Walking Out at Intermission - The Thread- Page 4
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jimmycurry01
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/28/05
#75Walking Out at Intermission - The Thread
Posted: 5/19/23 at 9:05am
MNNiceorIce said: "My feeling is that if you've walked out of a show (just like a movie), I don't feel like you get to comment on the quality of the work. You didn't stay for the whole thing? You don't get to add your $.02. Only those that stick it out get to speak. I've gritted my teeth for plenty of bad productions just to say I made it out alive. The few shows I have checked out of at intermission I've kept quiet about."
If I am leaving a show early, it is due to the quality of work being presented. If the quality of work is bad enough for me to actually leave during intermission, I absolutely get to comment on the poor quality.
I left a university production of Bare in Louisville a couple years ago due to a terrible cast that could not handle the score. The quality of the performances was excruciatingly embarrassing and genuinely uncomfortable to watch. There were fewer than 20 people in the audience, but I had to flee as soon as the lights came up. I drove two hours to see it; I definitely took the time to complain about the quality of the work, and I don't feel bad for it in the slightest.
I left a local production of Joseph due to the addition of horrendously written book scenes that were illegally added to the show. The quality of the scenes written by some local hack made the show unwatchable. I considered notifying Tim Rice or R&H (as they were the performance rights holders at the time).
#76Walking Out at Intermission - The Thread
Posted: 5/19/23 at 9:32am
Tom5 said: "I can't imagine walking out on The Gin Game (colorthehours 048) unless the actors were really the pits. It's a work of art"
It was dull as dirt and kind of sad to watch a legend like James Earl Jones struggle through a show. He was, sadly, no longer capable of carrying a show the way the play demanded.
"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."
tinmanic
Swing Joined: 3/29/23
#77Walking Out at Intermission - The Thread
Posted: 5/19/23 at 10:25am
I've walked out of two Off-Broadway shows at intermission. Most recently was CORNELIA STREET a few months ago. I also walked out SLUT: A MUSICAL a very long time ago (https://www.broadway.com/buzz/94601/altar-boyzs-andy-karl-set-for-off-broadway-tuner-slut/). It was the song about the H.M.S. Donkeyballs that did it for me.
I nearly walked out of Rock of Ages on Broadway because it was too loud.
But usually I feel like if I've made it halfway through a show (or usually more than halfway, as first acts are usually longer than second acts), I can make it to the end.
(I also left Parsifal at the Metropolitan Opera during the first intermission. The first act was 2 hours. It seemed like a good idea when I bought the ticket!)
jms2880
Swing Joined: 11/26/11
#78Walking Out at Intermission - The Thread
Posted: 5/20/23 at 1:21pm
We couldn't walk out of CAMELOT at intermission fast enough! It's only bway show I've left in my 30 years of attending. (Although, I wanted to leave the play Grace, but there was no intermission, lol)
SoCalDirector
Stand-by Joined: 1/12/12
#79Walking Out at Intermission - The Thread
Posted: 5/20/23 at 2:18pm
I have seen a whole lot of shows in my lifetime, but I’ve only walked out of a few. I’m always optimistic that maybe it will get better and not too much sometimes happens.
I’ve only walked out of one Broadway show, the recent revival of Oklahoma! The main reason I wanted to see it was to catch Ali Stroker’s Tony award winning performance. She was out and playing Ado Annie was the dance captain who is clearly cast for her dancing not comedic abilities. The fact that she was nothing like Ali made it even more unappealing.
I did not care for the whole concept and I was exhausted so I left at intermission.
Miles Robert Mills
#80Walking Out at Intermission - The Thread
Posted: 5/21/23 at 7:54am
Not broadway of course, but I walked out of a cover band performance in a theater yesterday. They didn't look OR sound like the band, although they were talented musicians, but I was hoping for a "close your eyes and it sounds like them" experience.
The theater was near a beach and I decided that rather than sit another hour+ during the second act I'd rather get some fresh air at the beach. Actually bumped into one of the performers on my dash to the exit and asked if they would be doing a specific song (kind of depressing song that wasn't a hit), he sighed and told me he loved that song but "not on this show".
I had a great next 75 minutes until I met my wife and friends and her glower again afterwards. I'm too old to waste time on subpar performances, is what I said. Luckily she didn't turn it around on me
#81Walking Out at Intermission - The Thread
Posted: 5/21/23 at 3:29pm
So I saw "Summer, 1976" Friday night. If there had been an intermission, I would have been gone! I found nothing compelling about the friendship presented on stage.
All So Ozmopolitan
Swing Joined: 2/23/23
#82Walking Out at Intermission - The Thread
Posted: 5/21/23 at 4:52pm
I've never walked out of any show (on any level). Personally, the only reasons I'd leave early would be due to a medical emergency or if the material was insulting/offensive to my beliefs - not to say that I don't enjoy challenging things. Aside from wanting to get my money's worth, I want to experience the entire piece before judging it. That's what works for me. The world will continue spinning even if one additional hour of my life is "wasted". Do I ever wish that shows would just come to an end? Many times. I will say the one time I genuinely considered leaving at intermission was during Dreaming Zenzile at NYTW, but I stayed.
