{"id":174,"date":"2010-07-07T14:15:49","date_gmt":"2010-07-07T18:15:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/playfixer.com\/wordpress\/?p=174"},"modified":"2010-07-07T14:15:49","modified_gmt":"2010-07-07T18:15:49","slug":"my-pet-peeves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/playfixer.com\/wordpress\/?p=174","title":{"rendered":"My Pet Peeves"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cOn the Aisle with Larry\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lawrence Harbison<\/em><\/strong>, the Playfixer, usually brings you up to date with what\u2019s hot and what\u2019s not in New York. It\u2019s a slow time in the New York Theatre so this week, Larry reveals his theatrical pet peeves, in the style of Andy Rooney.<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I love going to the theatre. Last week excepted, I usually go about 5 times a week. I have just been chosen to be on the Nominating Committee of the Drama Desk, so I expect I\u2019ll be going even more in the next year. It\u2019s a tough job, but somebody\u2019s gotta do it. Since I took last week off (there really wasn\u2019t anything I wanted to see), this week I have decided to write about some of my theatrical pet peeves.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It used to be that if an audience really liked a show, or a performance therein, they would step up their applause at the curtain call, or even shout \u201cbravo!\u201d I am told they still do this at the opera \u2013 not that I would know. Who has time to go, when one\u2019s at the theatre almost every night? And, anyway, it\u2019s all in a foreign language. Now at the theatre, one hears ridiculous whooping at the curtain call. \u201cWhoop!\u201d Whoop!\u201d Sometimes, just \u201cWoo!\u201d \u201cWoo!\u201d What\u2019s with this? It just sounds idiotic to me.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Speaking of curtain calls, it seems like every time I go to Broadway, the audience gives the actors a standing ovation. This used to be rare; now it seems to be obligatory. I think this is because people have spent so much money on their tickets, they want to believe that what they have seen is Extraordinary. Sometimes it is; usually, it\u2019s not. I often find myself the only audience member sitting during the curtain call, curmudgeon that I am. To further add to my eccentric behavior, if I didn\u2019t much care for the show itself I hold my applause until the actors come out, because if the show sucked it\u2019s usually not the actors\u2019 fault, and they deserve a hearty round of applause. Whoop-free.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Another thing that annoys me is the inevitably tardy start of the show. If my ticket says it\u2019s supposed to start at 8:00 pm, why does it usually not start until 8:10? Movies start on time; why can\u2019t plays?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Latecomers annoy me. The show starts ten minutes late (see above), but still there are people who just can\u2019t make it even by 8:10. They usually have seats in the center section of the front of the orchestra, thus distracting everyone \u2013 the actors included, as they struggle past patrons who managed to make it on time, to get to their seats. These people should be flogged!\u00a0<\/p>\n

I usually am fortunate enough to get a seat on the aisle; but occasionally I am seated down the row. On these occasions, inevitably the aisle seat is occupied by a movement-challenged individual who doesn\u2019t seem to be able to get up and go. While he and his wife bask in the glow of their expensive night out, other patrons are blocked from getting out of there. Meanwhile, the aisle fills up and then it takes forever to get up it and out of the theatre. Once, at the Mint Theatre, I was seated in the third seat off the aisle. The first and second seats were occupied by an elderly couple who went catatonic after the curtain call ended. Eight of us were standing there, wondering if we\u2019d ever get out of there. Finally, I reached over and gently tapped the old fella on the shoulder sitting on the aisle. \u201cExcuse me,\u201d I said. \u201cThe play\u2019s over \u2013 you can go home now.\u201d Immediately the geezer snapped out of his coma, and he and his wife got up and exited. Geez Louise!\u00a0<\/p>\n

Speaking of audience exit behavior \u2013 why do so many people struggle with their coats and hats and scarves in the aisle or, worse, at the door to the street, thus making it impossible for anybody to get past them. Lord have mercy \u2013 get outta the way to put your coats on!\u00a0<\/p>\n

At every show, from Broadway to deepest darkest Off Off, patrons are asked before the show begins to turn off their cell phones. Rarely am I at the theatre when at least one doesn\u2019t go off. Are these people deaf<\/em><\/strong>???\u00a0<\/p>\n

Critics tend to piss me off. Many of them seem to think it\u2019s their job to persuade as many people as they can not <\/em>to go to the theatre. I can\u2019t tell you how many times I have actually rather enjoyed a show which these cultural ayatollahs have panned. Just because you read it in a newspaper (or, these days, on the internet), doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s true. And never forget; the critics don\u2019t have you in mind when they are writing their reviews.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Well, that\u2019s about it. What are your<\/em> pet peeves?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

“It requires a certain largeness of spirit to give generous appreciation to large achievements. A society with\u00a0a crabbed spirit\u00a0and a\u00a0cynical urge to discount and devalue will find that one day, when it needs to draw upon the reservoirs of excellence, the reservoirs have run dry.”\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 —– George F. Will<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cOn the Aisle with Larry\u201d\u00a0 Lawrence Harbison, the Playfixer, usually brings you up to date with what\u2019s hot and what\u2019s not in New York. It\u2019s a slow time in the New York Theatre so this week, Larry reveals his theatrical pet peeves, in the style of Andy Rooney.\u00a0 I love going to the theatre. Last […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/playfixer.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/playfixer.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/playfixer.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/playfixer.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/playfixer.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=174"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/playfixer.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":175,"href":"http:\/\/playfixer.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174\/revisions\/175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/playfixer.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/playfixer.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/playfixer.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}