4,799 posts
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Post by The Matthew on Aug 25, 2018 5:41:15 GMT
I have mindlessly stuffed popcorn into my face while watching films Grrrr! I don't understand why cinemas decided that popcorn was a good thing to sell in the first place (as opposed to, say, Haribo sweets). It's noisy, it takes up loads of space in both preparation and consumption, and it creates a widely-dispersed mess that gets crushed into the carpet. It's the worst possible choice of food. The only thing they could sell that would be worse is live babies soaked in sump oil.
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4,028 posts
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Post by kathryn on Aug 25, 2018 7:46:57 GMT
The economics of cinema depend on popcorn! It’s cheap, it keeps (in kernel form) forever, it’s incredibly easy to prepare so doesn’t require any skilled staff, and you can sell it at a hilarious mark-up.
Basically you pay £5 for a tub of popcorn that costs 5p to produce.
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5,495 posts
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Post by Baemax on Aug 25, 2018 8:13:22 GMT
Popcorn is delicious and Haribo is largely non-vegetarian. Also unless you're seeing a long-awaited movie on opening night (or your local multiplex has just realised that wee art film it never bothered programming has been nominated for a bunch of Oscars and they're squeezing it into one of the smaller screens) it's super unlikely you'll be sitting *very* near someone in the cinema. Just sit eight rows away and leave me to eat my cheap-to-produce over-priced minimal-nutritional-value corn-based snack.
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576 posts
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Post by lou105 on Aug 25, 2018 10:36:11 GMT
Just sit eight rows away and leave me to eat my cheap-to-produce over-priced minimal-nutritional-value corn-based snack. One of the major problems in cinemas is that there are only a few really good seats. With the new multiplexes in particular, the front rows are way too close. That does mean everyone bunches up near the back, and you can't really sit 8 rows away, alas. It really bugs me when you buy a ticket at the desk, and they insist on gap filling when seats are allocated, even in a half empty screen, rather than spreading people out. I find it really stressful to move seats, as a natural rule keeper, in case someone comes in late and has that number!
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821 posts
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Post by ensembleswings on Aug 25, 2018 14:11:50 GMT
One of the major problems in cinemas is that there are only a few really good seats. With the new multiplexes in particular, the front rows are way too close. That does mean everyone bunches up near the back, and you can't really sit 8 rows away, alas. It really bugs me when you buy a ticket at the desk, and they insist on gap filling when seats are allocated, even in a half empty screen, rather than spreading people out. I find it really stressful to move seats, as a natural rule keeper, in case someone comes in late and has that number! We must be lucky and have a rather relaxed cinema then, they ask us where we want to sit and even if we leave it to them to decide they tend to separate everyone out rather than bunching us all together. I'm much like you, I have to stay in the seat I was given, I can't bring myself to move in the unlikely case someone comes in and expects to sit in the seat I've moved to.
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Post by beanliath on Aug 25, 2018 20:15:31 GMT
I saw a play at Clapham Omnibus last night & the Stage Manager very politely asked the audience to refrain from eating crisps as they were very noisy & distracting to audience & actors. Crops were put away without any mains or mutterings. So refreshing.
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Post by dramallama on Aug 25, 2018 21:16:36 GMT
So, I recently moved to Dublin and my mother's over to help me with everything. As a thank you, I took her to the matinee of Riverdance today. Big mistake. Ma enjoyed herself but I had to stop myself from walking out - I don't think I have ever witnessed an audience so appalling (the fact that the show really wasn't my cup of tea didn't help either). There were loads of children (should've known better than to book a matinee, I know) and because it's a long show, most of them got bored after a wee while. Some of them were jumping around, others were standing on their seats to get a better view (and subsequently blocking everybody else's), at one point one child was running up and down the stairs - and the parents did nothing. In fact, the adults were even worse. There's a musical interlude between each of the dance numbers, mostly just a soloist on stage and everybody used that as a 'tiny interval', getting out their phones, chatting loudly and moving around the auditorium. And even during the actual dancing (which is, after all, what people pay for), there was constant fidgeting and always somebody somewhere talking. The show didn't really grip me at all so I was constantly distracted by all the people around me talking and passing around sweets and at any one point in the show, there were at least two people on their phones on my level alone. There were plenty of ushers around but they either didn't notice or couldn't be bothered doing anything about it. All in all, one of my worst theatre experiences - all the annoying behaviour got me really stressed and gave me a massive tension headache (which I'm prone to anyway) making any enjoyment of the show impossible...
