Coated Posted June 16, 2018 Share Posted June 16, 2018 4 hours ago, AnneMarriott said: Was this the matinee? And were you sitting in Stalls Circle C36? If so you have explained what I took to be eccentric use of binoculars by the lady in front of me - I was standing in D9. Busted, that was me. I probably should have asked him to stop, but wasn't up for the potential argument. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnneMarriott Posted June 16, 2018 Share Posted June 16, 2018 4 minutes ago, Coated said: Busted, that was me. I probably should have asked him to stop, but wasn't up for the potential argument. I noticed him first - very fidgety, changing his mind about where to stow his bag and so on. Then I noticed the binoculars and couldn't fathom out how they worked - did they have a nifty device like a sort of horizontal periscope that allows the user to look through them without blocking the view of nearby audience members, for example? So glad I know the true story! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jm365 Posted June 16, 2018 Share Posted June 16, 2018 Sharon - I always prefer to be higher than the stalls in order to see the floor patterns of the choreography. My recent visits to BRB were both booked in the centre of Row J of the First Circle. However, given my recent experience (see my previous post), I would suggest a seat nearer the sides rather than centre because of the lack of stagger. It is of course a matter of chance who you get in front of you. For example, I had exactly the same seat for R & J two nights earlier and there was no one in front of me in Row H - perfect! But you can't rely on that every time - and for the sake of the visiting companies, I'm glad. By they way, I'm about the same height as you. I usually sit in the Second Circle at SW (price reasons), but the view from there is fine too, if you have opera glasses. As I always sit in the Amphi at the Opera House, I'm quite used to being miles from the stage. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beryl H Posted June 16, 2018 Share Posted June 16, 2018 13 hours ago, bridiem said: 13 hours ago, bridiem said: Why is it that every time I go to the Coliseum, I (who am tall) have my view almost completely blocked by the person in front of me?? Something very wrong with the seating configuration (at least in the Balcony), since that almost never happens at the ROH (in the Amphi). It's a distinct disincentive to go to performances there. I've always found this to be true, especially in the Dress and Upper Circles, and booking for the Balcony is always subject to it being shut down on the night, love the theatre but not the sightlines! Last night and last week I paid more than was sensible just to see the ballet without the hassle for a change and found row A of the Upper Circle right on the side to give a good view, and it had more leg room those than in the centre which can feel crippling. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharon Posted June 16, 2018 Share Posted June 16, 2018 Thank you @Jan McNulty and @jm365 for your suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuthE Posted June 16, 2018 Share Posted June 16, 2018 On 15/06/2018 at 19:06, ninamargaret said: Doesn't worry me one little bit when audience at ballet, or anything else, boo the baddy, although I always feel sorry for the dancer/actor who has often turned in a terrific performance i wonder if it is a sort of inbuilt reaction, going back to the old days of melodrama where audiences were expected to participate by booing, hissing, cheering and generally having a good time? It doesn’t bother me at all when there’s some kind of fairytale/panto element to the piece; Rothbart is fair game IMO as it’s fairytale even though the narrative is serious, and he remains in character for the curtain call. But... when they boo Tybalt... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted June 16, 2018 Share Posted June 16, 2018 On 15/06/2018 at 17:57, capybara said: It's a busy week for the boo-ers as there is Carabosse at the Coli this week, also. However, Stina Quagebeur last night and Shevelle Dynot today also got some cheers - and rightly so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted June 17, 2018 Share Posted June 17, 2018 My cinema encore viewing of Swan Lake today was accompanied by a strong smell of BO laced with the wine and other smellies people brought to their seats. And only 4 people stayed for the curtain calls. [Just had to get that off my chest!] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alice Shortcake Posted June 17, 2018 Share Posted June 17, 2018 My viewing of "Swan Lake" at the local Picturehouse was somewhat marred by the smelly feet of a woman sitting near me, who kept taking her shoes off every few minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zxDaveM Posted June 18, 2018 Share Posted June 18, 2018 11 hours ago, Alice Shortcake said: My viewing of "Swan Lake" at the local Picturehouse was somewhat marred by the smelly feet of a woman sitting near me, who kept taking her shoes off every few minutes. people are weird! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuthE Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 The Turn of the Screw last night at Regent's Park open-air theatre... twilight... excellent lighting design to provide maximum atmospheric creepiness in conjunction with the fading light (the performance ended around 10:15pm)... and during the penultimate scene, my immediate neighbours with brightly-lit phones in their hands, ordering their Uber home. