The audience was obnoxious. There were a lot of parts to the show that really required a quiet audience, and all of the shuffling, whispering, candy wrappers, and vibrating phones drowned out the sound from the stage several times. The theatre also stupidly let in a huge number of latecomers right at the start of one of the quieter routines. We could only sporadically see and hear what was happening on stage.
Even at only 90 minutes it felt too long and I was getting antsy. An intermission would have helped, but those aren't very common in shows that are less than two hours. I think when each scene/routine of Stomp is looked at individually, there was only one that I would say went on for too long (the newspaper comic relief) and one I could have done without (Zippo lighters).
It's a tough line for productions to walk. You don't want people to get antsy but you also don't want them to feel like they got short changed. I get schools making a bit of noise at the cost for our 45 minute production, but they have to notice how squirmy the kids get after sitting on the gym floor for more than a half hour. Once we lose the attention of the audience (which is easy with little kids sitting next to each other on a hardwood floor) the schools aren't getting their money's worth. It also costs us just as much to run a 30 minute show as it does a 60 minute show.
The only other hitch to the evening was the cold. Holy Jebus on a pogo stick, it was cold. We parked downtown in David's spot then took the LRT to Health Sciences which is right next to the Jub, but because of the stupid construction we had to walk all the way to the end of the block. After the show we went to University station to wait. Health Sciences might have been a bit closer, but it was also outside which was no good for a wait of up to fifteen minutes.
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