Good morning, everyone!
Kritzerland was great fun last night. It's always a bit nerve-wracking stepping in late, so I did drive myself a little wacky with drilling lyrics, but it paid off. Got them right, thank you. I always want to do my best for BK. And there was some great singing by so many last night.
TOD: Bravo to the comments already posted.
I too, am exasperated by some behavior in the theaters these days. The flip-flops and shorts thing has got to go. What's next? Hairy shirtless men? Ewwww. If you're gonna dress like that, go see Hamlet at the Beach... at the beach. (maybe I should write that one).
And I so agree, that the cellphone thing is the real bugaboo now. I can deal with people checking them up to curtain time, but the texting, and tweeting and filming during the show. No, sir! I just want one of those superhero buttons that will kill their power for the next couple of hours.
I will have to sort through my pile 'o saved clippings (yes, actual paper). I had saved an article from the NY Times about behavior at the theater years ago, and I may still have it. Among the things mentioned as no no's in the theater was one I encounter now and then - that some perfumes and colognes can be louder than the overture, and if you are stuck next to someone who has bathed themselves in one of those hyper-scents, you are being asphyxiated while trying to enjoy the play you paid to enjoy. Not funny.
It also recounted the Katherine Hepburn quote, from her performance of "West Side Waltz", when she broke the fourth wall for a moment to chide an audience member, reminding him that his Reebocks were not in the original set design, and to get them the hell off the stage.
But among the stories in this article, was one that happened at the Vivian Beaumont in Lincoln Center during a run of a Terrance McNally play (possibly "The Lisbon Traviata"). Never mind that, when a character onstage asked another character onstage, while doing a crossword, "What is a 5 letter word for…?", and an audience member shouted out a possible answer. What is this, "Let's Make a Deal"?
But the main part of the article told this tale: It seems a woman bought two tickets to see a matinee of said play; one for herself, and one for her trained pet chimpanzee. Yep. The article went on to say that, throughout the entire first Act, the woman kept turning to the chimp, to repeat everything that was being said onstage, which of course, enraged the folks around her. At the Act break, she was asked by the management to take her pet and leave.
The writer of the article then noted that it was a shame the chimp had to go, because he had behaved impeccably.
If I find this article, I will type it out and share it. It's quite fun and brilliantly penned.
It is sad that the respect factor in the theater has been so diluted by home "theaters" and reality shows (making stars of do-nothings). What to do, what to do..?
