What have you walked out of and why?
What have you walked out of and why?
#1What have you walked out of and why?
Posted: 1/17/10 at 12:36pmI left an all male production of Les Liaisons Dangerous in DC because I was bored.
"The price of love is loss, but still we pay; We love anyway."
#2What have you walked out of and why?
Posted: 1/17/10 at 12:43pm
This was a while back, but I remember walking out of Sweet Smell of Success. There were a few reasons:
1. I was way back in the balcony, and from that vantage point, the entire production looked too small for the stage. There was extra space all around the cast during the numbers.
2.I also felt disconnected from the production, sitting that far away.
3. the actors didn't appeal to me.
4. My mind started to wander away from the show and towards what I could be doing if I were home. Then I started debating whether or not I should leave. At this point, I was paying no attention to the show so I left.
<-----I'M TOTES ROLLING MY EYES
#2What have you walked out of and why?
Posted: 1/17/10 at 12:55pmI have never left a show at intermission because to me, there is always something to take away from a show, even if it's bad. A "what not do to" of theatre.
"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle
--Aristotle
winston89
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/18/06
#3What have you walked out of and why?
Posted: 1/17/10 at 1:04pm
I walked out of the Applegate production of Sweet Charity due to the fact that it was one of the most unbearable things I have seen onstage.
I also walked out of All Shook Up, not due to the fact that I wasn't enjoying it. I wasn't but not to the point that would merit me walking out. I was with my grandmother who was hating it less then I did and was wanting really badly to leave. So we did.
i have also had a bad experience with the revivals of Company and Sweeney. For Sweeney, it was the same day that I found out that I needed glasses. I went to the theatre regardless of that fact and was in the box of the theatre. I had trouble seeing due to the fact that I of course needed glasses and had yet to get them. Despite the fact that I stayed for the whole show, I promised that I would go back. Never did, however, I did see the NETworks tour that stopped in New London, CT.
For Company, I did walk out because I went to the city to see a show totally disregarding the fact that I was very sick, and shouldn't have been out to begin with. However, I went and was so out of it during the first act that when intermission came. I was realizing that there is no one I should kid, that I should go home because I am not feeling well and just to count my losses and go back another time. However, I never got to do so.
"If you try to shag my husband while I am still alive, I will shove the art of motorcycle maintenance up your rancid little Cu**. That's a good dear"
Tom Stoppard's Rock N Roll
#4What have you walked out of and why?
Posted: 1/17/10 at 1:09pm
I walked out of the '06 revival of TOUCH OF THE POET at Studio 54. I was bored beyond belief and during intermission I was talking with someone and said something about the play being set in Ireland and he said "It takes place in America", I realized I had no f'n clue what was going on and just left.
I also walked out of ROCK "N ROLL a few years ago because it was just Tom Stoppard masturbating onstage with his words. To date, I don't think I've ever been as bored as I have been that day.
#5What have you walked out of and why?
Posted: 1/17/10 at 1:30pmA really terrible regional production of The Man of La Mancha.
"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt
JP2
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/2/07
#6What have you walked out of and why?
Posted: 1/17/10 at 1:39pmI can't afford to walk out of a theater.
Jon
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/20/04
#7What have you walked out of and why?
Posted: 1/17/10 at 1:55pmI walked out of the highly acclaimed Broadway revival of Oscar Wilde's "An Ideal Husband" because I could not hear and/or understand what the actors were saying. I was near the back of the orchestra, and the cast, which featured some legendary veterans of the London stage, seemed to be playing to the first ten rows. They seemed to believe that "mumbling the lines under your breath = witty and sophisticated". Meanwhile, all I could hear was the sound of traffic coming from the fire exit.
winston89
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/18/06
#8What have you walked out of and why?
Posted: 1/17/10 at 2:06pm
Jordan, I loved Rock And Roll and never have been so captivated by a play since. Wonderful writing and leads into wonderful discussion. Yes, I did study the sociopolitical background that the show talked about prior to going to see it. And, I think that was what made me enjoy it a little more.
