Theater etiquette gone forever??- Page 3

[Elphaba3]

Posted: 12/31/09 at 11:21pm

Regarding being late, sometimes it's beyond our control. I was once about 15 minutes late to Wicked on tour because the person I went with got completely lost on the way to the theatre. I felt awful and it pretty much ruined the show for me. If I can help it, I always like to get there a half hour before curtain.

[chewy5000]

Posted: 1/1/10 at 12:21am

I usually 'dress up' for the theatre, however on occasion I take off my shoes when I go to the cinema.

[jonmbway4652]

Posted: 1/1/10 at 12:41am

When I saw the national tour of Phantom, a woman brought her baby to the show. The baby cried throughout the entire show. Whenever the baby started crying she would take him out of theatre (climbing over everyone in her row during the process). This happened seven times throughout the show. I was extremely frustrated to say the least.

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 1/1/10 at 1:18am

The OP is just so dripping with judgement and self-importance, it's honestly nauseating.

Get a hold of yourself.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 1/1/10 at 1:25am

Regarding being late, sometimes it's beyond our control. I was once about 15 minutes late to Wicked on tour because the person I went with got completely lost on the way to the theatre. I felt awful and it pretty much ruined the show for me. If I can help it, I always like to get there a half hour before curtain.

It's not always in our control. I like to get to the city about an hour before curtain. That gives me plenty of time to walk to the theatre and get there just as the doors open. But there have been times when the control has been taken out of my hands due to mass transit issues that couldn't be foreseen.

I usually 'dress up' for the theatre, however on occasion I take off my shoes when I go to the cinema.

Skeevy

[winston89]

Posted: 1/1/10 at 5:16am

I find that with kids in the theatre that they are more better behaved then the parents give them credit for. For the most part not needing their mother's line by line translations of what is going on onstage etc.

[italianpride888]

Posted: 1/1/10 at 9:58am

Updated On: 1/3/10 at 09:58 AM

[singtopher]

Posted: 1/1/10 at 10:47am

For the record, having sold tickets for Disney shows as recently at August, they admit 2 and up for their shows. All other are 4 and up.

[snowskittle]

Posted: 1/1/10 at 4:33pm

I thought Wicked had an age limit of 8, but can't remember where I heard that.

Anyone know if that's accurate or not?

[AwesomeDanny]

Posted: 1/1/10 at 5:35pm

According to my playbill from the Chicago production, Wicked only allows kids five and up. I believe that is the same for most other shows.

[uncageg]

Posted: 1/1/10 at 6:00pm

In September I went to see the show "Rain" (The Beatles tribute show) I was sitting on the aisle in the orchestra and noticed a woman about 5 rows down on the other side filming the show with her phone during most of Act 1. (She was about 4 rows from the stage) When the curtain rose on Act 2 and they finished the 1st song, one of the actors started bantering with the audience and turned to the women and asked her if she got everything on film from the first act. He made it a "part" of the show but embarrased her from the stage. He pointed her out so the ushers knew where she was sitting. They approached her at the end of the show. Our staff is really good at nabbing people for that. They even held the second act of "Spamalot" to wait for someone filming the show to return to their seat after an audience member reported them.

I always dress for the theater. Even if I wear a nice pair of jeans, which I have only done twice, I wear a dress shirt and shoes.

I think the worst experience was a phone going off at "August: Osage County" on Broadway. Phones were going off so much that when the cell phone rang onstage everyone got annoyed thinking it was another phone going off in the audience. The poor ushers were going crazy trying to locate the people. They were apologizing like crazy during the intermissions. They finally caught one person who's ringtone was the song "redneck Woman". It was a woman in the front right orchestra in a huge fur. She let it "ring" and then actually answered it and took the call. They escorted her out of the theater.

[raker]

Posted: 1/1/10 at 7:35pm

People are pigs. They behave in the theater as though they were in their living rooms at home: they talk, they eat, they take phone calls. That so many shows are cheesy stage versions of popular movies, like DVDs come to life, doesn't help.

[best12bars]

Posted: 1/1/10 at 8:33pm

Yes, it's gone. This is the Age of Entitlement.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 1/1/10 at 9:28pm

That so many shows are cheesy stage versions of popular movies, like DVDs come to life, doesn't help.

So that makes it okay?

[raker]

Posted: 1/1/10 at 9:33pm

What I meant was, people behave in the theater as they behave in their family rooms, and maybe part of the problem is that the entertainment on stage is a facsimile of the entertainment in their DVD players.

[italianpride888]

Posted: 1/2/10 at 3:14pm

Does it not cross people's minds how rude it is to answer the phone during a show? It blows my mind how rude people are.

[uncageg]

Posted: 1/2/10 at 3:27pm

Unfortunately, it doesn't Italianpride. And even worse are the people who, for whatever reasons, feel the need to check their phones or Blackberries several times during a performance. I find it to be an addiction. A number of times I have sat next to people who just can't shut their device off when told. I have on more than one occasion asked someone to turn it off as the overture was playing. At "The Homecoming" back in 2007 I even approched a man across the aisle who was checking messages (I guess) and asked if he planned to do this throughout the show. It's annoying and most of all, distracting.

