"The people around you didn't pay for this."

Gareth Gates and Davina De Campo are taking the theatre world by storm as they star in Spongebob The Musical but along with their starring roles has come some serious issues within the community. Earlier this month during a performance of The Bodyguard in Manchester, police were called to the theatre after audience members were disrupting by singing over the ensemble. As anyone who is an avid theatre-goer knows, doing this is completely frowned upon. The Palace Theatre in Manchester had previously asked for this not to occur and for audience members to respect those on stage. Further controversy struck when the news was covered on This Morning and Allison Hammond made comments in support of the audience. She later apologised on Twitter, saying she has since educated herself as to why this is bad theatre etiquette and took back the comments she made. Speaking to Gareth and Davina following a performance of Spongebob in Birmingham, they discussed their views on the incident and why exactly this cannot be tolerated. Davina said: "Spongebob is a slightly different thing, if somebody is singing "And I am telling you.." get out, it's not your moment. Nobody is paying you. If you get invited to do it, go for it. In this arena, Spongebob isn't a super well known musical in this country. "Not everyone knows the music anyway whereas if you go to a jukebox musical [like The Bodyguard] and you're literally singing, get out. Nobody's paying for you, the people around you didn't pay for this and shouldn't have to listen to Sharon from number 36, they're not interested." While this show has a very young audience due to the hit TV show, there has been also talk of limiting the age of people attending theatre shows. Many feel young children should not be allowed into theatres to avoid more disruption and have called for changes to be implemented – but it's not something either Gareth or Davina agree with. Davina said: "I think it depends on the show, I'm not going to take a 12 year old to Rocky Horror. You learn what the etiquette is there and I think that it's one of those things, learning the etiquette. Parents have to be responsible for what they're taking their kids to. Some shows are not suitable for a six year old." Gareth then chimed in, saying: "But ours is, bring all the kids." Spongebob The Musical is coming to Dublin's Bord Gáis Energy Theatre from May 9th to May 13th.

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