Have you ever left a show in the interval?

[rubia]

There's been a few occasions when I've been sorely tempted, but have felt forced to stick it out because I've gone with a group of people or the person I've gone with appears to be enjoying themselves. Wicked was a prime example of that - had I been alone, I'd have been happy to leave before the interval!
Last night oh and I went to our local open air theatre to see an improvised version of Shakespeare. We were promised an evening of hilarity where the audience picks the play, the genre, the style. This did not prove to be the case. There was four playing cards representing four different plays, an audience member was asked to pick a card and that was the play they did, and it was a Midsummer night's dream. Yeah ok, I didn't have a big problem with that. They went on to say that some people will see a picture of Britney Spears on the ground in front of them, if they have one, at any time during the performance, you can pick it up and shake it! "Shake your Spears" (fairly droll) and we'll do another improv! It was still fairly promising at this stage - Right where do we start? "Audience, name a genre" A lot of ideas were being shouted out, eg Carry on, Gangsta rap, Film noir - They chose Film noir and for a good ten mins the cast were dressed in overcoats and trilbys reading the script in American accents, eventually someone "shook their spears" and one of the cast members said let me grab my clipboard and bag of balls. He ran up to the audience member who picked a numbered ball from the bag, which corresponded to the number of a sheet of paper. The scenarios, costumes were all numbered so obviously practised time and time again (Not what I'd call improv!), The "Spears" were being shaken every few minutes after this so one of the cast members was constantly charging through the audience, and the amount of time the same ball was pulled out was nobody's business. It was chaotic and completely unfunny. I said to Oh "how do you feel about leaving in the interval?" and he said "I'd leave now if it was polite to do so" so as soon as the interval came - off we went. Along with a fair few others, and I mean a fair few. Chatting to someone on the way back "I said, that was ruddy awful wasn't it? but I do feel a bit guilty leaving" and she said "Yes, but we passed the guilt stage about half an hour ago!"
Such a shame as it was a glorious evening, we had a lovely picnic but we just could sit through another minute of it!
Have any of you left a show or performance before the end?

Yes. A couple of times when the play was so boring

 

[Grizelda]

Yes. A couple of times when the play was so boring

Yes. Walked out of Shakespeare performances a few times because the actors' voices didn't carry. Also an operetta because I'd had a couple of glasses of wine beforehand and couldn't concentrated, nor did I want to! Too highbrow.

 

[merryone]

I've been saying to myself for a long while that I must stop accepting invitations to go and see stuff that I know I won't enjoy, even if the ticket's free, and yes! I've done it, it's a start and I'm proud of myself. An ex colleague gave me first refusal on a free ticket to see the Ladyboys of Bangkok in cabaret. Having seen the show some years before which I found vulgar and extremely boring (once you got your head around the "girls" being guys). Basically they dance and mime to pop songs, the compere makes vulgar jokes and comments and somewhere along the line an unsuspecting member of the audience will be ridiculed and/or dragged up on stage to take part in some kind of degrading act of puppetry for our entertainment - Not mine. Anyway I said thanks for the offer but I didn't enjoy it when I saw it before, she was very gracious and said no worries, we must catch up soon x

 

[Deleted member 21838]

Cirque du Soleil - my partner very kindly organised a special day in London last year for my birthday. It was brilliant overall but the one part I didn’t enjoy was Cirque du Soleil at the O2. From what I can remember, and I was asleep for significant parts of it, (if there was anything significant), was a lot of little people running around the stage (which was miles away) doing not a lot, then some other little people swinging from the ceiling rather monotonously. Nobody appeared to actually say anything, and there appeared to be no plot whatsoever that I could make out at least. I did my level best to try and stay awake, but after several earlier pub visits, and then a very boozy birthday dinner in a nearby restaurant earlier, I just couldn’t achieve that objective. I would also have done my best to have walked out if I could but I didn’t want to offend my partner any further, obviously. Other than reading the telephone directory backwards, I think it is the most boring thing I have ever seen and done in my life to date.

 

[Grizelda]

The most thing I've ever experienced is reading Moby Dick. I only read it because I had to. Close second: the film Baron Munchhausen.

 

[merryone]

I'm pretty sure I've posted this story before but I can't find it. I bought oh a ticket to see Der Rosencavalier at the English National Opera for a significant birthday, for reasons still unbeknown to me I bought myself a ticket too. When I presented him with the gift he was absolutely thrilled but when I told him I was coming too he warned me it was 5 hours long not including the breaks between the acts. He said you might enjoy it as it's sung in English. To cut a long story short, it might as well have been sung in Swahili for what I could understand, it even had subtitles on a screen. Seriously after 20 minutes I really couldn't cope. At the first opportunity I said to OH, I'm sorry but I can't do this. I'll go and find a cinema and meet you back here at 10.30. Off I went, it was 6.45pm. I stepped outside and promptly tripped down the stairs at the front, landed on my back and looked up and saw a theatre over the road that said "Backbeat, the Beatles story, tickets available" I picked myself up, went over and into the recption and asked how much tickets...the woman said "we've got £50 or £15" - I said "£15 please" it started at 7.30 and it was amazing. I texted oh to let him know where I was. It finished half an hour before his opera. He loved it but it was the most boring thing in Christendom imo!

