One thing in this world is true about theatre people: We don’t put up with people making a ruckus during shows. You know who learned that lesson pretty quickly? Lauren Boebert. The controversial political figure who loves to pose for holiday cards with her family and a bunch of guns decided to go see a touring production of the musical Beetlejuice. Based on the Tim Burton movie of the same name starring Michael Keaton as a dead man just trying to get back to the world of the living, the musical is chaotic and weird but somewhat fun as an experience. That doesn’t mean you get to cause a scene.
Boebert went to the Denver performance of the musical and reportedly decided to sing, vape, and just generally disrupt the show. According to an incident report, an usher said the following about Boebert and her seatmates: “They told me they would not leave. I told them that they need to leave the theater and if they do not, they will be trespassing. The patrons said they would not leave. I told them I would (be) going to get Denver Police. They said go get them.”
It apparently took police to get Boebert out of the theater. Drew Sexton, Boebert’s campaign manager, said in a statement, “I can confirm the stunning and salacious rumors: in her personal time, Congresswoman Lauren Boebert is indeed a supporter of the performing arts (gasp!) and, to the dismay of a select few, enthusiastically enjoyed a weekend performance of Beetlejuice.” Boebert’s team is claiming she was kicked out for taking pictures, which you are famously not allowed to do in a theatre during a live musical performance—a fact that is announced at the beginning of nearly every single show ever performed on Broadway and in touring productions.
How do you “support” the arts if you are ruining everyone else’s time?
Singing along to your favorite musical should be reserved for your home, your car, karaoke, or theatre auditions. Not when you’re seeing the show live. Boebert’s team didn’t deny that she was singing, just that she was vaping (which, sure, okay). Still, you wouldn’t be kicked out for just taking pictures. You’d be told to put your phone away and that photography isn’t allowed. If Boebert’s version of events is to be believed, she would have put her phone away and watched the show.
Theatres kick you out when you ruin the experience for other patrons, which includes singing along to the musical that other people are trying to watch. Frankly, that’s my pet peeve in theatre, so I would have complained because I did not pay to hear Lauren Boebert sing the Beetlejuice cast recording.
The bottom line is that Boebert got kicked out of the show. Good. Theatre people don’t like Republicans, and if anyone tries to tell you that we do, we don’t. Even though she is “a supporter of the performing arts,” it is clear that Boebert doesn’t learn anything from the messaging within these shows. Maybe next time go and actually pay attention to what the shows are singing about, Lauren.
(featured image: Win McNamee / Theo Wargo, Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions)
