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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to think you don't sing along in the theatre??

216 replies

OtraCosaMariposa · 22/09/2019 09:36

Went to see Mamma Mia last night with DD. Packed theatre, and it's the sort of show where everyone knows all of the songs.

Had the misfortune to sit directly in front of a group of about 5 women who seemed to think it was a karaoke or singalong performance. By the time we'd got to "Thank you for the Music" I was ready for strangling them lot of them. Few hard stares from me, DD and other people around us finally shut them up.

But AIBU to think that when you pay to see a professional cast, it's the cast you want to hear sing, not randomers?

(Apart from the show's finale though where everyone is up and belting out Waterloo)

OP posts:
Tighnabruaich · 22/09/2019 14:39

My exMIL was a trained actress, dahling, who could project her voice phenomenally. Going to the theatre or cinema with her was brilliant because she would just boom out 'oh for goodness sake! DO be quiet there!' and people would just shut up.

Louisaouisa · 22/09/2019 14:40

YANBU. I can understand quiet singing or mouthing the lyrics. Full on singing should be left for the encore or final song in which they generally do encourage people to sing along

Trills · 22/09/2019 14:52

When I went to see Dreamgirls, there were signs up (in the loos, oddly) saying that everyone was here to hear the ACTORS sing and we should refrain from joining in unless we were specifically encouraged to.

boujie · 22/09/2019 15:06

This thread is hilarious because I actually agree but when I'm in the theatre I just can't help myself!!!!!!!

In other words you know it's wrong, but your prioritise your own enjoyment so far above that of others that you just don't care.

Seriously, if you 'just can't help yourself', don't go to the theatre.

Louisaouisa · 22/09/2019 15:09

This thread is hilarious because I actually agree but when I'm in the theatre I just can't help myself!!!!!

I’m alright, Jack!

JacquesHammer · 22/09/2019 15:11

This thread is hilarious because I actually agree but when I'm in the theatre I just can't help myself!!!!!!!

Join an am dram society if you’re just so musical you can’t keep it in. And stop going to the theatre.

User478 · 22/09/2019 15:13

When we went to Matilda we were sat behind a few of the (new) cast's mums -they were very keen to tell anyone who couldn't get away would listen that their Frankie-mae was in the show. They also sang along to the entire thing and joined in with the choreography (as clearly they had sat through many rehearsals). Really annoying.

sweeneytoddsrazor · 22/09/2019 15:53

I would probably expect it with Mamma Mia tbh but anything else might piss me off. Not singing related but I once went to see a performance of Swan Lake where some of the audience booed very loudly every time Baron Von Rothbart appeared.

Original poster
OtraCosaMariposa · 22/09/2019 16:19

In other words you know it's wrong, but your prioritise your own enjoyment so far above that of others that you just don't care.

Exactly. There are a lot of very selfish people around.

OP posts:
Nosquit · 22/09/2019 16:24

Singing along during the production is just rude to cast and audience alike - Even in Rocky Horror you don’t sing along with the soloists in the main stage show. Even Rocky Horror has SOME etiquette rules!! (Yes the rules for that show are different because of the shoutbacks etc but people pay to hear those on stage and every audience has “Rocky Virgins” who will want to hear the show and not the audience.

Curtain call singing is fair game though. Like when my best friend and I saw Beauty and The Beast and Bohemian Rhapsody at the cinema - during the film we kept our mouths shut, closing credits we were singing along.

DotForShort · 22/09/2019 16:40

YANBU. I absolutely loathe it when people do this. Honestly, do they think no one can hear them? Or do they think everyone else wants to hear them warbling along with the cast? I would venture to suggest they might enjoy the performance more if they shut up and actually listened.

Of course many of us know every word of our favourite musicals. But unless the show is specifically designed to include audience participation, just be quiet in the theatre. It would absolutely spoil my enjoyment if some idiot sang along to Hamilton or Les Mis. I agree with PPs that public announcements and prominently posted signs might limit this behaviour.

MouthyHarpy · 22/09/2019 16:45

YANBU

It’s very simple.

YesSheCan · 22/09/2019 16:57

YANBU but then I'm a real fogey who also thinks it's not on to applaud between movements in classical concerts. As for the audience members who clap along on Strictly, they should be forcibly removed.

