The Lullaby of Sioux City
In this blog I frequently make fun of Sioux Cityans, and their extreme lack of class and culture. But trust me - this is a community best suited for Larry the Cable Guy and Tractor Pulls and not Aida or Madame Butterfly. And last night I experienced yet another stunning example of how lowbrow one Midwest city can be.
Last evening I took The Lovely Mrs. G. and Miss Katie to see the touring version of the Broadway hit musical “42nd Street”. Good show – lots of singing, lots of tapping, lots of dames in short shorts. (This is Broadway, kids – it’s all about the LEGS!) The performance was held at Sioux City’s actually-quite-beautiful Orpheum Theater, which went through an extensive remodeling a few years ago, and is now suitable to host major touring acts. (When “Cats” came to town a few years back, they had to perform at the hockey arena.)
Anyway, 42nd Street was a great show. It was the audience that was bad.
We were seated on the aisle on the far right side of the auditorium. To the left of Miss Katie were an older lady and a teen girl. (Grandma and granddaughter?) Both sang along with the songs. Oh, and at intermission, the girl had her iPod going while Grandma checked her e-mail on her Blackberry.
Behind us were three old bats who talked through the first act, and then decided that Act 2 was a sing-along, so they at first whispered, then by the time they got to “Lullaby of Broadway”, you’d think it was karaoke night.
But in front of me was the winning couple – the old guy on the aisle watched Act 1 through binoculars. Keep in mind that we were in row “G” – only 12 rows back. (I think he was busy checking out those dame legs I mentioned earlier.) But apparently he tired of that quickly, because about halfway through Act 2 he put the binoculars away, picked up his jacket, and began elbowing his wife. “Can we go now?” “I think it’s almost over. Let’s go.” “If we go now, we can beat the traffic.” And my favorite whine from this old coot? “We should’ve left at halftime.” The cast was barely into their curtain call bows when this old crank had dragged his wife up the aisle and out of the theater to supposedly “beat the traffic”.
Yep, welcome to Sioux City, Iowa – home of class.
It’s been like this at just about every one of these shows we’ve gone to. When we saw “Rent” a couple of years ago, it finally dawned on the redneck sitting behind us who the character “Angel” was, because all of a sudden Mr. Neck yelled, “Hey, that’s a DUDE!” The old ladies behind us at “Miss Saigon” complained about the dirty language the soldiers in the musical used. It’s about war, you old hags – what’d you expect? A guy snored all the way through one show. We’ve also seen shows interrupted by cell phones ringing, even though they beg, plead, and pretty much threaten people to turn the damn things off. And yet they do it anyway.
Growing up with Seattle’s theatrical audiences, you learned how to behave at performances. You show up on time, sit down, shut up, applaud when appropriate, and let the performers do all the singing. It’s not that much to ask.
And yet Sioux Cityans just don’t seem to get it. They’ve spent too many nights at home in their recliner drinking warm Budweiser and watching Gallagher or Carrot Top on Comedy Central, then think it’s okay to go out and drop $60 a ticket to chat, sing, check your e-mail, or do other stupid-ass things in a theater where people around you are trying to watch (and enjoy) the show.
But someday Mrs. G. and I will move on to a community with a little more class, a lot more taste, and a ton and a half more etiquette. And it’s at that point I’ll buy us season tickets to the Broadway tours.
Because I love the shows – as long as they remain on stage.
Last evening I took The Lovely Mrs. G. and Miss Katie to see the touring version of the Broadway hit musical “42nd Street”. Good show – lots of singing, lots of tapping, lots of dames in short shorts. (This is Broadway, kids – it’s all about the LEGS!) The performance was held at Sioux City’s actually-quite-beautiful Orpheum Theater, which went through an extensive remodeling a few years ago, and is now suitable to host major touring acts. (When “Cats” came to town a few years back, they had to perform at the hockey arena.)
Anyway, 42nd Street was a great show. It was the audience that was bad.
We were seated on the aisle on the far right side of the auditorium. To the left of Miss Katie were an older lady and a teen girl. (Grandma and granddaughter?) Both sang along with the songs. Oh, and at intermission, the girl had her iPod going while Grandma checked her e-mail on her Blackberry.
Behind us were three old bats who talked through the first act, and then decided that Act 2 was a sing-along, so they at first whispered, then by the time they got to “Lullaby of Broadway”, you’d think it was karaoke night.
But in front of me was the winning couple – the old guy on the aisle watched Act 1 through binoculars. Keep in mind that we were in row “G” – only 12 rows back. (I think he was busy checking out those dame legs I mentioned earlier.) But apparently he tired of that quickly, because about halfway through Act 2 he put the binoculars away, picked up his jacket, and began elbowing his wife. “Can we go now?” “I think it’s almost over. Let’s go.” “If we go now, we can beat the traffic.” And my favorite whine from this old coot? “We should’ve left at halftime.” The cast was barely into their curtain call bows when this old crank had dragged his wife up the aisle and out of the theater to supposedly “beat the traffic”.
Yep, welcome to Sioux City, Iowa – home of class.
It’s been like this at just about every one of these shows we’ve gone to. When we saw “Rent” a couple of years ago, it finally dawned on the redneck sitting behind us who the character “Angel” was, because all of a sudden Mr. Neck yelled, “Hey, that’s a DUDE!” The old ladies behind us at “Miss Saigon” complained about the dirty language the soldiers in the musical used. It’s about war, you old hags – what’d you expect? A guy snored all the way through one show. We’ve also seen shows interrupted by cell phones ringing, even though they beg, plead, and pretty much threaten people to turn the damn things off. And yet they do it anyway.
Growing up with Seattle’s theatrical audiences, you learned how to behave at performances. You show up on time, sit down, shut up, applaud when appropriate, and let the performers do all the singing. It’s not that much to ask.
And yet Sioux Cityans just don’t seem to get it. They’ve spent too many nights at home in their recliner drinking warm Budweiser and watching Gallagher or Carrot Top on Comedy Central, then think it’s okay to go out and drop $60 a ticket to chat, sing, check your e-mail, or do other stupid-ass things in a theater where people around you are trying to watch (and enjoy) the show.
But someday Mrs. G. and I will move on to a community with a little more class, a lot more taste, and a ton and a half more etiquette. And it’s at that point I’ll buy us season tickets to the Broadway tours.
Because I love the shows – as long as they remain on stage.
posted by Tommy G at
9:26 AM
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