[TreyKenyon]

Posted: 1/2/10 at 3:33pm

While just the action of checking one's phone and all that is super annoying; what bugs me even more is that they would even want to do it. I mean, you spend pretty much $100 or more per ticket...enjoy the show and get all you can from it. If you really find your phone more interesting than a show, then stay at home and check your phone all night and save some serious money! haha

[italianpride888]

Posted: 1/2/10 at 3:48pm

I've made it a point to put my phone on silence during shows. (not vibrate). I use to put it on vibrate, but it's too distracting for me now.

[turquoisefish]

Posted: 1/2/10 at 4:13pm

Before I got my current job the only time I would ever turn my phone off was at the theatre, not silent but off! (I have to have it turned off at work now).

It's parents that I've had problems with...like the woman who sat directly behind me (in the second row) and talked through about 4/5 of "The Phantom of the Opera." She just HAD to explain the show to her two kids line-by-line.
I have to agree with that. In the way you have noticed I have had parents behind me explain things to children and even start discussions about what will happen next. More importantly it is a parent's responsibility to pass on the etiquette to a child. A child will not know any better than to ask questions and talk and rustle sweets and kick the chair in front etc... The correct response to your child asking a question is a quick whisper of I'll tell you later and not a full on explanation of why the lions are singing and why Zazu is a man with a bowler hat.

I am taking a group of 20 Scouts (Beaver Scouts and Cub Scouts too so ages 6 - 14) to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in April and we will definitely be having a discussion about theatre etiquette first.

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 1/2/10 at 5:54pm

I think the worst experience I've ever had with kids in a theater was when I sat in the balcony at Mary Poppins back in June...it was an enormous camp group I think and they took up the back of the balcony on both sides. When I got there about 20 minutes before the show started, they were running around the balcony, screaming and yelling, and the adult chaperones did nothing to stop them. The poor ushers up there looked like they were about to cry. The kids were also incredibly rude throughout the show...they weren't that young either. It really isn't just kids though...often, my friends and I (who are all in our late teens-early 20s) are the most polite audience members, and this has been true for years.

[Natch]

Posted: 1/2/10 at 7:19pm

When I saw the vibrator play last week at least four cellphones went off during the performance and a person directly in front of me got up, left the theater to answer her phone when it rang, and came back in. I was simply flabbergasted.

And at Finian's Rainbow a few nights before that the folks next to me and in front of me kept chatting and rustling things around- enough that an usher came and waved his/her flashlight at them- thank goodness!

And I'm pretty sure at least one or two cellphones went off when I saw Next to Normal a few nights ago as well. Ridiculous. Though the Vibrator play was by far the worst. I was really enjoying myself and kept getting interrupted by phones- so rude! :o

[lmw8880]

Posted: 1/2/10 at 10:44pm

I do think for the most part that etiquette at the theater is gone for good. People don't care and for whatever reason they think they are entitled to do whatever they please.

I took my niece to the city to see The Lion King right before Thanksgiving and the teenagers behind us were the worse. They were obnoxious and kept on swearing and kicking my chair. I turned around and basically yelled at them before I gave them one warning. After that I went and got the usher, which was enough to shut them up. First of all, maybe I'm out of touch with today's teens (I am almost 30) but what parent in their right mind let's their teenage child roam New York City (the kids couldn't have been more than 16 at most. There was no adult with them). Also,if you are going to sit and make fun of something and comment on everything why waste your money? Rent the DVD and pick apart the movie, you'll save a bundle.

As for cell phones being annoying, I remember way back when Miss Saigon was still on Broadway and cell phones were just becoming the big thing. The cell phone of the woman in front of me went off right as the lights went down and the overture started. She was recapping the show to who ever she was on the phone with. I tapped her on her shoulder and asked her to be quiet. After the third time and well into the first song, I went and got an usher. It was quite annoying. I can almost understand why actors like High Jackman and Patti LuPone act the way they do...shesh!

[bwaylvsong]

Posted: 1/2/10 at 11:08pm

Lmw, I feel out of touch with today's teens and am only 20! I sometimes wonder if my 15-year-old cousins and their friends are from a different planet! Anyway, when I was 16 my parents let me go to matinees by myself and sometimes even evening shows, but then again I went to HS very close to the theatre district and often had rehearsals that ended at night, anyway.
I guess I've been lucky in terms of the behavior of the audience. The only mentioned infraction I've noticed more than once is a ringing cell phone and an overly-perfumed neighbor. Idk, I guess I get sucked into the show so much that I don't notice anything else.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 1/2/10 at 11:14pm

Really? A 16 year old shouldn't be able to be on their own? Granted, not ALL 16 year olds should be, but many can be. Assuming they know their way around and are trustworthy and age-appropriately responsible.