Monday, April 10, 2023
The Bodyguard: Police called to Manchester Palace Theatre after audience ‘riot’ ends show early
The Independent: Cast members of The Bodyguard have called out “disgusting” audience behaviour after a “riot” reportedly broke out among audience members.
The musical production, which is based on Whitney Houston’s 1992 film, is currently touring across the UK and Ireland starring Pussycat Dolls singer Melody Thornton.
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3 comments:
This is absolutely insane. I was just discussing this problem in british theaters with my mom the other day. I have seen articles saying that it is due to alcohol consumption at the venue but I am not convinced of that. My mom says that it is due to the pandemic, that because everyone was at home with little to no social interactions for two to three years, that people have forgotten how to behave in public places, especially places like a theater. I don’t know if I believe that either of these explanations are the only factors that exacerbate the problem. I will say, I am not aware of the general plot or genre of this musical but I assume that it is something of a sing- along type musical which I understand. However the actions by certain audience members are absolutely unacceptable. They should feel lucky that it was not a Patti LuPone show.
It is incredibly unnerving to hear how a select few are such a selfish audience. There is a time and place for audience participation. Anyone who has ever worked in retail can regale you with horror stories of how terribly people treat them, but that is not an excuse for this behavior. I wonder if this has been a gradual shift or if it has been exacerbated by the pandemic. Based on my experience, people seemed to have forgotten what decent human behavior was while they were stuck behind a Zoom screen. I had the luxury of attending many Broadway shows while growing up due to my proximity to New York City and it always felt like an event to dress up for. When did people start treating Broadway like a shitty open-mic night? You kind of hope that people who are behaving like this are intoxicated, because who in their right mind treats other human beings like that?
I’m surprised that I had not heard of this elsewhere. This is a rather unfortunate situation and I feel awful for those that were just trying to watch the show when this occurred. I feel as though even if you know nothing at all about audience etiquette, it is a given that you do not sing when you are attending a show… to watch performers sing. The tweet included in the article was funny, as it compared it to not going on the field when one is attending a sporting event, I don’t get why performances are treated differently. I also think that I’m confused on why audience behavior everywhere kind of sucks. I feel as though each week I see another article about bad audience behavior, and I guess I just wonder how it has come to this, it it that it is being written about and called out more, but it has always been this bad? Or is this new behavior?
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