but efficient. We've even started a lifetime ban list recently.

[@designedbydavid]

You should read about what happened at the opening of Parade on Broadway. It will make you very sad.

[@Collin8r]

Ooooof mine is from a while ago, bad theater etiquette has been around for quite some time, unfortunately. When I saw Once in 2012, I thought of it almost as a puppy dog of a musical. The sound and production design was so much more intimate and earnest than the average musical, it made you lean forward and make sure you caught every word. A lot of the songs ended with a slow fade out. I loved it. Until the scene towards the end of act 2, the charged scene that is the emotional climax for Guy and Girl, still a fairly quiet scene, and a guy in the front mezz, who had been talking the entire show, was asked by someone else to please be quiet, and started YELL. ING. Yelling at the person who asked him to be quiet, yelling at the other people around him who asked him to stop yelling, yelling at the usher trying to contain the situation and escort him out. Steve kazee came out to bow about 10-15 minutes later and looked directly at this spot in the front mezz for all of bows. The yeller was already gone, but he had punched a hole in the emotional climax of the show. It’s wild how one person doesn’t realize that 1,200 other people are here to see the same damn show and deserve to see it as it was intended - without one person’s running commentary.

[@matthewlucas4990]

I worked for years at a theatre who was well-known for encouraging rowdy audiences. Most of the time, it was a LOT of fun. Often led to VERY fun and appreciative audiences. However, I have had to tell audiences to calm down (in character, of course) and on several occasions had to walk drunken patrons off the stage midshow after they had wandered up. It does seem a little wild to me though that a prestigious venue would see such behavior... The theatre I worked at intentionally established a reputation where this type of "fun" would be expected and even celebrated.. I have never felt that vibe is an average theatre.

[@courdeleon]

When you quoted "reversed maturity....backsliding to that of a demanding child unable to properly engage with empathy" my first thought was that of Donald Trump.That has been his behavior through out his presidentcy (and before!). This has given others the permission to behave the same. It is that way here in the US and you see it on Facebook and all social media. I do think theatres could make etiquette announcements before performances and also maybe stop selling alcohol.

[@callalily3994]

The stuff in the article about the bartenders selling more alcohol to people who are already visibly drunk surprised me -- that seems like the sort of thing that could easily be changed. Also, between this and the situation at Parade last night, it seems like it would be a good idea for theatres to invest some more in security.

[@bookcat123]

There’s a vast difference though between “I’m going to be stupidly drunk all night” and “I’d like a single glass of wine at intermission” 😒

[@sallyhumphrys7955]

I was at a performance by the ENO at the Coliseum a few years ago, sitting next to a young couple who talked constantly through the first half hour or so until I lost patience and asked them politely to stop, at which point the woman 'accidentally' threw a bottle of water over me.

[@hayleyashton5854]

Theatre is my escape but I’m autistic. Changes to my theatre routine, which happens because y’know daily life, cause me to meltdown and possibly shut down. If I can exit whilst being in heightened distress without causing a scene, or ruining others experiences or upsetting ushers. Then others have no excuse.

[@Merina2222]

Thanks for making a video about this. I feel so bad for the front of house staff. I try to help them out whenever possible - if someone near me is singing, talking, or constantly on their phone, I always lean over and politely but firmly ask them to stop. We need to have the confidence to do this (when safe, obviously) and help out the staff!

[@theatrekidkeira5410]

When I went to see Chicago there was an argument in the audience, whilst In the middle of a Mister Cellophane. They were both removed from the venue, and the audience were totally distracted. it’s unacceptable.

[@aoifed2519]

At a recent visit to Rocky Horror there was a show stop after "Over at the Frankenstein Place" and they made an announcement asking the audience not to spray water guns onto the stage 😬

[@emiliebishop1334]

I was at Moulin Rouge! in the West End recently when the show had to stop because someone wouldn't stop talking and it turned into a full shouting match. The cast dealt with it so well and so professionally, taking the initiative to leave the stage, but it annoyed me and I'm sure many other people in the theatre. I was in the grand circle and the person disturbing the show was in the stalls and I could hear everything happening, even the whispering of the people trying to get the person disturbing the show to be quiet. I can only assume the person was escorted out of the theatre but I do not know. Again I can only applaud the ushers and the cast for dealing with it so well.

[@Samandthe3Js]

When I was at Les Mis many years ago, a phone went off in act 2. The ring tone was Crazy Frog. The act 2 moment was BRING HIM HOME!!!

