DR Sarah: First, I do believe you were my karma fairy over the last 24 hours, so thanks! Next, I think you handled the situation with the drunk parents well. As you mentioned in your post, we've talked about this before, and we definitely share the same views on alcohol. Oh, finally, the story about the duck was cute. Your direct approach with the boy diverted any problems. Good job!
DR LC: I'm so sorry about the man and child at Wicked. I too have an audience horror story. This one even included the management (and not in a good way). Last year, when I went to see Thoroughly Modern Millie for the first time, my mom and I were seated about 10 minutes before the show began. The row behind us was filling up, and already I could tell that some of them were obnoxious people. (They were talking loudly and perhaps negatively.) In front of me sat a mother and her two daughters. Just as the overture began, the mother began opening candy for her daughters, and the younger one decided to sit in her sister's lap. Behind us, some people arrived and found that their seats were occupied. This, of course, resulted in bickering between the people who were in the seats and those with tickets for those same seats. An usher came over to fix the problem, but the people in the seats would not cooperate. Finally, toward the end of the overture, the usher lost his composure, and said through clenched teeth, "Everybody GET UP!!!!" I was so upset. Never before had I been around such rude people. Apparently that problem was resolved, but as in your situation, the young girl asked many questions (especially since she couldn't read, and there are subtitles during some scenes) and proved to be quite distracting. Luckily, I was able to go back and see the show two more times in NYC, and both times were much more pleasant.
DR Jennifer: Hope you feel better soon!
