Eating food during a show- Page 2

[KMF_NYC]

Posted: 8/10/04 at 3:15pm

Good manners should never override health -- I am Ok with adults and water bottle (like you Matt :) ) however do not give it to a child -- the lat time I was a Millie a 5 year old was having too much fun crunching and pushing the water bottle in and ripping the label -- I looked at Dad with the evil eye as if to say "Don't make me do this"...Dad was oblivious, so I took gave the kid the eye (the "clean up this mess look after the wire hanger incident from Mommie Dearest) -- he stopped dead in his tracks -- amazing how children respect the smallest bit of authority

Posted: 8/10/04 at 4:16pm

The worst is not so much the candy wrapping itself, but when they do it....No one ever waits until applause or a load burst of laughter, NOOOOOOOOOO They have to pick the quiet moments and then, thinking it's better, sloooooooooooooowly unwrap the candy, which only prolongs the agony.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 8/10/04 at 4:18pm

yes! That is SOOOO true. i almost beaned the idiots behind me at Hairspray.

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 8/10/04 at 4:46pm

i will admit i have eaten during shows but politely. I was at the matinee of millie and had just opened my 5 dollar box of raisinettes when the signal for act 2 happened so i did the right thing, i took off the celephane over wrap and threw it out then bent the box so i could get them out silently. this worked wonderfully until the 3 kids in the same row decided to open their crap.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 8/10/04 at 4:58pm

Check out my interview with the cast of NAKED BOYS SINGING! and read what the cast of that show goes through with food consumption during a performance.

[KMF_NYC]

Posted: 8/10/04 at 5:04pm

I read that Dollypop...
I was at Caroline last Friday night and a couple next to me thought it was OK to finish their twizzlers at the start of Lot's Wife -- I leaned over and said Don't even think about it...wait 5 minutes please

[SamIAm]

Posted: 8/10/04 at 5:08pm

I have a good friend who is an actor and a diabetic and if he can make it through an entire performance without eating so can most other people. If not...go out into the lobby and eat and THEN come back. Please. The problem is that people go to the theater today and seem to think they are staring at a TV or movie screen instead of sitting in a theater with live performers.

They are rude to the people on stage and to the people around them and more people should start speaking up and embarrassing them or (rather than making a scene in the theater) calling an usher and having them removed. I've had people sitting near me have an entire conversation on their cell phone during a performance. RUDE, RUDE, RUDE.

[Blonde]

Posted: 8/10/04 at 5:33pm

water bottles are fine until the stupid kid behind you starts shaking it...

[jo]

Posted: 8/10/04 at 6:00pm

M&Ms are not alright either - I once sat next to someone who ate them and I could hear his teeth crunching on the candy each time he popped one in. It was extremely irritating! I was lucky to find an empty seat a few rows from me and transferred during intermission.

At the West End, the theatres themselves sell ice cream/ice cream bars ( not sure if there are any other food items offered)inside the theatre itself ( not at the bar or the lobby) during intermission. The ushers immediately come up to the head of the aisle when the first act ends and people can get food immediately. And since people know they can satisfy hunger pangs at a defined time, I think there are less incidents when people eat during the performance itself. Updated On: 8/10/04 at 06:00 PM

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 8/10/04 at 6:13pm

As an usher, I encounter these things constantly. People get irate sometimes when we do not let them bring things in the theatre. "Well then why are you selling ice cream bars in the lobby?"

"SO YOU CAN EAT IT IN THE LOBBY"

Some audiences are worse than others. I never seem to have a problem with people rattling their candy wrappers at Wonderful Town (we do allow candy and bottled water), but at LSOH, it sounds like locusts in the audience! I tell people to stop.

And, then it's always fun to catch the picnic patrons--the ones that sneak the sodas or subs or McDonalds into the theatre. I have no problem telling them firmly and just loud enough that they need to finish their food out in the lobby.

[KMF_NYC]

Posted: 8/10/04 at 6:15pm

THANK YOU JRB!