Now, I don't know all of Stoppard's work due to the fact that my first and only experience with his plays thus far has been limited to my two trips to Rock And Roll. But, the general feeling I have with his plays is that while they do talk about historical events, you have to do some reading up prior to going to the theatre that evening. I don't mind this but am not a fan. It would be better if he had laid out the information you needed for the night right there in the play, so that way there could be some audience members who would follow the story better.
"If you try to shag my husband while I am still alive, I will shove the art of motorcycle maintenance up your rancid little Cu**. That's a good dear"
Tom Stoppard's Rock N Roll
#9What have you walked out of and why?
Posted: 1/17/10 at 2:29pmThe Roundabout's "Hedda Gabler" with Mary-Louise Parker. The one and only show I have ever left at intermission. Thankfully, I hadn't paid. Wow, was that horrendous (and this is coming from someone who didn't leave at intermission of "Festen"!)
"No matter how much you want the part, never let 'em see you sweat." -- Old Dry Idea commercial
#10What have you walked out of and why?
Posted: 1/17/10 at 2:42pm
<< The Roundabout's "Hedda Gabler" with Mary-Louise Parker. The one and only show I have ever left at intermission. Thankfully, I hadn't paid. Wow, was that horrendous (and this is coming from someone who didn't leave at intermission of "Festen"!>>
I would have, had I not paid $10 for my ticket !!! I just hoped that it would get better, but we all know how that ended !!!
One of the worst shows I have seen.
#11What have you walked out of and why?
Posted: 1/17/10 at 2:51pmHad I not been on my school trip, I would've walked out of Rock N' Roll. Instead I fell asleep for half of act 1 and all of act 2. I went in with an open mind. It was the first Broadway PLAY I have ever seen. We saw Young Frankenstein and Mary Poppins the two days before and I was looking forward to seeing a play. I tried so hard to like it, and keep my eyelids open.
frapperia
Leading Actor Joined: 6/26/09
#12What have you walked out of and why?
Posted: 1/17/10 at 2:52pmI've never walked out of anything. I've really wanted to, but always want to see if the second act can improve things!
#13What have you walked out of and why?
Posted: 1/17/10 at 2:53pm
I don't like to leave halfway through a show. Tickets cost too much for me to waste 'em, I've seen shows that have had terrible first acts and yet improved beyond measure in the second half, and I like to get something out of every theatre experience, even if it's just an overwhelming certainty of how not to do it.
Although having said that, I did leave halfway through a Kismet matinee at the London Coliseum. The night before, I'd been to see Sweeney Todd at the Royal Festival Hall. Bryn Terfel, Maria Friedman, Philip Quast, and a whole bunch of other supremely talented cast members, and I had another ticket to go back that evening. That morning, I'd been to a really cool Anthony Gormley exhibition with a group of friends. It was a beautiful sunny day. My seat was really high up and REALLY uncomfortable. The design was terrible, the cast were unappealing, and I'd been having *such* a nice weekend up until that point that I really couldn't convince myself to go back in for the second half. So I snuck out with the smokers and went and ate okonomiyaki before finding a nice place by the Thames to sit until evening. I don't regret it for a second.
And I wish I'd walked out of England People Very Nice at the National. I don't offend very easily, so don't think I was going "OMG the racism, well I never!". It wasn't even that offensive. It was just boring, overlong, uninteresting, and wretched. I really really should've left...
#14What have you walked out of and why?
Posted: 1/17/10 at 3:56pmBesides agreeing with that 1) shows are too time- and money- expensive to just walk out on halfway and 2) you might as well see if something innovative or interesting develops in the second act, I also tend to look at it as 3) I've already planned to be there for the experience, good, bad, or in-between...cutting out early IMO would be like leaving friends in a restaurant just after you finished your salad.
#15What have you walked out of and why?
Posted: 1/17/10 at 4:05pmI place a lot of importance on my time also and I can't see the purpose of wasting time sitting in an uncomfortable seat totally bored out of my mind. Staying there for me would be like eating a dish that I don't like just because I paid for it.