[@username5741]

That's simultaneously horrible and hilarious

[@itsRebeccaRayne]

i’m autistic and twice now i’ve had someone tap me on the shoulder during a show and rudely ask me to stay still. i truly do not know that i am moving, and now i’m unable to focus and enjoy the rest of the show because i’ve now become hyper focused on not moving, and very aware of the rude person behind me which takes all my energy. i’m glad you spoke about these kind of things and separated it from bad behaviour

[@kateleorameyer]

Usher on Broadway here! Just found your channel!❤❤❤ I am humbled by other ushers’ experiences! Overall, I feel liked the pandemic did a number on behavior as a whole. I have noticed that the WORST audience behavior was overall happening at musicals with big Hollywood celebrities. This was where they were the boldest with their phones. Too many times, I would make multiple trips to shine my flashlight on a patron who is straight up recording, usually resulting in them trying to argue quite loudly, how I’m disruptive! Thankfully(?) most of my experiences have been with these kinds of Karens. My most recent encounter is a long one, so BUCKLE UP! During intermission 2 women, a mother and daughter, I will call them Karen and Karen Junior, came to me and asked to be re-seated. Their big complaint was that a gentleman in front of them was coughing… And that they were concerned he was sick. (Side note: the gentleman in question was wearing a mask, while Karen and Karen Jr. weren’t. Also during the first half, I happened to be on that side, 4 rows away from them, and did not notice any coughing that would merit such a response.) It was not a full house, so it wasn’t that big of a deal. I gave them a few options where I knew no one was sitting. They flat out refused. At that moment, an elderly patron in line for the restroom collapsed on the stairs!!! 😱 I took a step away to check on her, I did not have a radio to call it in, so I would have to cross the other side of the balcony to my coworker who had the radio. I turn and Karen and Miss Junior were in my face asking “Well? Have you fixed it?”, completely blinded by their own entitlement that they did not notice the poor woman who was lying on the ground, 2 meters away! Thankfully, a very kind man was helping her, making sure she was sitting up, & brought her a water. 🥹) I told them, to please wait patiently, reminding them that there was still 10 minutes of the intermission and that I would be right back. I rushed over to my coworker, called it in, rushed back, the house manager and security were on their way to help and aid anyway they can. My greeting party (K&J) welcomed me back with their sourpuss expressions and irate voices and asked, “so when can we move to our new seats?” Still unaware of the down elder behind them, Karen Jr. around 16 years old I’m guessing, started to complain how this was so disappointing and how she missed rehearsal for this… In my mind, I’m like “Ok, that’s not cool to miss out on rehearsal, plus if this is your biggest disappointment, honey wait ‘til you’re a part-time usher/out-of-work actor! 😅LMFAO!” I digress; I tell them to hold on while I hustle over to my coworker, I get the radio and relay the situation. Little did I know that while I’m hurrying back over and calling this in, Karen & Karen Jr. have flown the coop down to the mezzanine, complaining to my other coworker about it (he later told me). Let me emphasize that they had to STEP OVER THIS ELDERLY WOMAN TO GET TO THE MEZZANINE! The selfish disregard that K&J had for not only me, but the man in front of them and the elderly woman, made me count my blessings that I would never have to see them again! 🤞🏻☺️

[@HeidiSholl]

As someone who currently works as usher, bar staff, box office, and tech (not in London)... Yes! Thank you! I once stood in the circle and could do nothing but watch in horror as a dozen women in their 50's stormed the stage to join a former x-factor contestant. Pretty much every member of staff had to get involved in removing them. Edit- just to say, I am incredibly lucky, our FOH managers are wonderful, and people have been kicked out for being too drunk. To my knowledge, in the 8 years I've worked at that theatre, there hasn't been an incident of physical violence against staff (verbal definitely). The same cannot be said for a café I briefly worked at.

[@evyn9978]

So, 2 issues -1) the deletion, 2) the gross audience behavior. It’s one thing to disagree with the article, another to take it down. It’s still out there online, which a deleter ought to anticipate. Censorship’s not a good look. Interesting that gross behavior is a UK problem, too. I’d have thought it was a US specialty rooted in the Trump-induced culture wars. Pres. Biden couldn’t even make a State of the Union address without being raucously jeered by large numbers of congresspeople. Great role models, all. In the US, there’s a common belief that “liberty” means not having to do what anyone else tells you to. Only money creates an exception - your boss gets to tell you what to do. Why do the theatre powers that be think they won’t be sued for gazillions if staff or audience members are seriously injured as a result of their gutless non-interference policies? Can they really think that audience numbers won’t shrink if the experience becomes routinely frustrating or frightening? Or are they fine with shows turning into boozy carnies? Don’t we lose something when actors devolve into ducks in a shooting gallery? Sigh.

[@Javachacin]

Thank you for this coverage, it’s very important to have these discussions out loud and address these issues.

