The booze is flowin’ on Broadway.
According to numerous teed off theatergoers, the 75-minute “prologue” offered before the new hit show “Cabaret” — in which dancers perform in the “Kit Kat Club” bar area of the August Wilson Theater while attendees imbibe — is leading to some bad behavior by tipsy guests, we hear.
All guests at the show are offered a free shot of schnapps and given a drink voucher when entering the performance starring Eddie Redmayne and Gayle Rankin. The show is set in a seedy club in Weimar-era Germany as it falls to the Nazis.
There is also champagne and cocktails served during the show to those who have shelled out for pricey tables.
“The lady next to me was incredibly drunk, had to get up to pee multiple times during the show, was clinking around her ice cubes (lady, you finished it),” complained one person on a Reddit thread about the show.
In another Reddit conversation, people complained about getting in shouting matches when asking unruly patrons to tone it down.
“They were clearly drunk, and over-served,” said one Redditor of a rowdy couple. “She was cackling, talking, singing, burping, and trying to engage with the actors. . . When I finally asked to her to please be quiet she loudly told me, ‘F–k you!’”
When this person’s partner went to alert management, they said, the allegedly blotto woman, “again said, ‘F–k you!’ Then she gave me two middle fingers, and held them there.”
This person claims security told them they were “monitoring” the situation.
Another person claims they were near a “drunk woman in the front row who almost got kicked out for loudly blowing kisses at Bebe [Neuwirth] every time she was on stage.” They added that the patron, “received a stern talking to from security during intermission, and then looked confused and sleepy for all of Act II.”
This person says that when her husband confronted the woman and her date, they got in a shouting match.
“He only got in the shouting match when the man started saying ‘f-you’ to me after I backed up another lady who told them they were rude as the lights came up,” they claimed. The attendee added that, “We did still manage to have a good time, but definitely put a damper on the evening.”
Another person commented, “I went last week and we had a single person next to us was wasted kept asking me and my wife what was going on. People are definitely getting over-served.”
Several people pointed out the problem is not specific to “Cabaret,” and they almost all loved the the show. One commenter said, “The show is fantastic and worth dealing with some drunk dummies.”
Last month at “Cabaret,” a woman was thrown out after walking on stage during the song “Two Ladies,” and grabbing Redmayne.
The star told The Hollywood Reporter of the incident, “I was so in the scene that I actually don’t remember that. There was definitely someone who was a bit too eager who was clapping along to the rhythm of ‘Mein Herr,’ and singing along a bit too vocally. We love a vocal and passionate audience, but there’s a line.”
Many also complained about cell phones going off, with one person kidding, “Where is Patti Lupone when you need her?” referencing a 2015 moment when the legendary Tony winner snatched a phone from an audience member during another show, “Shows for Days.”
Another fan suggested, “Just think of it as part of the experience. If they had cellphones in Weimar Germany, they would be ringing during the show too. And everyone would be drunk too. This is immersive theatre!”
A rep from “Cabaret” declined to comment.
This isn’t the first time there’s been some commotion at a production of “Cabaret.”
During a 2014 revival directed by Sam Mendes — and starring Michelle Williams and Alan Cumming — “Transformers” star Shia LaBeouf was in the audience and infamously arrested during intermission for disorderly conduct, including lighting up a cigarette and yelling at the actors.