<-----I'M TOTES ROLLING MY EYES
Yankeefan007
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/20/04
#16What have you walked out of and why?
Posted: 1/17/10 at 4:09pm
Dangerous Liaisons at the Roundabout, War Horse at the National, the Parker-Hedda, Memphis and Starry Messenger.
Updated On: 1/17/10 at 04:09 PM
Mr Roxy
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/17/03
#17What have you walked out of and why?
Posted: 1/17/10 at 4:37pm
Copenhagen - BORING
Travesties - What the **** was going on?
Dr Selavy's Magic Theater - See above
Stones In My Pocket - Wasn't speaking to me.
Utter Glory of Morrisey Hall - Dreadful
Remember, I sat thru Via G, Rockabye Hamlet & Rachel Lily Rosenbloom before you question my tolerance for pain.
Poster Emeritus
#18What have you walked out of and why?
Posted: 1/17/10 at 4:56pm
Besides agreeing with that 1) shows are too time- and money- expensive to just walk out on halfway and 2) you might as well see if something innovative or interesting develops in the second act, I also tend to look at it as 3) I've already planned to be there for the experience, good, bad, or in-between...cutting out early IMO would be like leaving friends in a restaurant just after you finished your salad.
That's not really the best comparison to make. Leaving Kismet at the interval was more like I'd finished my salad, and my friends had been ignoring me all day and were now talking about how awful my dress sense was, and the salad had been disgusting and limp anyway. We're talking about having a "just get the hell out" terrible time at the theatre, not simply changing your mind halfway through! :P
Updated On: 1/17/10 at 04:56 PM
#19What have you walked out of and why?
Posted: 1/17/10 at 4:58pm
I had to talk my partner into staying for the second act of Next to Normal when we saw it in previews last April. I gave him the pep talk about trying to find one or two things that are enjoyable, even if he did not like the subject matter. He had to remind me of this as we sat through White Christmas with my parents this year. I wouldn't have left because I paid a bunch to take us all to see it, but I sure was BORED! Thank heavens for Tony Yaszbeck's performance.
"The price of love is loss, but still we pay; We love anyway."
#20What have you walked out of and why?
Posted: 1/17/10 at 5:01pm
@YankeeFan007
What was bad about Memphis that it cause u to walk out?? (I ask since I'm considering getting tix)
Check out my eBay page for sales on Playbills!!
www.ebay.com/usr/missvirginiahamm
SporkGoddess
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/27/05
#21What have you walked out of and why?
Posted: 1/17/10 at 5:32pmI really wanted to walk out during The Lion King, but I was there with people.
Jimmy, what are you doing here in the middle of the night? It's almost 9 PM!
#22What have you walked out of and why?
Posted: 1/17/10 at 5:33pmI have never walked out of a show but would definitely have walked out of Br'klyn had there been an intermission and I wasn't sitting in the middle of the row with people on either side of me.
Those Blocked: SueStorm. N2N Nate. Good riddence to stupid! Rad-Z, shill begone!
dramamama611
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
#23What have you walked out of and why?
Posted: 1/17/10 at 5:42pm
The only show I HAVE exited from at intermission: All Shook Up. I wanted to die.
Shows I wish I had?
Curtains
Brooklyn
Phantom
Story of My Life
If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it?
These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.
#24What have you walked out of and why?
Posted: 1/17/10 at 5:46pmWeez - That's very funny and I guess I'd walk out of that kind of dinner, too... Anyway, it's not a perfect analogy and sometimes I might just stay for the show's second act to make sure I've seen it all once and for all and won't ever have to start at the beginning again in the future...My point was, though, by the second act, you've already committed (wasted?) part of your evening and you're only looking at one more hour...and Who knows? Sometimes, I usually do learn something or end up appreciating it a little (a particular scene, some part of the writing, a performer's small moment) just with that small effort...If it's that bad in the first act for me, it can usually only get a little better but not worse...by sticking around for a short amount of time, I get to find out
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