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5,571 posts
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Post by lynette on Aug 25, 2018 23:30:55 GMT
I was going to come here to warn people that the Bridge Theatre have introduced a DVD-style "Director's Commentary" option that clicks in when you take your seat and the play starts, and that it can't be turned off. Sadly, after the interval, I was able to confirm that it was just a totally annoying person who decided to provide one anyway. Too far over to be dealt with. Shame, as they could have made extra use of the hospital setting... This made me laugh. Wasn’t me. I give my commentary afterwards on the way home.
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Post by beanliath on Aug 26, 2018 14:31:57 GMT
Many theatres now allow audience members to bring their drinks from the bar into the auditorium. Unfortunately some audience members interpret this as being given permission to eat as well. As an actress I’ve performed in many ‘up close’ venues (which I actually love) & during a performance of one show a woman in the 2nd row took out a bag of crisps, popped them open & started eating. She never took her eyes of the stage mind you. My character (a gnarly old biddy) gave me the opportunity to stare at her. At first she carried on, but then she realised I was looking at her. Believe it or not my next line was ‘the trouble with people today is that they just think of themselves & don’t know how to behave in places like church or the opera or even plays’. I still have this image of her, crisp just about to go into her mouth, frozen. The crisps went away. It was a once in a lifetime. I’m not one of those who will come out of character to berate an audience member- I’d probably get fired. There’s been a lot of discussion amongst us performers regarding bad behaviour & it’s comforting to know that it’s not just us being divas.
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2,041 posts
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Post by 49thand8th on Aug 30, 2018 15:13:29 GMT
This thread is fun, especially the general consensus of "You ALSO suck for not shushing her!" https://www.reddit.com/r/nyc/comments/9bj3ud/to_the_woman_sobbing_and_singing_behind_me_at/
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874 posts
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Post by daisy24601 on Aug 31, 2018 9:50:49 GMT
"Please don't let us become like the British."
Fair enough.
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Post by emicardiff on Aug 31, 2018 10:51:47 GMT
Can I have a “bad behaviour on a coach” exception?
Loudly blaring a tablet with no headphones (can’t see it but sounds like a game) DUDE nobody wants to hear it. Mute it or wear headphones.
Also a group of 6 got well arsey they couldn’t sit “all together” in a clump. Now had they nicely asked to swap instead of pushing and shoving them loudly complaining I’d have been more than willing to shift
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6,230 posts
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Post by Jon on Aug 31, 2018 14:10:05 GMT
Can I have a “bad behaviour on a coach” exception? Loudly blaring a tablet with no headphones (can’t see it but sounds like a game) DUDE nobody wants to hear it. Mute it or wear headphones. I hate that on public transport, no one wants to hear the video, game or music from someone's device and it's so selfish! I also have a pet peeve of people having loud long conversations on their phones.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2018 15:31:06 GMT
When someone plays music loudly I always think of Spock with the Vulcan Death Grip in the one Star Trek film or you have something loud to play back at them which would be very cheesy or a great disco anthem etc.
I was once on a bus and a gobby teen was having a conversation with a partner and she loudly gave her number out and some jokers noted it down and stared dialling it when she finished original conversation so we had "Who is that" every few minutes for rest of the journey.
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2,041 posts
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Post by 49thand8th on Aug 31, 2018 16:00:42 GMT
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5,571 posts
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Post by lynette on Aug 31, 2018 16:25:45 GMT
Was the train moving? OMG
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874 posts
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Post by daisy24601 on Aug 31, 2018 16:33:00 GMT
Reminds me of the time a man came and sat opposite me on the bus with a ghetto blaster playing very loud music for all to hear. As if that wasn't bad enough he was also very loudly munching an orange. I moved seats.
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5,571 posts
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Post by lynette on Aug 31, 2018 16:36:31 GMT
Wait til we get the vaping debate. Vaping in theatres, o ok...🤪
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2,041 posts
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Post by 49thand8th on Aug 31, 2018 16:44:23 GMT
Was the train moving? OMG It seems to be. And in the more residential parts of San Francisco, once those trains get further out, they open up right into traffic.
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6,230 posts
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Post by Jon on Aug 31, 2018 17:13:45 GMT
Wait til we get the vaping debate. Vaping in theatres, o ok...🤪 Vaping isn't allowed in theatres,
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2018 17:50:28 GMT
Vaping (and smoking) is banned on trains in Northern Ireland, but people still do it. Same thing with alcohol. It even says on the back of the tickets "the consumption of alcohol on local trains is strictly forbidden" but people still do it, and the train guards do nothing.