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAB Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 Hope it didn't spoil the evening too much, I went last week and found the outdoor setting with the rustling leaves really enhanced the spookiness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballettaxi Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 While having a lovely time last week at Sunshine on Leith at the Kings in Glasgow, I had the very strange situation of having someone who could only be described as a corpse sitting next to me. For anyone who's ever seen this fantastically funny play (or indeed the film) it's full of humour, emotion and amazing sing-a-long opportunities - all to songs from the fabulous Proclaimers back catalogue. The gentleman sitting next to me didn't smile, snigger, laugh, sing or even applaud any of the scenes. It was truly bizarre. At first I felt quite awkward and thought I was maybe disturbing his intense enjoyment of the show - but after about 15 minutes when I'd come to the conclusion that he was just plain weird, I joined in with the rest of the crowd and laughed out loud and cheered and gave rapturous applause whenever the action called for it. Why do people go along to a show of this nature if they clearly don't enjoy this genre. Yes it may have been the case that he had been dragged along as a Plus 1 - but curiouser and curiouser when the show finished he left on his own, without a backward glance at anyone! Anyway it didn't spoil my enjoyment so if you ever get a chance to see this hilarious show I can thoroughly recommend it - although for those of you south of the border it may be wise to go along to a captioned show as some of the accents and vernacular are particular to the Central Belt !! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizbie1 Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 4 minutes ago, ballettaxi said: Why do people go along to a show of this nature if they clearly don't enjoy this genre. Yes it may have been the case that he had been dragged along as a Plus 1 - but curiouser and curiouser when the show finished he left on his own, without a backward glance at anyone! Probably a critic 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballettaxi Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 Well I thought that too, but the shows been running for a few weeks already, so had dismissed that - but you're probably right. Anyway I know what he looks like and if I turn up to another show and he's there I'll be swapping seats with whoever I'm with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuthE Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 5 hours ago, ballettaxi said: Why do people go along to a show of this nature if they clearly don't enjoy this genre. 5 hours ago, Lizbie1 said: Probably a critic If you can bear to click on a Daily Mail link, I refer you to Quentin Letts’s review of The Turn of the Screw. Why send somebody who clearly just doesn’t like 20th-century opera, and sneers at the notion that others might, to benefit from press tickets to just such a show? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizbie1 Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 Just now, RuthE said: If you can bear to click on a Daily Mail link, I refer you to Quentin Letts’s review of The Turn of the Screw. Why send somebody who clearly just doesn’t like 20th-century opera, and sneers at the notion that others might, to benefit from press tickets to just such a show? I try very hard to be open minded about the Daily Mail, but that review really was extraordinary. (The bit about the name Miles was plain weird.) The most generous interpretation I can come up with is that QL had eaten something that disagreed with him. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 Not Ballet I know ......but have just read on the BBC website that last Tuesday at the Nottingham theatre which is showing the musical "Titanic" at the moment a couple of women sitting right in the front row were on their phones watching the penalty shoot out at the World Cup and cheering loudly every time England got a goal!! Apparently when a member of the cast asked them to put their phones away they gave them the thumbs up to say yes we won!! This was at the most sensitive bit in the musical too!! Now were these young teenagers? Not a bit one was middle aged and the other lady older!! Honestly.......have no idea why some people go to the theatre .....but many seem to think that ALL public spaces are an extension of their living rooms unfortunately!! Its great to be enthusiastic about the World Cup but if they felt that excited about it all that they couldn't wait till later they could have have discreetly left the auditorium and watched it outside! Personally I can't bear to watch penalty shoot outs for important matches anyway .....too nerve wracking!! I was travelling back to Brighton that evening and originally thought we must have lost the match as couldn't hear any sort of celebratory outbursts anywhere!! But hadn't realised it had gone on to extra time etc etc but just as hit Brighton station there was no doubt then everyone was cheering and cars tooting and so on!! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangorballetboy Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 Just to counter some of the bad side of things, last night a lady in the front row at 42nd Street got her phone out to photograph or video the post-bows dance and the usher was straight down to sort it (I was on the aisle and there was a lovely breeze as the usher rushed by!). 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennyTaylor Posted July 27, 2018 Share Posted July 27, 2018 (edited) Whilst with the RB in Madrid there was a lot of phone filming in the audience with no action taken at all. Apparently - and I have this 2nd hand, but it can be checked, someone video'd Yasmine's Act 3 fouettes at the 10pm performance and posted them online before Act 4 had even started, notifying her of this event too! Edited July 27, 2018 by JennyTaylor typo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balletfanp Posted July 28, 2018 Share Posted July 28, 2018 I was distracted by the light of a phone constantly being looked at right across the other side of the auditorium. Whatever they are doing with it - filming, tweeting - they can’t know how completely obvious and distracting it is 😡 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted July 28, 2018 Share Posted July 28, 2018 12 hours ago, JennyTaylor said: Whilst with the RB in Madrid there was a lot of phone filming in the audience with no action taken at all. Apparently - and I have this 2nd hand, but it can be checked, someone video'd Yasmine's Act 3 fouettes at the 10pm performance and posted them online before Act 4 had even started, notifying her of this event too! I was mostly above stalls level in Madrid and there were phones visible everywhere. I even had someone behind me whose torch was on while he was filming. I think that there are a lot of 'black swan' clips around. