The Tameside Radio presenter gives his thoughts after The Bodyguard musical in Manchester made national news headlines following the conduct of some theatre-goers...
I recently went to Bradford's Alhambra Theatre to watch a performance of The Shawshank Redemption. Having only seen the film for the first time in 2020, I found the stage version compelling and brilliant. You could hear a pin drop during some of the scenes, which is exactly as I want my theatre experience to be.
Don't get me wrong...there's a place for singing along. If you go to see the Rocky Horror Picture Show, it's pretty much compulsory, as is dressing up in all manner of exotic garb. But there was national press coverage last week when rowdy theatre-goers interrupted a performance of the smash hit musical The Bodyguard by attempting to "outsing" professionals on stage.
Several audience members were thrown out on Friday night, and I Will Always Love You remained incomplete on that evening, at which many will have paid top prices to be there and experience it being performed on stage. The crescendo song, I Wanna Dance With Somebody, was shelved. If I want to hear Shazza from the office badly belting out a Whitney tune, I'll head down to the Dog and Duck's karaoke night It really gets my goat.
Karl Bradley tweets: "I'm new to the world of theatre. But sad and disappointed tonight at the state of some peoples' arrogance and disrespect while at a show. Completely ruined The Bodyguard singing over the actors, to the point of them cancelling the show & police being called".
Footage taken inside the venue captures an audience member caterwauling over Melody Thornton's lead performance. The show's producers have warned in the past that audience participation is not required, and signs have even been placed around the theatre, which seem on this occasion to have been largely ignored. The last ten minutes of the show was canned, and nights out ruined by selfish behaviour.
On Instagram, Thornton thanked those who came to the show, and said she was "so grateful to everyone who respects the people on stage who want to give you a beautiful show". She added she was "very, very sorry that we couldn't finish the show", adding to the statement: "I fought really hard, it feels awful".
Theatre staff have reported that audience misbehaviour seems to be increasing, with drunk and aggressive attendees vomiting, disrupting shows, and even assaulting staff since the end of lockdowns. The Times recently reported that a staggering forty five per cent of theatre workers are contemplating quitting because of the increasingly stressful environment in which they are doing their jobs, according to a Bectu union survey. Ninety per cent (90!) of those polled had seen "bad audience behaviour".
A fight broke out earlier this year at an Edinburgh Playhouse performance of Jersey Boys, whilst a Lewis Capaldi gig had to be temporarily halted whilst a scrap happened during Hold Me While You Wait. Apart from anything else, as Capaldi himself quipped on the mic at the time, this seems a weird soundtrack song for a fight.
It's no laughing matter though for staff who feel threatened and intimidated. I just can't understand why you'd pay top dollar for a night at the theatre, and be so selfish to ruin a whole venue's evening out through your own self-absorbed behaviour It genuinely leaves me baffled. Mind you, so does the common occurrence of people leaving litter in their cinema seats at the end of the film, putting their feet on the seats, spending the film on their phones or talking loudly all throughout.
I'm not being puritanical here. I just think a bit of respect isn't too much to ask for. If the rule is no singing, keep your mouth shut and let everyone enjoy the show!
Perhaps we need to look at mobile phones being placed in lockers on the way into cinemas, or maybe we just need to think of others a bit more. That might be a pipe dream, but it would certainly be a nicer world if we did. The best response I've seen to heckling came at a Frankie Boyle gig, but sadly I can't repeat here what he said. Needless to say, they'll think twice before doing it again. Have a good week.