[TabooWickedFan]

Posted: 8/10/04 at 6:16pm

i went to rent once and this guy had a bag from burger king and was eating his whole meal in the theater, i find it rude to eat in the theater unless its during intermission when it is loud anyway. making noise during the show with candy wrappers is just rude.

[Shawk]

Posted: 8/10/04 at 6:22pm

In London, people seriously start eating Ben & Jerry's ice cream, but they do it during intermission and are usually done by the time the show starts again, although people with clinking ice in their drinks are pretty irritating.

I had been hating the giant Scottish man next to me who was singing along with various songs at My Fair Lady in London, but I began to love him just a bit when he turned around and barked at the kid with crinkly candy behind us, "What the hell do ya think you're doing?" It was rude, but effective, as the kid was terrified.

I just don't understand why people can't make it for two or three hours without bringing things that beep, crinkle, or make other distracting noises.

[kissmycookie]

Posted: 8/10/04 at 6:25pm

Anyone ever notice that people with the candy think they are trying to be discreet by S-L-O-W-L-Y unwrapping the offending article prolonging the agony? Whereas one swift untwist would accomplish the goal better...

[Ruffian]

Posted: 8/10/04 at 6:25pm

This happens more & more often

Poetic Justice if these heathens choked right in their seat as they downed whatever the hell it is they are eating

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 8/10/04 at 6:32pm

Another thing I learned from ushering--not letting drinks in the theatre isn't just about keeping the seats and carpet clean. It's also about not letting clumsy a$$ people spill their drink on someone else's seat so that they can not sit there for the rest of the show.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 8/10/04 at 6:33pm

Its not rude to eat candy during a show, but to pass it around and open the bags in the middle of the performance is wrong. Cant the bags be opened before the show or during intermission!!?

[kitkatgirl54]

Posted: 8/10/04 at 6:36pm

i've had issues where i've had to see a show and been really sick. if i can perfect the art of opening cough drops silently, stupid morons can surely deal with their candy in another way, if they absolutely have to have it. that's the point of the whole thing for me .. it's not that they're eating inapproprately in the theater, it's that they're turning it into a disturbance. anything that makes the person next to you look over during a show is disruptive, so don't do it. that includes bopping your head and singing along to the show, rentheads.

[Ruffian]

Posted: 8/10/04 at 6:39pm

I hate "Leaners" too

You know who I mean. They are Front Row of the Mezz with an Unobstructed view...but they lean over in their seats, resting their poor tired arms on the Railing....while the leaning motion now gets in the way of the person directly behind them

A Pox on them

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 8/10/04 at 6:39pm

Maybe we should start doing Broadway shows on farms--that way the patrons can graze while they watch--a new kind of dinner theatre.

[kissmycookie]

Posted: 8/10/04 at 6:41pm

Ricola cough drops bought in the bag, do not crinkle/crackle while opening.

[BroadwayMonkey]

Posted: 8/10/04 at 9:15pm

It's SO RUDE! Ricola and water is fine, but the nuts who bring candy? No.

[NYBroadwayNY]

Posted: 8/10/04 at 9:34pm

I TOTALLYYYY AGREE!!! Eating ANY kind of candy in the theatre is just rude.
I've only eaten at a Broadway show twice. Once I had a Turkey Leg and once I had a plate of Spaghetti. But CANDY! Good God, what has the world sunk to!!!

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 8/10/04 at 10:12pm

"Have you seen the way they kiss in the movies...?"

"...isn't it delectable...?"

*kiss*

CRINKLECRINKLECRINKLECRUNCHCRUNCH

[PJ]

Posted: 8/10/04 at 10:48pm

When I saw Gypsy this past December, the eldery and very wealthy couple sitting next to us shared a bag of chips during intermission. It didn't really bother me b/c it wasn't a big deal during intermission.

And cell phones! Jesus, cell phones. They should be taken away from patrons upon their entering of the theatre. During the lines that lead up to "Rose's Turn," someone's phone went off a few rows behind us. It caught Bernadette off guard but she didn't skip a beat, it seemed.