 

[Deleted member 21838]

At Play in the Fields of the Lord.Three hours and nine minutes of my life wasted and ones I will never get back.

 

[merryone]

I think people underestimate how awful boredom is because there's a lot worse going on in the world. I agree but even so, a boring hour can feel like 3 but with these things we're usually talking a lot more than an hour. I remember an old friend who'd I'd lost touch with because she'd moved up North got back in touch, this was before the days of Facebook and messenger. She found me on good old Friends reunited and told me she was now living back down South. We met up and it was lovely seeing her again. A short while later she invited me to out to celebrate her birthday and it turned out that her and her new workmates had arranged to go to a local night club. I was nearly 40 at that stage and don't think I'd been to a club since I was in my twenties. To cut a long story short it was horrendous her new mates were all on the pull and so was she. (They were unlucky btw) The music was headachingly loud and unfamiliar to me so I sat there bored out of my brain thinking that I'd rather be doing a shift at work given the choice I couldn't leave because I was supposed to be staying at hers and it would've been awkward/difficult to split and get a train back home. Eventually when the club turned out we got a cab back to hers and a couple of her new mates came back too. To make things worse they decided they'd bung on a dvd and it was Eninem's 8 mile. Thankfully I managed to fall asleep on the sofa. Next day I felt like crap, we went out for breakfast then I got my train home. Seriously that night was in contention of being the most boring night in living memory!

 

[Grizelda]

I think people underestimate how awful boredom is because there's a lot worse going on in the world. I agree but even so, a boring hour can feel like 3 but with these things we're usually talking a lot more than an hour. I remember an old friend who'd I'd lost touch with because she'd moved up North got back in touch, this was before the days of Facebook and messenger. She found me on good old Friends reunited and told me she was now living back down South. We met up and it was lovely seeing her again. A short while later she invited me to out to celebrate her birthday and it turned out that her and her new workmates had arranged to go to a local night club. I was nearly 40 at that stage and don't think I'd been to a club since I was in my twenties. To cut a long story short it was horrendous her new mates were all on the pull and so was she. (They were unlucky btw) The music was headachingly loud and unfamiliar to me so I sat there bored out of my brain thinking that I'd rather be doing a shift at work given the choice I couldn't leave because I was supposed to be staying at hers and it would've been awkward/difficult to split and get a train back home. Eventually when the club turned out we got a cab back to hers and a couple of her new mates came back too. To make things worse they decided they'd bung on a dvd and it was Eninem's 8 mile. Thankfully I managed to fall asleep on the sofa. Next day I felt like crap, we went out for breakfast then I got my train home. Seriously that night was in contention of being the most boring night in living memory!

Did you see her again, or was that curtains?

 

[merryone]

Did you see her again, or was that curtains?

Oh yes, just didn't go clubbing with her again. We were great friends, sadly don't see her any more 'cause she had to move up North again due to financial problems. We're only facebook friends now and even then she rarely posts or contacts any of her old friends..shame really but these things happen!

 

[I Love Chocolate]

I know I’m in the minority here, but I cannot stand Les Miserables. I’ve had to sit through it twice. The first time when I went with my fiancé and his parents. The second time my young niece was in it in the West End. I knew she was getting picked up in the interval as she was only in the first half and would have left too, but hubby wanted to see the rest.
That’s it though. No more Les Miserables for me!

 

[stratobuddy]

I know I’m in the minority here, but I cannot stand Les Miserables. I’ve had to sit through it twice. The first time when I went with my fiancé and his parents. The second time my young niece was in it in the West End. I knew she was getting picked up in the interval as she was only in the first half and would have left too, but hubby wanted to see the rest.
That’s it though. No more Les Miserables for me!

I was at a loose end in the West End (long ago) and decided to see a show. There were 2 with tickets available, Chess and Les Mis.

I'd heard of Chess, and had never heard of Les Mis as it had only just started, the poster wasn't enticing, and I genuinely thought it was about a miserable man called Les (I was only a teenager after all).

So I decided on Chess, I think it starred Elaine Paige, but it turned ou to be her day off!

