Little Old My Fair Ladies

A girl in the drama program at my school is currently in a production of My Fair Lady at St. Peter's Anglican Church. They are great neighbours to our school as well, so between wanting to support the student and wanting to foster a good relationship with the church and St. Peter's Players, off I went tonight to the show.
Before I say too much, I should preface this by saying that my mom FORCED me to watch MFL on film in my tweens (so about 3 years ago...j/k), though I protested loudly. Of course, I instantly fell in love with it, just like when she forced me to watch Camelot. A lot of people are in love with MFL, and Audrey Hepburn, so I must say that it is one of those musicals that I would never want to tackle because it is so beloved.
That being said, the St. Peter's Players did a great job tonight. I thought many of the performances were outstanding, considering how challenging a script it is. I don't really want to review the show though. I want to mention the AUDIENCE.
Oh my annoying goodness.
So, I seem to draw people to me in dark public spaces that like to be as grating as possible. At the movies, at plays, at concerts, whatever. This happens because of the energy that I put into CARING about audience behaviour, which is a lot. If I didn't care, it wouldn't happen to me. I know this.
Needless to say, yet again I got some goodies. Four very sweet-looking and charming-acting little older ladies sat behind me tonight. At first I found them adorable as I eavesdropped on their pre-show banter. They all had UK accents of varying sorts (who doesn't love that?) and seemed to be great friends.
Then the show started.
I knew there would be trouble when they started talking about the actors and how they looked, and who was funny, and so on. Then that died down, and the first Eliza Doolittle number came along. "All I want is a room somewhere, far away from the cold night air..."
Well, let me tell you, all I wanted was some duct tape for the mouths of four little old ladies, who BEGAN TO SING ALONG. I tried to breathe through it. The song ended, then they were pretty well behaved again until the next Eliza song came along. By the time we got to "I Could Have Danced All Night", I had accepted my fate.
I respect that they love the show. I love the show. I love a lot of shows. I can sing along in my head, in fact, I can recite the lines to several, but that's where it stays. IN MY HEAD. I cannot tell you the strength of will it took not to shush them. I am super proud of myself for not doing it, but it took pounds of patience, I can tell you.
Please, please, please people, do not sing along, talk about the costumes through all of the major production numbers, open twizzlers during intense love scenes, commentate throughout the entire show on every action taken by every character, or do any of the other super annoying audience behaviours that make me want to push eject on your seat, and watch with glee as you are cannoned into the air, never to be heard from again. Please. Musical theatre is lots of fun. If you want to sing along, rent it on video and WATCH IT AT HOME. The rest of us totally appreciate it. Cheers!