[@twobluestripes]

I live in California, where I work at Disneyland (more than a decade) and I also worked as a lead at a large voting center during the 2020 US election. Lots of these stories are very familiar; people have behaving like this in Disneyland the whole time I have worked there, though it was definitely worse during the periods of time we required masks. You’re spot on with the points about the more tickets/other vacation stuff cost, the more entitled people get (or rowdy/drunk/dumb). And they never read signs, even when they aren’t drunk! Makes me nervous to drive on the freeway with them. And audiences (and theme park crowds) self-policing is absolutely something that works: one person stands up to a line jumper and maybe risks an altercation, but if 6 strangers around them join in and back them up in telling the line jumper to get out, the majority will easily win, because the line jumpers quickly weigh the risk of trying intimidation tactics against the number of people calling them out. I think that you will definitely see this stuff more frequently at touristy shows: long-running famous ones, jukebox ones, and Disney ones. The shows YOU are more likely to see in a trip to NYC as a theater professional will probably have much better behaved audiences.

[@interspace11]

I think a one off theatre etiquette month should be done, where all shows do a pre show announcement on expected audience behaviour. Should the hopefully see a shift in behaviour going forward

[@okaykatieokay]

Nearly got into a proper argument with my friend on my birthday when we went to a show together as she thought it was alright to sing along. Genuinely couldn’t believe it!

[@MinistryOfCommonSense]

I agree with @Marieka "More education for new theatre guests is needed for sure". There is not enough CLEAR communication about phones and behaviour in Theatres and Cinemas. Not that anyone reads it, but conduct should be in the Ts & Cs of booking. There are so many people who are selfish nowadays, they do not think about others or how their conduct affects others. It's very sad.

[@JessKenny]

I've always been taught that to sing along with a musical is rude - you're there to listen to the professional, regardless of whether you know the songs, and this collective "forgetfulness" of this rule is just wild to me! Every single show I've seen this year has had drunk people shouting out during shows - and not just at jukebox musicals. They treat it like a film, like the performers on stage can't hear them? So WEIRD!

[@vintagesoup79]

I think theatres are probably going to have to follow the example of concert venues and check bags etc. There has also been a court case in Scotland, where a theatre patron had assaulted and thrown racial slurs at an usher.

[@beccajames]

I work front of house at 2 theatres in Manchester & the worst two stories I have is 1 about Jersey Boys (no surprise there) where for the entire run we had so many issues with audience members fighting each other, turning up drunk, dancing and singing in the aisles the whole show and on the Saturday (double show) we had around 30-40 people ejected and on the evening show the cast (rightly) walked off and the producer had to ask the audience to behave else they weren’t going to continue! Then at a Bob Marley night - a gentleman got extremely drunk and started to fight our female staff and audience members - he kicked one of the exterior doors in & police had to come and escort him away😮 So glad you’re making these videos - theatre etiquete has been terrible recently! X

[@charlottebayford]

Omg this video is so needed. Thankfully as a FOH manager so fights so far.... 🤞

[@MickeyJoTheatre]

Hope it stays that way for you!

[@dannysimion]

I cannot believe the things that happen in a broadway theater especially post Pandemic days. Wow, the things people have the entitlement to do. Truly awed at this video. Good share. I got a good chuckle but also still astonished. I feel for the staffs who have to deal with such behavior and no one is reprimanded.

[@Showtunediva]

I’ve been an usher in community theatre since 2010. In my experience I’ve never dealt with poor audience behavior Thanks for this video. It is very informative.

[@classic.caitlin]

Great video!! Just this December I saw my sister in the Sound of Music in Montreal and someone, a few rows ahead of me (and those rows were empty so I could see everything), was FACETIMING presumably their dad or someone! Multiple times! They also kept taking videos with their phone light at 100% and I was so mad that my attention was being grabbed like that. I moved seats after the intermission (luckily that was possible).

[@MarcusMartn]

Ima huge theater goer and I NEVER experienced anything like that before, it’s so crazy how there’s fights happening in theater smh

[@TheMrdominator1997]

Really good video. Same thing is happening nowadays at gigs…. Fans decide to queue up days in advance to get the barrier and once they are in they feel as if they are entitled to there space and you can’t just move round them, if you want that buy a seated ticket. In this case however it’s generally the newcomers who haven’t experienced a gig before covid

[@theatreismysport4940]

One night i was at work as FOH in a theatre and a customer was swearing at me and threating me so i radioed my house manger and she took them away from me i assumed she had removed them but no i find out from my friend they had been moved to a lounge seat in the stalls!!! So moral of the story is abuse staff get an upgrade!!

[@kezi41]

It’s been happening before the lockdown in the west end In Aladdin where staff got assaulted by audience members. Not just jukebox sadly Disney shows as well

[@mykjb1]

During working on Dirty Dancing just before interval when Johnny & Baby go under the sheets a woman in the middle of the theatre stood up flung her top off & yelled, "Get your c%$k out!!"