WHAT part of “Do not sing during the show” do theatre audiences not understand?

The big showstopping number of The Bodyguard was quite literally a showstopper on Friday night when a performance of the popular musical was brought to a halt, due to unruly audience members. Two people were thrown out by security for refusing to stay seated and loudly singing the show’s big song, I Will Always Love You.

The pair were “forcibly removed” from their seats at the Palace Theatre in Manchester, and police were called.

The theatre had asked people not to sing during the show. Tash Kenyon, who’d taken her mother to see the musical for her birthday, told the PA news agency that signs highlighting the singing ban, held up by stewards walking up and down the aisles before the performance, were “incredibly hard to miss”. Two announcements were also made asking people not to sing during the show, adding that the audience would have chance to join in with singing in the finale.

But the performance was halted just 20 minutes in when some audience members started to sing along. Says Tash: “They were removed, and the show continued. It had about 10 minutes left when the lead started performing I Will Always Love You. Someone shouted, ‘Does this mean we can start singing now?’ which set the audience off laughing, and that’s when the singing started over the top of the lead’s vocals. The show stopped a minute later, the lights went on. I could hear the commotion.”

Another theatre-goer said some people in the audience had begun a countdown ahead of the finale and started to join in with singing I Will Always Love You, attempting to hit the high notes, leading to “chaos”.

Audience members taking to social media called the incident a “mini riot” and shared photos of police vans outside the theatre. Greater Manchester Police said the evidence is being reviewed.

It all sounds chaotic, but I applaud the theatre for taking action. I go to the theatre regularly, and while most people behave well, there’s often someone who insists on singing along at a musical, or sometimes even calling out to the cast. Drunken heckling is fine in a comedy club - not during a theatre performance.

So I sympathise with the audience at The Bodyguard whose night was ruined by a handful of noisy sing-alongers. Their behaviour also showed a total lack of respect for the performers on stage.

All too often, audiences at theatres and cinemas appear to have no manners - texting or scrolling through mobiles or noisily getting up, leaving their seats and shuffling past everyone to get out, only to return with drinks and snacks, as if they’re in a bar. They seem oblivious of others around them.

Maybe it’s time for our theatres to get tough, and adopt the zero tolerance of some American venues. On a trip to New York once, my sister and I went to a Broadway show and we were being shouted at by front-of-house staff the minute we walked in. “Switch off your phones! You are in a theatre, people! Absolutely no talking! You are not here for conversation!” bellowed a member of staff as we took our seats. During the interval he was barking more orders at the toilet queue: “Get in line! Back up against the wall!” As soon as the show ended we were ushered out of the theatre within minutes. It was like a military operation.

While it was a bit bewildering to be ordered about, I admired the no-nonsense efficiency. It was clear that any disturbances in the auditorium would not be tolerated and, since theatre tickets don’t come cheap, that’s fair enough.

You are in a theatre, people! You’re not on your sofa, stuffing your face and scrolling through your phone, or at a pub karaoke, inflicting your excruciating amateur vocals on an unfortunate captive crowd. It’s time to pull the curtain on audiences who disrespect the theatre.