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninamargaret Posted July 28, 2018 Share Posted July 28, 2018 At the ROH last week for Falstaff I was impressed by the speed at which one of the ushers told someone in S/C row A to turn her phone off. To be fair, the woman was just in the process of turning it off, although the opera,had started. But good to see. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted September 1, 2018 Author Share Posted September 1, 2018 Thanks to Katherine Barber for posting this on FB! From about 3'15" look at what happens to the sweetie paper rustler! This sort of cartoon could be useful for helping people understand audience etiquette so still relevant today. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esmeralda Posted September 1, 2018 Share Posted September 1, 2018 What a great video, had a good laugh and I think it would be good idea for teaching some people a different behaviour during performances. Though maybe it is too funny and they would think it is only satirical...Also the people find more and more things to annoy and disturb the audience around them. When I was at "The magic flute" in Salzburg this summer a woman in front of me tied her hair at least four times to a messy bun. And naturally she had to toss her hair with big gestures every time... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
penelopesimpson Posted September 2, 2018 Share Posted September 2, 2018 On 01/09/2018 at 10:25, Esmeralda said: What a great video, had a good laugh and I think it would be good idea for teaching some people a different behaviour during performances. Though maybe it is too funny and they would think it is only satirical...Also the people find more and more things to annoy and disturb the audience around them. When I was at "The magic flute" in Salzburg this summer a woman in front of me tied her hair at least four times to a messy bun. And naturally she had to toss her hair with big gestures every time... What a pity you didn't have a tube of Superglue in your bag...! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alice Shortcake Posted September 5, 2018 Share Posted September 5, 2018 Probably the greatest-ever response to a noisy audience member: Jon Vickers, as Tristan, is as mad as hell and he isn't going to take the coughing any more! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sim Posted September 5, 2018 Share Posted September 5, 2018 Ha ha love it! Public shaming! 👏👏 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian Posted September 11, 2018 Share Posted September 11, 2018 Here is an extract from the diary of the veteran of the London stage, the actor William Charles Macready, describing the audience at his performance of Macbeth at the Astor Place Opera House, New York, in 1849, an event which resulted in one of the worst riots in theatre history: "I went on; they would not let me speak. The roar of insults that greeted my entrance was so deafening, that the play continued in dumb show. Copper cents were thrown, some struck me, four or five eggs, a great many apples, lemons, pieces of wood, nearly, if not quite, a whole peck of potatoes. A chair was thrown on to the stage, another into the orchestra pit, which made the remaining musicians move out...I flung my whole soul into every word I uttered while all around dreadful deeds of outrage were roaring within our ears. The death of Macbeth was loudly cheered. Suddenly soldiers were brought in and began firing indiscriminately. Several people, at least twenty-two perished. And so it was with immediate haste, that I quit the New York stage". 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Newcombe Posted September 11, 2018 Share Posted September 11, 2018 A whole peck of potatoes. Those were the days. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BristolBillyBob Posted September 13, 2018 Share Posted September 13, 2018 On 27/06/2018 at 22:01, RuthE said: If you can bear to click on a Daily Mail link, I refer you to Quentin Letts’s review of The Turn of the Screw. Why send somebody who clearly just doesn’t like 20th-century opera, and sneers at the notion that others might, to benefit from press tickets to just such a show? I always thought, in my case for music albums, that there should be two reviews; One from someone who knows about the genre and already appreciates it, understands its nuances, etc., and one from someone who isn't normally on board with it, but can offer an outsider's perspective. Too often I've read reviews from someone who clearly doesn't enjoy or appreciate that kind of music, makes that fact clear, and I learn nothing about whether the album is any good! I always remember a friend of mine saying "The problem with reviewers is that a lot of the time they're mostly reviewing themselves", by showing off how much they know, how snarky they can be and just how gosh-darn intelligent and insightful they are, and I think that's probably true. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riva Posted September 17, 2018 Share Posted September 17, 2018 Article today on BBC about audience behaviour which raises the possibility of relaxed performances. I think ENB do specific child friendly ‘my first ballet’ style performances, but don’t recall ROH offering ‘relaxed’ performances for those who may not be able to sit still or quietly for the duration. But an interesting thought! https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-45498464 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quintus Posted September 18, 2018 Share Posted September 18, 2018 Smart watches in the theatre are my latest bugbear - the screen lights up with a message when notifications, emails etc come in . It already seems to take people about three minutes to switch off their mobile phones when requested to do so, and when it comes to smart watches they appear to have simply thrown away the manual... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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