The Green Room - Theatre Audience Etiquette . . . What's the deal?

Reply #30 - Jul 6^th, 2009 at 11:41am

gem2477 Offline
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StageNinja wrote on Jul 6^th, 2009 at 9:02am:

Quote:

The Kaylee and the Ivy wrote on Jun 4^th, 2009 at 5:53pm:

JingleBeq wrote on Jun 3^rd, 2009 at 2:41pm:

I'm not a fan of the lines. �If I'm in a show where that's the done thing, I stand in the line, but I'd usually rather be in the dressing room changing back to street clothes. �And when I go to see a show, if I want to say hi to a friend, I go directly to them and don't give empty handshakes and compliments to everyone else in the cast. �

The last show I was in was Hello, Dolly. �I ended up with a heck of a lot of rouge on my cheeks, which was usually what people commented on as they came through the line. �I made a game of counting how many comments I got on my makeup...

I hate receiving lines for the primary reason that I get "wow, you're tall!" at least sixty times a night.

I used to get "you're short". I was glad we didn't have a receiving line for "And Then Weren't No More Ten Little Epithets", because all of the time we spent standing next to each other onstage with me sexually harrasing you would have just compounded it for both of us.

When I played Judge Danforth in The Crucible, standing in the line was extremely uncomfortable. �Not just because I had a black robe and powdered wig on, but also because I had just spent all of Act II condemning an innocent man to die for witchery. �Standing out there in costume didn't separate the actor from the role and a lot of people had a hard time even looking at me.

Theater can seem very real sometimes

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Reply #31 - Jul 6^th, 2009 at 5:36pm

Only In Las Vegas Offline
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I was in a production of "The Diary of Anne Frank" and the director chose to not have a line after the show due to a couple of reasons.

1) He said that it was unprofessional
2) It broke the 4th wall
3) How odd would it be to "die" in the end of the show only to meet and great those said people that "died"
4 Would you really want to shake hands with a Nazi?

Honestly, at the end of the show we were all so emotional every night that the last thing I wanted to do was go and put on a happy face and shake hands with everyone.

This is a girl who has had her heart broken
Cried for continuous hours
Yelled and screamed for help
A girl who turned her back on the world
and a girl who did nothing but love someone.

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Reply #32 - Nov 4^th, 2009 at 12:25am

Bruce Wayne Offline
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One of the shows of "Curtains" at Hale in West Valley there was an older gentleman who had a hearing aid in about 7 rows up. It kept squealing the whole first act. It was so loud we picked it up on our microphones and it would drive us crazy. Several of us stopped the show throughout to see what the noise was, but none of the other patrons would say anything to this person. By the time the show was almost over we were so annoyed we almost stopped the show to tell him to turn it off, but we were too close to the end. I am surprised the patrons around him didn't tell him to turn it down. Sometimes it is the job of the patron to shut other patrons up when they are loud.

That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do. Not that the nature of the thing itself has changed, but that our ability to do increased.&&-Ralph Waldo Emmerson

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Reply #33 - Nov 4^th, 2009 at 1:07am

Beast Offline
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In Beauty and the Beast at HCTO in 2005 we were doing Be Our Guest. A little old lady gets up while we're all on stage and asks Cogsworth, "Excuse me Mr. Clock, where is the bathroom?"

During Into the Woods at the SCERA a few weeks ago, people would come up and punch and be disgusted with Hedgehog because he was the Unfaithful Prince.

I dislike the receiving line 1) If you are in it, I feel that people think they're obligated to tell you how wonderful it was and 2) If you are going through it, I DREAD the actor asking me if I like it. I don't lie, but I do often withhold the truth.

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Reply #34 - Nov 4^th, 2009 at 3:25am

The Kaylee and the Ivy Offline
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Beast wrote on Nov 4^th, 2009 at 1:07am:

I dislike the receiving line 1) If you are in it, I feel that people think they're obligated to tell you how wonderful it was and 2) If you are going through it, I DREAD the actor asking me if I like it. �I don't lie, but I do often withhold the truth.

As an actor, I would never even dare ask that question. Grin

"Thank you" and "thanks for coming" are frequently the only responses I give in receiving lines... I cannot imagine someone having the gall to ask a stranger how they liked the show. It's scary enough to ask your friends and family.

If we're going to die, let's die looking like a Peruvian folk band.

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Reply #35 - Nov 4^th, 2009 at 8:23am

The Dark Knight Ex Member

Beast wrote on Nov 4^th, 2009 at 1:07am:

I dislike the receiving line 1) If you are in it, I feel that people think they're obligated to tell you how wonderful it was and 2) If you are going through it, I DREAD the actor asking me if I like it. �I don't lie, but I do often withhold the truth.

I agree with this. Before going to a play, I have to spend at least half an hour coming up with noncommital answers to these sort of questions.

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Reply #36 - Nov 5^th, 2009 at 7:58pm

Misanthrope Offline
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What about just having an usher pull the rudies, sleepers, snorers, knitters, texters, blatherers, etc. out of the audience, refund their money, and tell them to be on their way? �Isn't there a way to have a walkie talkie backstage to call up an usher and get the problem removed?

I haven't attended many plays, but I have attended some. �I've attended more group comedy improv. �In none of the cases has there been a "receiving line." �I must say the idea sounds dumb. �Really dumb. �Why not, after a movie, have the ushers and projectionists and concession stand workers all stand outside the movie theatre to receive compliments on "the great work on cleaning up twizzlers" or "superb focus" or "that popcorn was just terrific"? �Seriously. �The automatic standing ovations aren't enough of a fluff job for the cast that they need to get head in the lobby, too? �I'd avoid that ego stroking session like the plague it is.

Occasional postings, frequent absences, never dull

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Reply #37 - Jan 22^nd, 2010 at 1:35pm

Captain Malcolm Reynolds Offline
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Cell phones are the bane of my onstage life. I have so many annoying cell phones stories, I could never tell or remember them all, but here's one I will share. I was playing this character Freddie, a bartender, in Picasso at the Lapin Agile. A cell phone started ringing in the front row just feet away from me while someone else was giving their lines. I was lucky in that my character had already broken the 4th wall. I went over to him and said, "Excuse me, but you need to turn that off. Cell phones are not allowed in the Lapin Agile, nor do they exist in 1904."

If someone tries to kill you, you kill them right back!

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Reply #38 - Jan 22^nd, 2010 at 1:38pm

Captain Malcolm Reynolds Offline
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Only In Las Vegas wrote on Jul 6^th, 2009 at 5:36pm:

Would you really want to shake hands with a Nazi?

Never been on my to do list, no.

If someone tries to kill you, you kill them right back!

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Reply #39 - Jan 24^th, 2010 at 1:44am

The Kaylee and the Ivy Offline
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Captain Malcolm Reynolds wrote on Jan 22^nd, 2010 at 1:35pm:

Cell phones are the bane of my onstage life.� I have so many annoying cell phones stories, I could never tell or remember them all, but here's one I will share.� I was playing this character Freddie, a bartender, in Picasso at the Lapin Agile.� A cell phone started ringing in the front row just feet away from me while someone else was giving their lines.� I was lucky in that my character had already broken the 4th wall.� I went over to him and said, "Excuse me, but you need to turn that off.� Cell phones are not allowed in the Lapin Agile, nor do they exist in 1904."

Huh. I do not remember this.

(I was probably on lortab. I was lucky I remembered my lines.)

If we're going to die, let's die looking like a Peruvian folk band.

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