 

[merryone]

I think it would be quicker for me to talk about the shows I really have enjoyed, because I consider myself pretty difficult to entertain as I have the attention span of a gnat. If it's a gig for a band/artist I adore then absolutely no problem, but with shows you just never know. The few shows I've gone up to London to see the only a few I can remember feeling were worth the Journey were Jersey Boys, The Mousetrap and Backbeat (my unexpected find). I did enjoy Spamalot as well. The play that went wrong, oh thought it was hilarious, I thought it was ok, mainly for the spectucular special effects at the end. Saw the Lion King on a work trip, and whilst it was very cleverly done, I was pretty bored throughout, Wicked was beyond tedious. Les Miserables, never been tempted as I know I'd be bored $hitless, and I know a few who've been to see it and all have said it was very heavy going.
Sometimes you can have a pleasant surprise though. I remember some years ago my ex husband's friend and his wife invited us to go and see a lipizaner horse show at the Brighton centre, we agreed as the tickets were complimentary, but neither of us really fancied it one bit - it was surprisingly entertaining.

 

[merryone]

I've been saying to myself for a long while that I must stop accepting invitations to go and see stuff that I know I won't enjoy, even if the ticket's free, and yes! I've done it, it's a start and I'm proud of myself. An ex colleague gave me first refusal on a free ticket to see the Ladyboys of Bangkok in cabaret. Having seen the show some years before which I found vulgar and extremely boring (once you got your head around the "girls" being guys). Basically they dance and mime to pop songs, the compere makes vulgar jokes and comments and somewhere along the line an unsuspecting member of the audience will be ridiculed and/or dragged up on stage to take part in some kind of degrading act of puppetry for our entertainment - Not mine. Anyway I said thanks for the offer but I didn't enjoy it when I saw it before, she was very gracious and said no worries, we must catch up soon x

Well, that's all gone down the pan, but to be fair to myself, the concert I'm about to describe was booked a couple of months before I'd made this resolution. It was an Abba tribute show called thank you for the music. I love the music of Abba, but despised the film Mamma Mia and didn't bother seeing the 2nd film, I think they have an interesting backstory and thought given the price of the ticket that we'd get a spectacular and entertaining show. We were in our local theatre, which is a charming old building but unless you're in a front row, then it's cramped and uncomfortable - we weren't. The backdrop was a sheet with "Thank you for the music" printed on it there was a couple of session musicians at the rear of the stage and then the band, who I found out later were supposed to be the best soundalikes ever. Now for me some of the charm of Abba is that you can hear their accents come through in the songs -you definitely couldn't with this lot. Despite fake beards, and Abba-alike costumes, the songs being introduced in what sounded to me like eastern European accents and calling themselves by Abba's names ( I generally hate that, didn't mind when the Bootleg Beatles do it because they put on a highly professional and polished show). It was the usual mash up of audience puppetry "clap, sit down, stand up, put the light on your phone". There was no spectacular staging, I think there was just one full costume change, no footage shown on a screen behind them to depict Abba's story. Trying to dance (Not that I felt any urge to) in front of a chair, clapping and whooping to order. If anything it has reminded me in future -"Just say no"!
In total contrast two days later (yesterday) I went to the open air theatre to see a tribute band playing hits from the sixties and 70's it was called "Mods and Rockers". Went with my mate Si who's very much into that kind of music as I am. Great weather helped, being able to take your own refreshments (even though they have a bar). It was absolutely fantastic, people were actually getting up to dance in the middle spontaneously (including us). The musicians and the singer were all spot on, they talked about the music and engaged with the audience without making puppets out of them. They played the Stones, The Who, Small Faces, Hendrix, The Beatles and loads more. The icing on the cake for me though is I mentioned to Si early on " I hope they do Hi Ho Silver lining" he said I doubt it. Second half drew to an end, and the singer said We're gonna finish on this one - Enjoy - Yup it was Hi Ho Silver lining - everybody was up dancing and singing - It was pure and utter joy!
I think variety is key though and I've got to be honest with myself, there aren't very many single bands or Artists that I'd want to sit through an entire concert of. Great band tributes I've seen recently have been Bootleg Beatles ( A proper show) Illegal Eagles (fantastic) and "From the Jam"
Actually seeing Tom Jones in the summer which I'm looking forward to and it's in an outside venue (hope it's nice weather) and Chic a week later in the same venue. I'm not gonna need to be told to get up and dance to them - I'll be up there lol!

 

[peterwoods]

No, i have never left a show in the interval.

 

[Toril]

No, i have never left a show in the interval.

Nor have I although it did cross my mind on one occasion.

I went to a performance of a play called “Bouncers” a while ago but, as it was a birthday present from a friend, I sat through it. The fact that there were only four actors in it (all male) and that three of them were very “easy on the eye” had nothing to do with my staying in my seat for the whole performance.

 

[Grizelda]

Nor have I although it did cross my mind on one occasion.

I went to a performance of a play called “Bouncers” a while ago but, as it was a birthday present from a friend, I sat through it. The fact that there were only four actors in it (all male) and that three of them were very “easy on the eye” had nothing to do with my staying in my seat for the whole performance.

I like looking at good looking people, but there are none around here where I live. No one seems to make an effort to look good.