StroppyWoman · 22/09/2019 16:59

YANBU

Anyone singing along should be evicted from the theatre immediately. It's absolutely appalling behaviour, and disrespectful of both cast and other audience members. Shows are so expensive for families to see and they are often much-anticipated treats. No one needs some random twonk's rendition of the big songs spoiling their enjoyment.

For shows where people want to sing along, an encore with audience participation is great.
(And yes I know the entire audience of Hamilton is mouthing along with the cast, but to actually sing would be a dick move and deserved a slap in the chops with a kipper)

Hey1256 you sound like a selfish arse.

Yabbers · 22/09/2019 17:13

Completely depends on the show, but the purpose of going to mama mia is to sing along!

I agree. Same when we went to see Annie. It was pretty cool to watch all the kids around us singing the songs.

MrsRufusdog789 · 22/09/2019 17:16

I've known singalong events in the cinema where everyone also dresses up but in the theatre that's a no no . Why pay good money to hear people other than the cast ?

cardibach · 22/09/2019 17:17

We paid £50 each for our tickets. Not as expensive as west end shows, but still not "cheap" Bloody Hell @OtraCosaMariposa! I’ve never paid more than £50 for West Snd - including Hamilton! Mamma Mia is absolutely not worth that, sing a long or not. Singing in the theatre is an absolute no. However, when I went to Mamma Mia the cast were so unbelievably crap I would have welcomed it.

WellGoshDarnIt · 22/09/2019 17:17

@OtraCosaMariposa - off point, but was this the touring production with Sharon Sexton and Rob Fowler playing the leads? I saw them both in Bat Out of Hell, (twice), and they were absolutely amazing! Would love to catch them in MM, but don't think it's coming to any towns near me. They're also a couple in real life, which is cute.

Witchend · 22/09/2019 17:19

Very irritating.
I kind of get that perhaps for Mamma Mia you might get people thinking that it is a sing-a-long, but the theatre staff should be looking out for that and stop them quickly. When we saw it, it wasn't a problem until the last song, when pretty much everyone did join in, which was actually rather nice.

But when I was child we were taken to see Joseph (not west end, but tour) and dsis sang loudly all through as she'd done them at school. Dsis is very tone deaf.
Looking back I'm Shock and Angry that dm let her. I can't imagine what she was thinking of, as dp were usually hot on etiquette and even whispering during a show was frowned on.It was pretty much the only professional performance we went to as children.

Fairly recently dsis told me that her dc had sung lustily along to Cats (they hadn't known the songs beforehand either!!) and the woman in front had been wowed by their lovely voices. I decided not to cause a family row by saying that probably wasn't actually what the lady meant meant as again, they don't generally go to the theatre, but if they're going to anything else musical I am going to be very direct.

deepflatflyer · 22/09/2019 17:20

Fuck me - this is truly awful. Although I'm not surprised as I've heard similar stories from a friend of mine. I'll stick to the opera - audience members wouldn't get away with it there...

Celebelly · 22/09/2019 17:41

If you want to sing along, pay a tenner and go to one of the sing-along things they do at the cinema from time to time. It's horrendously rude to drown out something people have paid to listen to with your off-key warbling. And if you think that's the proper way to behave in a theatre then I'm both gobsmacked and embarrassed for you.

Celebelly · 22/09/2019 17:43

Also if you really can't 'hold it in', then don't fucking go until you learn some self-control.

Tighnabruaich · 22/09/2019 18:03

I also agree with other posters about the audience clapping along on Strictly. They are never on time and then it peters out when they can't cope with a change of tempo. I hate it with a passion.

AnneElliott · 22/09/2019 18:09

I agree with you op, it's only the last song where singing is encouraged.

Lots of bad behaviour at theatres though. A group of us went to see Dirty Dancing a while ago, and the couple in front sat sucking the faces of each other! Luckily at half time they went and got a room!

Original poster
OtraCosaMariposa · 22/09/2019 18:28

off point, but was this the touring production with Sharon Sexton and Rob Fowler playing the leads?

Yes it was. Sharon was really good. Superb singing voice and excellent comic timing. Rob played Sam Carmichael and was good too, although she outshone him by far. The bloke playing Bill Austin was funnier.

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