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JANE MOORE
Woman’s ‘fun singalong’ at The Bodyguard is blatantly disrespectful – it’s not just ‘someone enjoying themselves’
PICTURE the scene: It’s nil-nil and the top striker of your favourite Premier League club is about to take a crucial penalty just seconds before the final whistle.
It’s the big moment they’ve trained relentlessly for, and the goal is firmly in their sights.
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Then, suddenly, some wholly untrained numpty runs on to the pitch and kicks it wide.
There would be collective outrage and it would be front page news.
Setting aside the fact that football is a religion for some, this imagined example of disrespectful behaviour is no different to that endured by former Pussycat Doll Melody Thornton at a performance of The Bodyguard at the Palace Theatre in Manchester the other night.
She’s a professional singer who has no doubt rehearsed relentlessly for the musical’s big moment when her character Rachel Marron — played by Whitney Houston in the famous movie — hits the high notes of power ballad I Will Always Love You.
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But her efforts were drowned out by the singalong caterwauling of two overly refreshed members of the audience who then started fighting with other theatregoers and had to be forcibly removed by police.
It was blatantly disrespectful behaviour that the majority of us condemn, but on radio phone-ins and the Clapham Omnibus there were still a few expressing the sentiment of: “Oh come on, they were just enjoying themselves. No one died . . . ” Yada, yada, yada.
But why should their enjoyment eclipse that of everyone else who paid up to £68 a ticket to watch a professional at work, and left disappointed when the show had to be abandoned?
There are plenty of stage musicals where the opportunity for a singalong is encouraged.
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The cast of Mamma Mia: The Musical, for example, prompt everyone to join in the iconic Dancing Queen for the finale.
Blatant disrespect
But squawking over lead Mazz Murray’s spine-tingling rendition of The Winner Takes It All during the show? Abba-solutely not.
As Melody Thornton graciously pointed out the following day, she has felt “nothing but love” from Manchester theatregoers in the past so hopefully it was a rare incident that will never be repeated.
But it happened despite the theatre walls being peppered with signs warning that audience participation is not required.
Also, in February, the King’s Theatre in Glasgow was forced to ask audiences of The Bodyguard to not try to “outsing” the actors, and a performance of Jersey Boys at the Edinburgh Playhouse this year had to be stopped after a fight broke out.
Little wonder, then, that recent research shows that 45 per cent of theatre workers nationwide are thinking of quitting because of the “stressful environment”, and 90 per cent say they’ve seen “bad audience behaviour”.
Bad behaviour blights so many aspects of daily life now, so let’s not allow it to permeate the few places we can still go to enjoy a stress-free night out.
THE Duke and Duchess of Sussex will reportedly announce “within days” whether or not they will be attending the Coronation of King Charles.
Which, considering the invite numbers are limited and the RSVP cut-off date was on Monday last week, seems a little rude.
So if you get an invite in the post at the last minute, you’ll know you’re an 11th-hour seat-filler who didn’t make the first cut.
And if you don’t, it means Harry and Meghan are coming.
Which they probably will because their brand (a.k.a. earnings) relies on them maintaining a visible affiliation with the very institution they frequently criticise.
CERTAIN Cabinet ministers are reportedly angry that they’re being denied a plus-one invite to the King’s Coronation because of limited numbers.
A source says of the partners: “They sacrifice a lot for their other half to do the job they do and it would mean a great deal to be invited to the Coronation.”
But is their “sacrifice” as great as, say, the charity worker who toils tirelessly all year round for the benefit of others with little fanfare, and whose invitation might have to be rescinded to accommodate them?
One imagines not.
NHS is such a mess
MILLIONS of us have given up trying to see our GPs because it takes so long to get an appointment.
Which might explain why our poor A&E departments are overloaded with people desperate to know if their symptoms are serious or nothing to worry about.
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Meanwhile, lengthy ambulance delays are forcing a third of A&E patients to make their own way to hospital via car, taxi or even public transport.
But what if you have a suspected broken neck or back, when being moved by anyone who’s not a professional medic might potentially make the injury far worse?
The frontline staff do their best under very trying circumstances, but the institution itself is a shambles.
It needs root-and-branch reform.
And pretending otherwise is costing lives.
Eeyore to say thanks
THE Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has said that taking anti-depressants helps him to feel like an “average sort of human being”.
Addressing an audience at Canterbury Cathedral, he said: “They work very well. They restore me to Eeyore status from something much worse.”
Eeyore, for anyone who isn’t a Winnie The Pooh fan, is the rather morose donkey who has low energy and chronic negativism.
While it’s admirable that 67-year-old Welby is speaking publicly about his mental health issues – and thereby helping to break the taboo that once forced men to keep quiet about such matters – one can’t help but extend sympathy to his wife Caroline too.
Because however much you love someone, living with a perpetual Eeyore can sometimes be a challenge.
Particularly if, like many, you’re generally Tiggerish by nature.
Trump just so ropey
THERE’S been a rare sighting of the lesser-spotted Melania Trump, who broke cover to dine with husband Donald at their Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
Videos posted online showed that they walked into the ornate ballroom to a standing ovation and sat at a table blocked off by red velvet ropes.
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Given that this would prove no deterrent to a determined attacker, one can only assume it was put there as a shield to prevent other diners from approaching for a chat or selfie.
Not very “man of the people”, is it?
UNIVERSITY researchers have concluded that wine and food tastes better when shared with people whose company you enjoy.
This, apparently, might shed light on why a bottle you quaff during a sun-filled paradise holiday does not taste as nice if you try it back home.
Interesting. But may I humbly suggest that some wines are so bad that they could be sipped during a moonlit supper with Ryan Gosling on a Maldivian beach and they’d still strip the top layer of skin from your throat.
Room n' bust
I SPENT Easter weekend on the Dorset coast, where residents have mixed feelings about the potential arrival of a barge that would house 500 migrants.
If it is successful, we could see many more dotted around the coastline.
They would provide an alternative to the current set-up where asylum seekers are accommodated in hotels.
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But with news that 150 pubs have already closed this year because of soaring energy bills, what are the chances that hundreds of those resort hotels will join them once the migrant business has been removed?
After all, there’s a cost-of-living crisis and they can’t survive on just the patronage of we Brits booking a week-long stay in July.
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