BWW Readers Name Their Weirdest Theatre Experiences!
By: Linnae Medeiros Dec. 17, 2019
We asked, and you delivered! We recently asked BroadwayWorld readers to name the weirdest theatre experiences they've either seen on stage or experienced while performing. Now we've gathered some of the standout answers for you to enjoy, with experiences from shows including Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Newsies, If/Then, and more. Check it all out below!
when I went to see @DarrenCriss in Hedwig in 2015, I ended up buying a ticket for the "kiss seat" without knowing it! Darren Criss was my first kiss!
- vroom vroom, bitches (@ewwdavid) December 6, 2019
@elizabethevaliz on Instagram - "Getting hit in the eye with toilet paper role by Fester in The Addams Family"
@bannatyne_14 on Instagram - "Almost fell into the orchestra pit"
We were doing Guys and Dolls & pranked the actor playing Nathan by taping a bright purple bra inside the gift box from Adelaide; however, when he pulled out the scarf, the bra came with it and revealed to the audience by mistake. Shocked silence overcame the theater.
- Kristen Papenhausen (@keppek35) December 6, 2019
@tali.socks on Instagram - "A guy fell asleep on my shoulder and I didn't know what to do about it"
@bennyandthejess on Instagram - "Lead fired a day before opening, but one of our ensemble had secretly memorized all his lines!"
This year when I saw the Cher Show (balcony) we heard people saying "Is there a doctor in the house?" (Didn't realize people really used that term) It was an older women. After a few minutes they brought her out on a stretcher. Show never stopped.
- Ruth (@BabyRuthCT) December 6, 2019
@e_kamin on Instagram - "having to quick change on the boys bathroom. not ideal."
@justboringbella on Instagram - "Got cursed by Macbeth: several injured, someone getting SICK sick, tech issues, etc."
I once watched someone eat the Schmackery's cookie made for the show we were in while the show was on. WILD
- sid // she/her // ?i??? (@onesmallstan) December 6, 2019
@caroline_odom16 on Instagram - "Elsa's mic pack got ripped off her dress in the middle of her chafe scene at my theatre"
@mollydibb on Instagram - "When I saw Les Mis, the girl in front of me was waving her hands like she was a conductor"
I was singing @Newsies Santa Fe when the lighting director decided to turn off all the lights and shine a spotlight on me. I was blinded, fell face-first off the stage, got a bloody nose, and finished the song. I wiped the blood with my sleeve in the angsty way Jack would do so.
- Jenna Boss (@ThaJennaBoss) December 6, 2019
@_mylesofsmiles_ on Instagram - "I sprained my ankle by falling into a baptismal pond while rehearsing for The Lion King"
@claricuqui on Instagram - "In Annie, my pants ripped off during a dance number so I used them as a scarf"
When @idinamenzel and company were premiering If/Then at National theater in DC and the stage broke. We were treated to a 15 minute Idina monologue while it was fixed and it was GLORIOUS
- Karen Hart (@little_hart) December 6, 2019
@jamieb_broadway on Instagram - "Music Man, Norm Lewis restarted Trouble due to forgetting the lyrics"
When I saw @betrayalbwy a few days ago, this guy in front of me (who was wearing a really nice suit) took his shoes off and sat them beside his seat in the aisle. The attendant made an announcement to everyone to keep their feet out of the aisle ?
- Shayda Lynn (@shaydalynn) December 7, 2019
@frankiearanguren on Instagram - "When I was in Annie, I fell asleep in my bunk bed at the top of the show"
@ariana_aray on Instagram - "My hook fell off my hand during Peter Pan! (I was Captain Hook)"
was 4th row at the prom and the woman next to me was wearing a jacket like this which was really light reflective that she kept taking off and putting back on and not only was i annoyed but it was very distracting to the cast and she was asked to keep her jacket off so she LEFT pic.twitter.com/FwscOyEqHP
- kendra (@aIvarezes) December 8, 2019
@karina.isabelle1 on Instagram - "Right as the show started, my nose started bleeding, so I stuffed a tissue in my pig nose"
At a touring production of Newsies, my seat mate was a newborn baby. They even changed its diaper at the seats during intermission. It was a continual distraction throughout the show, and not the place for a fresh baby to be #CallABabysitter
- Emily Zawacki (@zawackanator) December 10, 2019
@summer_8125 on Instagram - "one time, I was in a production of Mamma Mia, and the woman playing Rosie forgot her lines"
As a performer, I had to walk across a platform close to the audience, singing, with a spotlight in my eye. Some woman actually had her bare feet on the platform and was painting her toenails. ??????
- Fleurette (@Fleurette15236) December 7, 2019
@savannah_leigh_ on Instagram - "I found a rubber chicken in my seat before a community production of West Side Story."
when i went to see @BeetlejuiceBway the guy beside me was on the phone for the first minute or so of the show, and he was talking and i thought he was reacting to lydia singing? he was just being disrespectful and obnoxious??
- Ben Ross (@benjerwhopper05) December 7, 2019
@idratherbme on Instagram - "School's soundboard was broken, so we had to play sound cues from backstage"
Young man wearing a muscle tee seated next to me in the orchestra at Beautiful pulled a stick of deodorant out of his bag and applied it to his pits pre-curtain. #appalled
- Sue Cohen (@suegoco) December 7, 2019
@itsmehannahryan on Instagram - "There was a drunk girls when I saw Hamilton"
when the couple next to my partner and I came 20 mins late to the show and about 15 minutes later pulled out cooked sushi and started eating it... and refused to put it away when we asked. We spoke to an usher at intermission who was shocked and moved us to better seats.
- Viv Jean (@VivKJean) December 6, 2019
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