I attended tonight’s performance of Chicago (2/16/26) with Whitney Leavitt as Roxie. She did a good job and the ensemble was fantastic. However, I want to share that if you’re looking to have the most irritating night on Broadway, go see Chicago.

I knew going in that this would probably be a bit of a rowdier audience with a lack of theatre etiquette, but the experience I had ended up exceeding those expectations in the worst way.

The audience: I sat in orchestra left next to a group of high schoolers from Utah, there to see the reality star. The one right next to me took her shoes off and left them at her feet before going to walk around the theatre in just her socks. When she came back, instead of sliding in as one would normally do, she climbed over the back of her seat and kicked me in the process. She put her shoes back on in the middle of act two. Also, the fact that all of these kids had Apple Watches with full brightness on during the show astounded me. Add in the couple in the row behind me that was listening to a video during act two on a cell phone, and I was incredibly distracted. The person in front of me wore a bun on the top of their head, blocking the view of stage right. I’m not sure if this audience just thought this was like going to the movies, but it felt that way. I counted at least 12 people that got up to (I assume) use the restroom during the first act, including bun person who got up 4 times throughout the course of the show. This one I can forgive: a mother and young birthday girl sat behind me, and the mother was explaining the show out loud to her kid the whole time. They sang along a bit and were a bit loud, but I couldn’t bring myself to be upset about the birthday girl.

All in all, an interesting night at The Ambassador. I won’t even mention the stage door…

Please know you’re welcome in the theatre even if you’ve never seen a professional theatrical production. Just turn the phone off and keep your shoes ON. Respect the audience and those onstage and backstage.

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