On Leaving a Broadway Show at Intermission


I recently had an odd experience. And it's one that I've never had before. I left a Broadway show at intermission, and felt absolutely no guilt doing so. Why, you ask? Well, it's a little complicated, and also, really easy to explain. While I won't reveal the show itself, I will share that it was just bad. Terribly convoluted in every way, and for about 65 minutes, I had no real idea what was happening on the stage in front of me. That's what's so perplexing about the whole thing. By the time a show reaches a theatre in New York City, it's been through the gamut of reviews, tweaks and changes. So even if a show isn't groundbreaking, it's never truly terrible.

 That didn't happen here. This particular show played another city to pretty good reviews. So I'd assumed that meant here in Manhattan, it would garner the same type of press and response from the audience. I was very, very wrong. I attended before the show officially opened, so there were no reviews yet; not that I buy tickets to or avoid shows based on reviews - but they are helpful.

 My choice to leave at intermission, was made almost immediately. I'd say within the first 5 minutes of the show, I knew I wouldn't see the end of it. It did, in fact get "better" after those initial 5 minutes, and had I been on my own, I probably would have stuck it out. But the people with me, also were not having the usual good time at the theatre, so we just decided to leave it behind. 

 While I'm not guilty about it, I do hate that I left. That's why I'm not naming the show. I don't feel like I can adequately rate it now. Maybe the second half was transformative in a way the first act wasn't. Maybe it finally hit its stride after the break, and I missed it. All of these things could be true. However, that's where those reviews that weren't out yet, come into play. When they were published, I read them all. Each and every theatre insider, rated the show in the same way I had. It was loud, weird and made no sense. I must admit, though I have a complicated relationship with reviews, I felt vindicated.

 Like I said, this was the very first time this has happened, and while I can't guarantee it's the last, it probably will be. Tickets to Broadway aren't cheap. But that's not the real reason. I LOVE going to shows. I've been very open, that every show, even if it's bad, has something good and new and different to say. Even the really bad ones - like the one I left. There was one number, halfway through act one, that made me smile and dance along in my seat. It was a number where you could see what the producers and creatives were trying to do. If each number had been as fun as that one, the show would have been a big fat hit. 

 But sadly, the rest didn't add up. 

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