Expat Son and I saw CATS last night with his classmates from school. It was nice to see so many children with their parents there for the performance. The performance was nice but would have been better if not for the place it was staged. The performance in GZ was staged in the Tian He Gymnasium, this is where basketball is played and watched. The acoustics of the place was awful and the sound was not as good as it could have been had it been staged in the Music Hall on Ersha Island. Basically the sound was lost in the Gymnasium.
Then there was competition with the Chinese people in the audience, they have a long way to go in understanding respect and quiet for the entertainers and the other people in the audience watching. Sitting behind me were a few people that were lunching quite loudly and making a lot of noise with their wrappers. Next to me were some of the people that work in the facility talking quite loudly on their mobile phones, these guys were in uniform and were supposed to be the security they also had their family with them,and again they were eating and slurping and talking quite loudly. I had to tell them to be quiet more than once. Thank God they left after the intermission so I could hear the show with out the slurping and talking.
Then there were people with the show or venue wearing CATS t-shirts, again these girls were there to help people to their seats and also it would seem to tell people to not use there mobile phones in the room. Which the offenders did anyway after the security person told them not too and lowered the flashlight from their seat. Basically a lot of interruptions were going on in the audience for viewers that were actually there to see the show.
In all of this I felt sorry for the people on stage that worked their asses off to give a good show. The Dancers and Singers were superb, despite all of the activity going on in the audience. The next time I go to a Musical it will be in Hong Kong at least the audience there know how to shut their phones off and put them away. They know not to eat during the performance, and most important of all, they know how to shut the hell up, so the rest of the audience can enjoy the performance.
I guess you could say that my first time seeing CATS could have been a better experience than it was last night. I could tell it is a good show so I will try to find the DVD next time I am in Hong Kong. Perhaps I will get the opportunity to see the show live again with an audience that knows how to behave.
Preferably in Hong Kong or a more civilized venue.
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