Eating in theatres. A devils advocate

[winston89]

Posted: 6/7/08 at 3:12am

I was seeing Wicked with my brother a couple of weeks ago. I commented to him at the intermission how I hate that the house staff lets you bring in snacks that you get from the bar to your seats. He asked me why and I went through the usual "its rude to eat during a Broadway show." And how this is different from a movie etc. He commented that yes it could be seen as wrong. But, people are used to the mindset of you get more of something with the more money you spend.

He was saying that the people who don't go to the theatre on a regular basis (meaning anyone that doesn't post here) have the mindset of it is okay for them to eat in the theatre because they spent 110 bucks on a ticket.

We were also talking about what IF that were the mindset of the people who bring food into the theatre. That they feel entitled to do so because they spent so much money on a ticket. Like I said, there are a lot of people out there who have the mindset that they are entitled to more because they spent more money on something.

I am not at all saying that I agree with this. Or that bringing in food to the theatre is okay. ( I hate the whole idea of having food at the seats to begin with.) But, what do you all think of this?

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 6/7/08 at 3:21am

You were at Wicked. No one at Wicked has good theatre etiquette.

[insertclevernamehere]

Posted: 6/7/08 at 3:23am

Plus, I know alot of non-theatre people who have no idea that eating in the theatre is bad etiquette because they eat at the movies. They were quite surprised when I told them it's considered rude.

[broadwayrob]

Posted: 6/7/08 at 3:26am

i don't see how this should even be an issue.. i mean they compare it to movies.. it's completely different.

there are ACTUAL people on stage..

i hate the american viewing public.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 6/7/08 at 3:37am

I hate eating in the theatre but what makes the line blurry is that you can buy popcorn at the theatre and take it to your seat. Just like at the movies. The theatres themselves are teaching the bad etiquette. If you're going to let people buy smelly popcorn and crunch it at their seats why not let them bring in the smelly doggy bags?

[tazber]

Posted: 6/7/08 at 3:37am

I love to bring in KFC (extra crispy!). Sometimes you need a snack and those lines are just too long at the concession stand.
Plus, the cloth on the seats makes for a great napkin.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 6/7/08 at 3:38am

But, what do you all think of this?

That you should've tried to fit in the word "mindset" maybe 6 or 7 more times.

[winston89]

Posted: 6/7/08 at 3:38am

CATSNYrevival, You have to realize that theatre etiquette is so bad that I could have just replaced Wicked with any other Broadway show and sadly it would still be the same situation.

insertclevernamehere and Broadwayrob I agree. It is sad that people associate theatre with movies and that when they are at the movies they can eat. Personally I remember being in a production of Carousel and someone had a bag of chips open and they were being very slow about it. When your eating something like chips being slow about it makes more noise. I found that sound of crinkling plastic to be VERY distracting. It's different in a movie. The actors can't hear you in a movie. On stage they can.

Eris, When I saw Hairspray a few years back I remember there was a popcorn popper in the lower bar. And they were selling popcorn at intermission. I have yet to come across another theatre that does this. But, keep in mind that the Neil Simon home to Hairspray is a Nederlander theatre. Nederlander theatres are not strict at all about you having food at your seats and let you take whatever you want with you to your seats. Shubert theatres are VERY strict about the no food at your seat rule. That's why I LOVE seeing shows at Shubert houses.

Updated On: 6/7/08 at 03:38 AM

[Horton]

Posted: 6/7/08 at 7:52am

If I were to buy a Steinway Grand Piano for upwards of $50,000 I would not ever "bang" on it, instead, because I spent so much on it, I would want to preserve it and take extra care of it.

The same goes for the theater, because I spent so much on the ticket, I would not at all want to do anything to upset it.

[Jane2]

Posted: 6/7/08 at 8:24am

If there are snacks available, people will buy them.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 6/7/08 at 8:55am

Sports fans are of the "mindset" that buying a ticket entitles them to yell obscene comments about the player's mothers.