I couldn't care less if someone decides to leave, but I cannot stand the folks that make a spectacle of them huffing and puffing, getting up mid-show, the "excuse me excuse me", and then acting as if walking out is a bragging right. I've learned to not use someone else's early departure as a measure for good theatre. In fact, I've even heard of people leaving early during some of my favorite productions. But to each their own.
#83Walking Out at Intermission - The Thread
Posted: 5/23/23 at 4:27pm
This is a reference to "Wicked", among the many times that I had the opportunity to see the show through the $25 lottery, I was shocked and surprised by the number of people that would leave at intermission, because the show was not "The Wizard of Oz". If any of the people had bothered to read the book (which I did), they would know that the show is about the Wicked Witch of the West, not the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and Corwardly Lion. My shock after reading the book was envisioning a very dark movie, only to read a few months later it was being turned into a musical!...
Updated On: 5/24/23 at 04:27 PM
Nmk
Swing Joined: 5/2/23
Dirty Rotten Scoundrel
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/26/05
#85Walking Out at Intermission - The Thread
Posted: 5/24/23 at 12:38am
I have walked out of one show: SpongeBob SquarePants. A friend really wanted to go so three of us got cheap tickets. That theater is a barn and we were in the absolute last row of the mezzanine. Between the balcony overhang and our sheer distance from the stage, I couldn’t see a thing. Couple that with all of the screaming kids in the audience and I was already over it. We got to Plankton’s rap and I couldn’t take anymore. I was on the aisle seat right by the stairs so I quietly slipped out then. Another friend left at intermission. I didn’t love what I saw of the show, but I likely would’ve stuck it out if the seat situation was better.
I wanted to leave Mrs. Doubtfire at intermission but our seats were front row lotto seats and I couldn’t bear the thought of performers coming back from intermission to see two suddenly vacant front row seats, so we stayed.
Just a funny aside: I was at a performance of The Thanksgiving Play and a guy walked out about halfway through. I was in the last row so I heard him say to the usher on his way out, “worst show I’ve ever walked out of.” This really made me laugh because it basically implied that he walks out of many shows but he needed to specify that this one was especially bad.
#86Walking Out at Intermission - The Thread
Posted: 5/24/23 at 1:39am
I haven't walked out, but a few, I really wish I had:
Bronx Tale
Memphis
Devil Wears Prada
I kept waiting for them to get better, and was very optimistic that it would happen in Act 2. It did not. Even Prada seemed like it'd still be fun even if it was terrible, but it wasn't even so bad it's fun to roast.
#87Walking Out at Intermission - The Thread
Posted: 5/24/23 at 5:12am
Should have walked out of
Charlie And The Chocolate Factory
The Bodyguard
Ghost
Back To The Future
All of them in London, Back To The Future tops as the worst of all time.
Well I didn't want to get into it, but he's a Satanist.
Every full moon he sacrifices 4 puppies to the Dark Lord and smears their blood on his paino.
This should help you understand the score for Wicked a little bit more.
Tazber's: Reply to
Is Stephen Schwartz a Practicing Christian
Listener
Chorus Member Joined: 9/25/22
#88Walking Out at Intermission - The Thread
Posted: 5/24/23 at 3:18pm
windowwaving said: "I was thiiiiiiiiis close to leaving New York, New York at intermission.
It just felt like it was vignette after vignette, and wasn’t sure if there was really going to be a plot or if any of these characters would matter in the end. It also felt like they kept teasing the title song to keep reminding you “stick around and you’ll hear it!” I have never contemplated leaving a show at intermission as much as this one.
But I’m glad I stayed. I loved Act II much more than the first. I understand why they went with this direction, but it just feels like it takes too long to get any real movement going (even though there is a LOT of movement on stage) and it could be too late for some audience members."
That's interesting to me because I didn't see much difference between Acts One and Two, and I definitely agree with your description of the scattered nature of the show and occasional teasing of the title song.
But I had decided to see it through and have my "bad musical" experience, so I enjoyed it as much as I could in that way.
Listener
Chorus Member Joined: 9/25/22
#89Walking Out at Intermission - The Thread
Posted: 5/25/23 at 12:56pm
Jmuep2 said: "I walked out of DANCIN’ during act 2. Should’ve left at intermission."
The recent revival? Woah - you missed out. Act Two opened with a bang and I enjoyed it far more than Act One, save for the Rah Rah America segment. Act Two seriously turned the show around for me.
The only show I ever really wanted to walk out of was a one man one act piece designed to show off impression skills the performer/writer did not possess, and there was no way out unless I literally walked onto the stage area - the floor - to get to the exit. So I had to sit there and seethe. Still mad about it to this day.
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#90Walking Out at Intermission - The Thread
Posted: 5/25/23 at 2:39pm
I walked out of a torpid community theater production of "Millennium Approaches" after the first act. Most of the audience was friends and family of the cast so everybody LOVED it but the actor playing Prior chose to use a falsetto voice, which one of his friends assured me was not how he spoke as a human being, Anyway, it was best for all concerned if I left.
I left at intermission for "Gatz" by Elevator Repair Service, because I felt like I got what they were doing and it was fine and dandy but I didn't need to see the second half. I had seen enough.
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