| Bad Audience Behavior at Broadway Bares | |
| Last Edit: mattyp4 03:45 pm EDT 06/17/19 | |
| Posted by: mattyp4 03:39 pm EDT 06/17/19 | |
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| Went to Broadway Bares last night and had a great time. I don't want to take away from the fact that they do amazing work & that they might have raised $2 million-- which would be a new record-- but I witnessed some audience behavior last night that really annoyed me. First of all I know it's Broadway Bares. At midnight. And a lot of people are drunk. I get it. It's not exactly The Met. But it still doesn't excuse some of the behavior I witnessed. (I've been going to BB for the past 13 years or so & the audiences have been pretty cool for the most part.) I was on the floor for the midnight performance, right off the side of the runway. There was an older gentleman at the very end of the runway. Dead center. Despite the many pre-show notices telling us photography was not allowed "out of respect to the performers," he had his camera phone perched ON the runway for almost the entire show. When he wasn't filming (which was often) he was resting his arms ON the runway. (And prior to the show he also continued to use the runway as his personal drink coaster after a stage manager came around & politely asked people to refrain from doing that.) Now, again, I realize this is Broadway Bares & people are going to take photos & videos no matter what, but there's a difference between taking a quick video or photo & placing your camera on the stage, inches from the performers, filming entire numbers from really "intimate" angles. It just came off as rude to me, as well as lecherous & a little pervy. (I noticed the angles he was filming "up" from.) Kind of annoyed that there wasn't any staff around to stop him. Even more annoyed that a performer didn't "accidentally" kick his phone off the stage, maybe cracking a finger or two in the process. (And I don't mean to sound ageist by pointing out that he was an "older gentleman," but by that I mean he was old enough to have known better. For what it's worth he looked completely sober.) There was also another gentleman near me who, during the thank yous and donor acknowledgments at the end of show, shouted a disparaging comment about the audience being "mostly white." It came after Billy Porter or Jerry Mitchell thanked the audience for buying tickets. It was obvious enough to have caught the attention of a lot of performers on our end of the stage who seemed puzzled & angered by the comment. (The most visibly perturbed were nonwhite performers, mind you.) Rude for so many reasons. I saw some other audience members challenging him but he seemed to be doubling down. At least he was no longer shouting & disrupting the proceedings. For what it's worth, I'm a cis-white male & I'm cognizant of white privilege. But even if the majority of the audience happened to be white, should we really care about the racial make-up of a paying audience when the money is going to a charity? I'm asking genuinely. And PS, it's no surprise that the majority of Broadway audiences are white, which IS somewhat regrettable. But Broadway Bares is a once annual charity event. My feelings are, if you can afford a ticket, be you white, black, brown or purple, great! That's all that should really matter. Just sell the tickets. Anyway sorry to vent but I'd be lying if I said those people didn't get under my skin last night. Still a highly enjoyable evening though. Eagerly awaiting the final tally once the money from the two rotations are added. |
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