Not bad behaviour at a show related, but still bad behaviour I guess.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2018 18:02:25 GMT
Any theatre that goes to change its policies to allow vaping inside will be boycotted by myself. Granted one little me refusing to attend wont affect their annual profits but I'd rather not take the risk.
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874 posts
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Post by daisy24601 on Aug 31, 2018 18:13:14 GMT
Last night at Strictly Ballroom I had the classic man in front using his phone situation. Fortunately on the second time he opened it up (screen on full brightness of course) an usher ran down and told him to put it away. Hurrah for the usher!!
Also the people behind us seemingly knew someone in the show because they utterly roared with laughter at every little thing he did. They also talked a fair amount when he wasn't on stage. I have experienced worse though.
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Post by glossie on Aug 31, 2018 18:43:01 GMT
Can I have a “bad behaviour on a coach” exception? Loudly blaring a tablet with no headphones (can’t see it but sounds like a game) DUDE nobody wants to hear it. Mute it or wear headphones. Oh, experienced that a few times on coaches to London. I have to admit the older I got, the more bolshie I became. Asked a couple of girls to turn down their music once. They did, for about 2 minutes then it went back up again. The coach stopped at a scheduled stop, the driver stood up and said 'You've been asked to turn it down'. Down it went again, a bit. At the next stop, a replacement driver came on. The first thing he said was "Who's music is that? Turn it down or get off the bus, I'm not putting up with that all the way to London". They turned it down, it stayed down. Another time, there was a chap on the phone for over an hour, and as he was speaking another language, we didn't even have the pleasure of earwigging his conversation. Finally, when we stopped at Swindon he finished the call. Phew, you could feel everyone breathing out in relief. Then blow me, his phone rings and before he could answer it, I heard myself calling out "Oh for goodness sake, not again, can't we have a break, please!" I think he was so shocked, he mumbled an apology and cut the call short!! Hahaha- I love that!
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171 posts
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Post by eatbigsea on Aug 31, 2018 19:26:34 GMT
Last night at Strictly Ballroom I had the classic man in front using his phone situation. Fortunately on the second time he opened it up (screen on full brightness of course) an usher ran down and told him to put it away. Hurrah for the usher!! The same thing happened at Exit the King last night. But the woman in question vociferously objected to being told to put her phone away, ran up the stairs after the usher to remonstrate with her, returned to her seat and continued to use her phone. A man across the aisle (who was in the raised section) kept craning his neck around, trying to get the usher to come back, but she clearly didn't want to deal with this lunatic and lurked at the top (I don't blame her, the usher was a small woman and the phone-user was tall, angry and somewhat terrifying). As we exited, she could be seen and heard yelling at the security staff that no one should have touched her (I have no idea if they did or not). I was on the other side of the stalls and wouldn't have paid much attention, but it was much more interesting than anything happening on the stage.
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1,326 posts
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Post by CG on the loose on Aug 31, 2018 21:27:43 GMT
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Xanderl
Member
Not always very high value in terms of ticket yield or donations
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Post by Xanderl on Aug 31, 2018 21:40:06 GMT
Have to confess I once got so annoyed with the bunch of drunks on a late night coach who were playing videos on speaker on their phones that I put “Why” by Yoko Ono on speaker with the phone in my pocket and pretended to be asleep
Very effective technique, you just need to turn it off before they work out where the noise is coming from
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Post by emicardiff on Aug 31, 2018 22:26:44 GMT
At Fun Home the lady sat next to me (who was for a good 10 minutes before curtain) waited until it started to unwrap a protein bar thing. Slowly. With maximum crinkle.
Then towards the end. When the emotion is obviously up there, she started doing all kinds of neck exercises properly swinging about the place....
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944 posts
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Post by alicechallice on Sept 1, 2018 10:12:13 GMT
I'd nominate those 3 blokes sat behind Jennifer Hudson at Aretha's funeral as people I wouldn't want to be sat opposite at a traverse staging upstairs at the Royal Court. Out to the toilet, on their phones, nattering etc. Dreadful
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Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2018 10:31:17 GMT
To the lady sat next to me at Evita on Thursday who was shaking her head, tutting disapprovingly and complaining to her husband that it was "shameful" and "disrespectful to those who have paid money" because an understudy would be playing Eva that afternoon, and then proceeded to give her a standing ovation at the end - congratulations, you're a hypocrite.
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