According to ATC, if you wear shorts to the theatre.... — Page 5

"I don't think anyone on here is advocating being a slob, just dressing more casually for the theatre. I don't think anyone on here would support sitting next to a slob, with a slob being someone who is not clean in either clothing or hygiene.

However, inferring that someone is a slob because they are not dressed to your standards is unfair."

I am not talking about dressing casually to the theatre .. I am all for that. I will put on a blazer or even suit & tie if it is a special occasion, but I also will wear nice linen shorts and a button down short sleeved shirt. What I am objecting to (and calling slobs) are the ones that I see on too much of a regular basis wearing cut-off jean shorts, tank top or ratty logo-ridden tee-shirt, baseball cap and flip flops (with dirty feet). They look like they just finished cleaning out the garage. And this is my issue with JoeKv's remark about "I paid for my ticket, I can wear what I want." I'm sure that is how these people who show up in cut-offs and flip-flops feel.

JoeKv ... as far as the respect comment goes, I didn't say that. I understand the rationale behind it, as there was a time when dressing up for the theatre was the norm. But that is not my thinking at all.

Bottom line, I think what is really offensive is when someone looks like he or she truly simply rolled out of bed and did not care one straw about his or her appearance. If someone looks above this - hair is combed, clothes are in good shape, fit right and are in good enough shape to be seen anywhere in public with them on - then it is hard to see where the problem would lie.

Oh, the more I think about it, no one is ever going to agree on this issue. I know I do not feel right wearing certain kinds of clothing at the theatre, but in most cases I do not care what anyone else does. What really gets to me is when people unwrap pudding and sandwiches at a show.

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"Theatre has become has normal as going to the movies, do you get dressed up to go there?"

Um, no it hasn't? Where in the world would you get that idea?

Perhaps not for the vast majority of people, but speaking as someone who's been to the cinema once this year and to the theatre forty-eight times, I can confidently say that for some people, going to the theatre is *more* normal than going to the movies.

Seeing as it's about to be bedtime, I may as well open up this can of worms. I hope you see my point and take it in the spirit in which it is intended, but I expect you'll immediately take it FAR too much to heart and leap all over it. But then, if I weren't ready for that, I'd slink off to bed instead of making it, so here goes.

You know how some people think gay marriage is a terrible idea and should definitely not be allowed? And you just sit there and think to yourself "but if I want to marry my partner, why shouldn't I be allowed to? How does the marriage of two men have ANY EFFECT WHATSOEVER on that person's life, that they feel I should not be allowed to marry this man/woman whom I love with all my heart"? Feel it, guys; feel the injustice of not being allowed to do something that doesn't affect anyone but you, just because some person over there who you've never even met wouldn't choose to do it themselves. (Or if gay marriage isn't your cup of tea, apply an abortion scenario; why shouldn't I be allowed to choose whether or not to terminate my own pregnancy just because someone with vastly differing political opinions who doesn't even know my personal circumstances and certainly wouldn't be contributing to my unwanted child's upbringing thinks it's a bad thing?) Are you feeling it? Good.

That confusion is what I feel on this issue (although obviously to a FAR lesser degree! ). Okay, *you* might not want to wear jeans to the theatre, *you* might like to dress up a little smarter. But if *I* want to dress casually (CASUALLY, not even slobbishly!), then how on EARTH does that affect YOU? I genuinely would like to hear how my jeans have affected your theatre-going. Were you at The Cherry Orchard on Saturday and unable to appreciate the classic Russian melancholy because you knew there was denim in the room? Perhaps you went to A Doll's House at the Donmar Warehouse, but couldn't focus on the play from your front row stalls seat, because you KNEW that SOMEWHERE up in the side circle, I was wearing a vest top that needed ironing. And when I remember the hideous winter ensemble I wore to the RSC Hamlet, I can only weep for you; how on earth could ANYONE be expected to focus on the sweeping Danish tragedy unfurling, knowing that I was wearing jeans - WITH LEGGINGS UNDERNEATH FOR EXTRA WARMTH?

No, really; if someone chooses to dress casually to the theatre, HOW does it affect your enjoyment? Because I genuinely can't conceive of any visual scenario where an audience member's clothing could feasibly affect a show, short of those t-shirts with the scrolling LED messages. When my clothing inconveniences other audience members, I'll consider changing it. But as I shower frequently and do my gosh-darnedest not to smell, and as I never wear hats indoors, there is no WAY my clothing has ANY effect on you.

Night! ^_^

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Updated On: 7/6/09 at 06:23 PM

Because I genuinely can't conceive of any visual scenario where an audience member's clothing could feasibly affect a show

Stage seating at Spring Awakening?

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Stage seating for Spring Awakening (and probably other shows?) has a dress code. That's the only time I've encountered a dress code at the theatre. If there's no dress code specified, then the theatres themselves certainly don't care! XD

Aw, I remember Pirates of Penzance at the New York State Theater! I was wearing a semi-nice dress, 'cos occasionally I will dress up a little, and loads of audience members were in full evening dress, and then there were loads of little kids dressed as pirates! Freakin' adorable! Just imagine if everyone went the smart route! Would you genuinely begrudge those kids the opportunity to dress up as a pirate while watching one of the all-time great comic operettas? :3

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Updated On: 7/6/09 at 06:38 PM

"No, really; if someone chooses to dress casually to the theatre, HOW does it affect your enjoyment?"

Weez, I didn't hear anyone say that it affects their enjoyment. I thought we were just posting opinions on proper theater attire.

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I wore the Borat bathing suit to the opening night of Blithe Spirit. Angela Lansbury loved it, Christine Ebersole thought it was in bad taste and Rupert Everett asked me out.

I will ask Rupert on our next date what his feelings are about wearing shorts in the theater.

Relax everyone. Discuss the subject without cutting everyone to shreds. Discuss!

^ Hey Jane, I just noticed we are both "...2." I forget how I became Rudy2. I think Rudy was already taken for a username and it defaulted.

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Hey Rudy! Yeah, it seems Jane was already taken, so I got Jane2. But in all the years I've been posting here, I never saw one from Jane.

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Yep. That's how I got ghostlight2. It simply defaulted or I would have picked something else. I did see ghostlight post one day, and wow was that odd.

I have never understood onstage seating. It's just begging for distractions. The only show I ever saw where it didn't take me out of the show was Copenhagen.

I remember my first trip on an Airplane. My grandmother told me to dress up as a sign of respect to the pilot. Really.

I rather see people in shorts and flip-flops than people dressed up like Penny from Hairspray.

I had to go through that once.
I couldn't stop looking at her she in the sam row as me and her wig was very distracting.

Updated On: 7/6/09 at 07:45 PM

I think sweatpants are morally wrong, so when I'm taking a transatlantic flight I'll pack them in my carryon and change in the plane bathroom.

I think if theaters provided those crappy little blankets planes do, there would be less of a stigma against shorts in the theater. It's an outrage, I tell you!

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