A performance of the Bodyguard musical turned riotous after unwanted audience participation. Photo / Getty Images
A performance of the Bodyguard musical turned riotous after unwanted audience participation. Photo / Getty Images
Rowdy fans of musical theatre recently “brought down the curtain” during a performance of the Whitney Houston musical The Bodyguard. And not in a good way.
The unintended dramatics have sparked an etiquette debate in theatre districts, from Broadway to Melbourne’s East End. Should audiences be allowed to sing?
Patrons were ejected from theManchester’s Palace Theatre on Friday for singing along to the closing musical number, I Will Always Love You. Attendees described a “mini riot” after the show, based on the 1992 film, was halted and performers refused to continue.
Police were summoned to maintain order as the mutinous audience was cleared, and the play was not finished.
“We are disappointed that the last 10 minutes of the show needed to be cancelled due to disruptive customers refusing to stay seated and spoiling the performance for others,” a spokesperson said.
Pussycat Dolls member Melody Thornton, who was performing the starring role of Rachel Marron, said she was “very, very sorry that we couldn’t finish the show”.
Theatre-goer Karl Bradley said audience singing “completely ruined” the experience, tweeting his outrage.
Written by Dolly Parton and made famous by the Whitney Houston film - the showstopper song is an audience favourite. However, the show now has a strict “no singing along” policy. Ushers have gotten tired of “shushing”.
The production’s recent trip to Scotland was warned that singing would not be tolerated.
The show asked patrons to “zip it” and make sure “the professionals on stage are the only people entertaining us with their performance”.
Front-of-house workers have reportedly begun greeting patrons with “please refrain from singing” posters.
However some pundits have argued that if they didn’t want audience participation, they should have screened the Whitney Houston film.
Whitney Houston in The Bodyguard.
The suspended show has caused a rift within the musical theatre world and opened a discussion on theatre etiquette.
In Broadway and the West End the popularity of sing-along, karaoke shows have blurred the lines for when audience participation is - or isn’t - required.
Popular Broadway adaptations and pop musicals sometimes encourage auditoriums to join in. But sing-along crowds are a rising problem, say theatre workers in London and New York.
One West End theatre worker complained that the behaviour of theatre-goers has got worse since the pandemic.
”Everything is now treated like a jukebox musical pantomime,” the disgusted usher wrote on the theatre forum on the London visitors Reddit site.
“Ushers get abused verbally (and in some cases physically) for trying to maintain ‘traditional theatre etiquette’.”
Singing along, using phones to film and sometimes talk is being challenged nightly.
The anonymous front-of-house worker said complaints were up 150 per cent on pre-pandemic.
While some theatregoers argue that the music is contagious and they appreciate the atmosphere of a live audience, others complain that they did not pay $200 to hear amateurs spoil the evening.
There is one piece of theatre etiquette performers and attendees will agree upon: phones should be turned off and never touched.
