aileen Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 How did the man manage to get into the auditorium with a glass? Wasn't the usher around? This couple's behaviour was really extreme. They probably just wanted a night out somewhere special and weren't really interested in the performance itself. I have to say that, so far, the audiences at the Coliseum for Nutcracker and Swan Lake (which, according to Twitter, include many ballet newbies) have been very well behaved. You could have heard a pin drop during the Nutcracker gpdds. Nutcracker is quite short, though. I wonder whether people become more restless and find it harder to restrain themselves in three act ballets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 How did the man manage to get into the auditorium with a glass? I thought I spotted someone exiting the amphi with a (champagne) glass the other evening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barton22 Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 The ROH ushers are very inconsistent, aileen. Some would stop someone walking in with a glass or otherwise misbehaving, but some (and this seems to happen quite often) just stand and do nothing when this sort of thing happens. I think maybe they are too timid to stand up to wayward audience members, but if this is the case they are not really suited to the job they have as it is an important component of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aileen Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 It can't be easy challenging audience members about their behaviour but, as you say, this is a part of their job. I feel that older ushers probably find it easier as they have a bit more natural authority. Some of the ushers look very young. There is a very strict usher at the Coliseum who generally works in the circles and the balcony. She has absolutely no hesitation in telling people to turn off their mobile phones. Perhaps I should apply for an usher job as I love bossing other people around! When I used to go on school trips with my daughter's school as a parent helper I always seemed to get the troublemakers in my group! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aileen Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 Another thing is that the usher has to make a judgment about misbehaviour during the actual performance. If s/he goes to remonstrate with someone this may end up causing more of a disturbance than the original offending behaviour, and sometimes the person isn't very accessible either if s/he is sitting in the middle of a row - the usher would have to have a conversation across several other people. However, there should be no difficulty with stopping someone going into the auditorium with a glass. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coated Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 In this case the guy clearly slipped past the ushers since he came in after the doors were closed - guess the usher was either at the other end or there wasn't one in the area that day. The ushers did a good job that day, but sometimes there is no way of encouraging people to be reasonably considerate. I think I know which usher you mean at the Coliseum, Aileen - she really is awesomely fierce. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balletbob69 Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 In my recent experiences, my biggest pet peeve with audience behaviour is quite simply people can't leave their sodding phones off.Flashing them around distracting everyone around them. It's a real shame for everyone trying to enjoy the performance! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAB Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 I'm old enough to remember Sergeant Martin, people were too scared of him to misbehave. Had he been around today he would have pulled Coated's anti-socials from their seats by their coat collars and thrown them out into Bow Street. No messing around in the old days. Perhaps it's time to employ nightclub bouncers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Q Fan Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 Food and drink should be banned in theatres no exceptions. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangorballetboy Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 Food and drink should be banned in theatres no exceptions. What about cough sweets or a bottle of water? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Q Fan Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 Yes fair enough cough sweets and water (which I do have to take to stop coughs myself sometimes) but none of this beers, wines, sweets, crisps, sandwiches, olives, yoghurt etc that I have seen! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2dancersmum Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 Trouble is all those drinks, snacks etc are all extra income for the theatre so they are not likely to stop them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loveclassics Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 I went to see Into the Woods at a local cinema last Saturday afternoon and I couldn't believe the amount of food people apparently needed to survive a mere 2 hours. Great buckets of popcorn, gallons of fizzy drinks and enormous trays of nachos/dips whatever. I think the Disney name above the title must have misled people into thinking it was some jolly romp on the lines of Shrek but in the quieter moments, all I could hear was the steady rustling and chomping of the families around me. The children were surprisingly well behaved considering that Sondheim's musicals are definitely adult fare but maybe the food was being used as a distraction. I never realised before that the cinema is now simply another fast-food outlet. I'm waiting for the DVD to come out in future. Linda 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 Food and drink should only be for the interval(s) as far as I'm concerned. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Q Fan Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 (edited) I know! Trouble is people treat theatres as if they are cinemas these days....no etiquette! Edited January 21, 2015 by Don Q Fan 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aileen Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 Unless the person has some sort of medical condition everyone should easily be able to manage an hour and a half without eating or drinking (I have no objection to water or cough sweets). Cinema norms have invaded many theatres. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarahw Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 The volume and type of food consumed at the cinema is hideous. I'm afraid it is all part of the obesity epidemic - people seem to have lost sight of what it is reasonable to eat. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted February 3, 2015 Author Share Posted February 3, 2015 An interesting perspective on mobile phones (or lack of compared to other events!) at ROH from the editor of the Sunday Express Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coated Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Quote from Janet's link "To my delight and surprise not one of the people nearby did [look at mobile phones] and I would not describe the crowd at the ROH as being any different to the average attendees at a theatre. [.....], the audience looked like you and me: smartly dressed middle-class folk on a night out." riiiight, just them smartly dressed middle-class folk then in them London Theatres... And I can pretty much verify that the crowd at the Young Vic looks quite different from the one at the ROH. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aileen Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Audiences vary hugely. Last Wednesday people in the amphitheatre were very slow turning off their mobile phones and I heard two mobiles go off during the performance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Ugh, yes. Two performances of Onegin so far, and two mobile phones (or the same one twice? It was the same ringtone) going off in similar parts of the score. The first day, it at least managed to merge nicely with the music, which must have camouflaged it a bit, but the second day it was just *after* the "right" bit of the music, and stood out badly. Then someone else's went off later in the performance. And that's not to mention the person in the Grand Tier box who decided to consult his/her mobile partway through the performance, or the person across the amphi who appeared to be opening a tablet rather than a phone, such was the amount of light which was showing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sim Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 I just don't understand why people do that. If you are so bored, wait until the interval and then just go home. The ushers at the ROH are usually very good; when I was standing in the stalls circle on Monday night someone sitting at the back of the stalls turned their phone on and the usher rushed over immediately and told them to turn it off. I've seen them do that quite often (what a shame I can even say that; no-one should be turning phones on once the lights have gone down). 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowan Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 For the RB's Don Quixote, I was in the left side of the lower slips of the amphitheatre, the standing places. Two men nearby had their mobiles on throughout the entire performance, checking their emails and whatnot. These are restricted view "seats" and they are cheap. I didn't have a great view - (in fact, anything towards the back and even just to the left of centre was lost. The "mock death" scene? Nope, couldn't see it. ) These two must have had a much worse view, so much so that it looked like they pretty much just gave up. If you don't know much about the ballet or the plot, you're going to be pretty lost if you can't see half the performance. No excuse for the mobile phones, though. They did applaud and cheer roundly at the end, but it seemed more tongue in cheek than anything else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 "Smartly dressed middle-class folk on a night out." riiiight, just them smartly dressed middle-class folk then in them London Theatres... Last time I went to the ROH I was wearing jeans (gasp!). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gottokeepworking Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Note about mobile phones. My DS tells me that they can also be seen in use from the stage and it is most off putting for the dancers. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Last time I went to the ROH I was wearing jeans (gasp!). I frequently do Not to mention a T-shirt in warmer weather - or even tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Audiences vary hugely. Last Wednesday people in the amphitheatre were very slow turning off their mobile phones and I heard two mobiles go off during the performance. Didn't hear any mobiles going off tonight, but from my elevated perch in the amphi I spotted half-a-dozen phones still lit up after curtain-up. Including one on the fingerboard in the front row. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toursenlair Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 was just at a great Toronto Symphony Orchestra concert, but the two young ladies sitting next to me kept pulling out their phones and texting. At the break between two pieces on the program, I said, quite calmly "Could you please turn off your phones, put them away, and not take them out again. It's very distracting." I wanted to say it was disrespectful to the musicians but was afraid that would make me sound like a fuddy-duddy, and if they couldn't figure out it was disrespectful, my telling them so wasn't going to make a difference. The one sitting next to me just stared straight ahead as if I didn't exist and I didn't get a reaction from her neighbour either. KB, "Did you hear what I said?" Girl #2, "I said OK, what else do you want me to say?" KB: "Well , maybe "I'm sorry" would be appropriate". Girl #2: "Well *I* didn't think it was distracting". KB [splutter]: How can you possibly know how distracting it is to someone else? Girl #1, getting huffy: "The announcement said no recording or sound". [when of course the announcement had said "turn off all mobile devices..."]. Needless to say they continued to take out their phones (and discuss their messages with each other), despite glares from people 4 seats away and a row ahead (but I guess they were no judge of whether it was distracting or not either). Then someone else's phone went off at the end of a particularly sublime bit of Mozart. During the last piece on the program, Girl #2 dropped her phone on the concrete floor creating a clatter. I HOPE SHE BROKE IT!!! After the end of the concert Girl #1 started going on loudly about how the high arts are always saying they want to be more accessible but then they don't let people "ENGAGE" [gag me], and seriously, how can she be expected to just sit there for 2 hours. I wish there were a way to address this rudeness without being subjected to more rudeness, getting into a confrontation and being made to feel that I'm the one in the wrong. 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melody Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 (edited) How can she be expected to just sit there for 2 hours? God, the poor dear... What the hell is happening to the human race??? Edited February 5, 2015 by Melody 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sim Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 Gosh, having to concentrate for two whole hours? Torture! These days it seems many people can't concentrate for more than two minutes at a time. Look at how many things are filmed these days; everything is done in sound bites of a few seconds, always accompanied by loud music. With all the distractions of techno implements that this generation has grown up with, with information of all kinds available within seconds, the art of concentration and imagination is fast disappearing. Very, very sad. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 How can she be expected to just sit there for 2 hours? God, the poor dear... What the hell is happening to the human race??? Technology - and the way it is applied - is reducing our ability to concentrate for any length of time. The implications of *that* for the human race are very worrying. Think how many advances in science, etc. would not have happened if their creators had been unable to concentrate on one thing for more than a few minutes without wanting to move onto something else. And the poor girl would probably have suffered severe psychological damage if deprived of her phone for a couple of hours. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunrise Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 Technology - and the way it is applied - is reducing our ability to concentrate for any length of time. The implications of *that* for the human race are very worrying. Think how many advances in science, etc. would not have happened if their creators had been unable to concentrate on one thing for more than a few minutes without wanting to move onto something else. And the poor girl would probably have suffered severe psychological damage if deprived of her phone for a couple of hours. I hate to say it but my concentration levels are certainly worse now compared to back when I was a student when the internet was not so prevalent. I'm not so bad with phone use, and I can certainly sit through a concert, but trying to concentrate on one task at my desk for more than 20 minutes isn't as easy as it was. My partner is even worse and can't sit in a quiet room for any length of time - he always needs some background noise, so the tv is always on Having said that, if I don't find a performance very captivating, there's usually some detail on stage that I can fixate on. Or for the more modern ballets with nothing on stage, I'm quite happy to let my mind wander. There's no excuse for this kind of rudeness with phones. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunrise Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 Look at how many things are filmed these days; everything is done in sound bites of a few seconds, always accompanied by loud music. Agree. I love action films as much as the next person, but the style of filming has taken quite a nose-dive in the last decade. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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