Embarrassed Edinburgh family 'told off for miming' along to Annie at Playhouse- how can they think they're in the right?!

[MichelleScarn]

https://www.edinburghlive.co.uk/news/edinburgh-news/embarrassed-edinburgh-family-told-miming-26567374

How on earth can they think that this behaviour was OK?
Bloody rude and probably spoiled it for people around them!

@potniatheron has shuffled off

No doubt singing in her local coffee shop

Sorry @EyesOnThePies -- I was really responding to the same person you were replying to, and agreeing with you

You can sing along to Sing-a-long with the Sound of Music, otherwise, no.

Nah just limbering up, practising my scales and arpeggios 😂

When you go with a group to the theatre that doesn’t mean you act like you’re the only ones there. Gesturing, talking, miming, constantly whispering, looking at phone, distracting everyone else, making a spectacle of yourselves as a group when attention is supposed to be on the stage performance. If they had mimed a phrase or two, that’s different. Apparently they were being very distracting.

Disgraceful

We had a performance of The Lion King in Edinburgh ruined by stupid out of tune warblers. Can't believe people think it's okay to do this.

I've been to this theatre a number of times and every time I am shocked by the behaviour of the audience. It's like nowhere else I've even been to the theatre and that includes a Thomas the Tank Engine live show with a pre-school age audience! People go drunk, they take drinks in, people are constantly getting up to go to the toilet right from the very start of the show, it's noisy, there are mobile phones out, I really do think twice about going there because it ruins the theatre experience and tickets aren't cheap.

DS ia a theatre pit musician and says some audience members just ruin it for everyone. If people thought about just how hard these young people rehearse to be able to perform at national theatre standard,they might have a bit more respect

@potniatheron

Absolutely not! You don't pay circa £100 a ticket to hear people singing along!

It's not a pop concert

In preparation for your theatre visit tonight no doubt

Hoping that you take on board the comments and don’t ruin others enjoyment

i just looked at the FB comments on this story and they support them. I'm cringing. 'it's awful going to see anything there you've got to sit still and no move or talk x'
Eh? why go to the theatre and talk during the performance.

Note 'they got their drinks', my DD worked panto season as a theatre steward and the behaviour of people is atrocious, assaulting staff, throwing up drunk, most nights somebody would be barred.
Always 2 sides to a story.

I'm presuming Annie uses child actors?

Imagine being 12yo or so, putting all that time in working with top actors.... and having drunk adults think they can sing better than you.

I would add to this debate, don’t ever go to the theatre and have the misfortune to be seated near or next to the party from the local stage school there to see one of their number on stage. Screaming, shouting and mayhem every time the precocious child came on stage. Add to that the one who draped his feet over the seat back in front of him next to my companion. This was a show in London, it was crap, we walked out in the interval

What a complete non-story. I was once told not to take pictures at a swimming pool despite the fact I wasn't taking pictures, I was playing Candy crush. God knows how I recovered from the ordeal. I should have gone to the press.

How did you know the child actor was precocious?

I'm going to see Annie in November and seeing a professional stage performance of it has been my ambition since I was 6 years old so I hope no one is like these folks and ruins it.
I mentioned Rocky Horror upthread - hilariously at one performance I was at a bloke got asked to leave because he was very very drunk. The one musical you are actually allowed to shout rude things at the actors, dance and generally be silly and someone still managed to spoil it a little because he was so pissed !
No toast, rice or water pistols are allowed at Rocky Horror these days though 😕

I suppose it depends how distracting the 'miming and swaying' was. If someone was swaying in front of me at the theatre, I would find it really distracting.

if the mother had been there I would have suggested to her not to put her daughter on the stage Mrs Worthington. Think Bonnie Langford as Violet Elisabeth Bott. I think Bonnie is great incidentally and very talented

Would you have preferred an adult to play the role of the child?

Just someone with a grain of talent

I shall be sure to give a masterful performance 😁

I would love to see Annie incidentally.

… and herein lies the problem.
No, you aren’t supposed to sing along to live musicals unless they are the Rocky Horror Show or performances advertised as being sing along or audience participation. I believe some shows now ask audiences not to sing except at a set reprise at the end.

The default is definitely no singing except by the trained and rehearsed professional artists everyone has paid a lot of money to see and hear.