HOW should audiences behave at the theatre? A debate has been raging since a performance of The Bodyguard was stopped last week when some refused to stop singing at the musical, and were abusive towards staff.
Christopher Biggins, right, told us “the last thing you want is someone singing out of key” in the seat next to you, especially given that tickets these days can be so expensive, but some audience interaction can be good.
He pointed out that pantomimes need a rowdy crowd and people would “talk all the way through the show” in Shakespearean times. He thinks people now eat and drink too much, and some theatres might stop serving alcohol at the interval. Biggins recently heard of one audience member turning up with a whole roast chicken.
Fellow thesp Dame Maureen Lipman said while rudeness to staff was not acceptable, some shows invite a party atmosphere. “You can’t complain” if some audiences “want to kind of join in”, she told us this morning.
Few high notes from opera crowd as Brexit takes its toll
It seems British music is still being hit hard by Brexit. Opera designer Antony McDonald, who won an Olivier Award last week for his work on Alcina at the Royal Opera House, said Brexit had done “terrible damage” to his art form. He told The Stage it had “curtailed people’s careers” as they have to turn down jobs abroad due to limits on working overseas. Meanwhile, German punk band Trigger Cut claimed they were refused entry for their UK tour over the weekend, as they didn’t have a certificate of sponsorship for all of the venues they were supposed to play in. The band had their passports confiscated, and they said they were “humiliated”.
Carriage left in garage
Politicians look set to be sidelined at next month’s Coronation. Today it has been reported that some in the Cabinet are upset they won’t be able to bring a ‘plus one’ and now the Spectator reveals that the Speaker’s State Coach, the ceremonial vehicle of Commons speaker Lindsay Hoyle, won’t be used in the procession for the first time since 1831, to preserve its ageing wheels.
Northern Ireland deal leaves Bew troubled
As Joe Biden flies to Northern Ireland to mark 25 years of the Good Friday Agreement, Lord Bew, who helped craft it, has given a rough verdict on the current situation. Criticising “sickly sentimentality”, he says Rishi Sunak’s Windsor Framework has emboldened the GFA’s critics. Bew has links to No 10 today: his son John was an adviser to Boris Johnson and works for Sunak. Has he heard his dad’s thoughts?
Norton has a little lunch
Now that the reviews are in, the cast of A Little Life celebrated their opening week at Rosewood London on Sunday. Leading man James Norton led the “intimate” celebration. Tom Kelsey, Luke Thompson, Omari Douglas and Samson Ajewole were also there. The play, directed by Ivo Van Hove, has been described as both “disturbing”, and “a masterpiece”. When a Star Wars convention rocked up, Mayor Sadiq Khan and producer Kathleen Kennedy were flanked by Stormtroopers at New City Hall.
