How to Behave in the Theater

[SamIAm]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 8:47am

http://www.theatermania.com/content/news.cfm/story/5549

A great article for all of us who are constantly complaining about theater patron behavior and for those who really just DON'T KNOW.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 9:40am

That's a great article. Thanks, Sam.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 9:51am

Thanks for sharing, Sam. Great article.

[TheGaIsSilent]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 10:16am

Good article. I disagree with the dress code stuff, but we've tackled that here.

[AbsolutKnight]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 10:27am

Well, this seems like a good place to vent about my last theatre experience. I went with friends to see Mamma Mia! in Toronto on New Years Eve. Well we were in the second row of the upper Balcony. There was a bunch of people in front of us who felt they needed to rest themselves on the bar that goes along the front of the theatre and therefore blocked the view of most of 50% of the stage for everyone in the second row.

And when the man next to me tried to let them know they were blocking our view they got really mad.

Sorry! Had to vent! Thanks!

[Thetruth]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 10:56am

I was with the article until the dress code part. That's personal choice and doesn't disrupt the other patrons, unless you have huge hat on.

[Plum]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 12:53pm

Dressing nicely is polite, but not as necessary as those other things. He should have mentioned that there's no need to drown yourself in perfume, either. And I loved how he quoted Lemony Snicket, because I vaguely remember a quote chastising candy crinklers in theaters in the Unauthorized Autobiography.

[GYPSY1527]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 12:59pm

Yea, I read the article and was in agreement until the dress code. For myself, I can say that when I go to a matinee i tend to dress down in jeans. It also depends on what else I'm doing in the city since I tend to try to do as much as possible when I'm there. I do have to say that some people can take the dressing down to an extreme. I'll never forget the time I went to see Gypsy last May. It was a hot, sweltery day but this gave no excuse to a man who actually unbuttoned his shirt to reveal his undershirt for the whole show! In reality, I should have called an usher but alas!

[TheGaIsSilent]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 1:01pm

Yeah, undershirts are not quite sexah for the Broadway :)

That being said, I wear jeans all the time, if I'm coming from the office, or what not. If I'm going to an opening, I'll dress up.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 1:01pm

I will wear nice jeans (dressed up by whatever I'm wearing on top and for shoes, never a casual top nor shoes with them) to a matinee. But not an evening performance.

[chinkie azn jai]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 1:12pm

I should send that article to some people...

[Mr. Tuttle]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 1:35pm

Good article..thanks for sharing.

[keggss23]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 1:42pm

I think that article should be blown up and posted on all theater doors. It makes me so mad that they actually have to make an announcement before a show to turn off cell phones, pagers, etc. Shouldn't this just be common knowledge? Grrr... thanks for letting me vent!

[sweetiedarlinmia]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 1:42pm

Ok I'm printing this article off and pasting it on my door. and the Lemony Snicket quote is going to be blown up and put on everything I have within public view. HA!

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 1:44pm

"I like to get to a Broadway show early; after all, I am attending some of the finest theater in the world and I don't want to feel rushed in the experience. I read my program, use the restroom, have a cocktail, and gape at my fellow patrons."

Sounds familiar, but I have a coke.

GREAT ARTICLE!

[Jamie Hat]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 1:59pm

now if only people would behave in person not just on paper.
and I fully support dressing up for theatre. it's a lost culture. sure it's your friggin choice but what ever happenned to class? i miss it.

[CaTheatreGirl]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 1:59pm

Great article. Good suggestions to follow. Regarding dress, though I wouldn't say a person has to wear a black cocktail dress with pearls, theater is a nice occasion and I like to dress the part. Unfortunately, today's dress is VERY casual, bordering on the style of worn work clothes we'd wear on a busy Saturday toiling away on home repair projects. I've just had to get used to the sign of the times. It's the same at church. Shorts, tank tops and flip flops? Eeek!

The article also brings to mind "Instructions to the Audience" in The Frogs. People chuckle during the song and then continue to do just what they are asked to not do. Argh!

[Plum]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 2:03pm

It's amazing how people can listen to all these announcements and admonishments without ever thinking they actually refer to them. Pure Psych 101, though- people (in Western societies, at least) tend to be over-confident in themselves, take credit for good things, and put the blame for bad things on others.

[LittleBitRacist]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 3:47pm

The last one about staying for curtain call is the most true!!! When people get up to leave while the performers are bowing, whether its community theater or broadway, i think its the rudest thing. They have already been in the theater for over an hour watching these people work there asses off, whether they were good or not, and can stay for another 2 minutes to give them a small bit of appreciation. It isnt like the performers cant see them leaving from the stage. It's so rude, and i think giving a tiny bit of gratitude for good work is more important than getting out of the parking lot before anyone else.

[eslgr8]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 7:48pm

What's bothered me lately is people next to me not applauding after songs. The only thing that would stop me from applauding is if I thought the performance sucked, and for me at least that is rarely the case. It makes me wonder why these people went to see the show in the first place.

[Dreamcatcher]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 8:53pm

When I went to go see Man of La Mancha on Broadway with my 8th grade class we all dressed up for the occasion but normally I just wear nice pants or a skirt with a formal top. What really bugged me though was when I went to see the Lion King and there were these two girls behind us. They looked about 12 or 13 and they were in ludicrously short miniskirts. They spent all intermission (plus before and after the show) either gabbering to each other, talking on their cell phones or reading magazines. Yes, they had brought a huge stack of STAR magazines and were browsing and gossiping LOUDLY in our ears about whatever. But what topped it off was during the show they sat there just twirling their fingers, smacking on gum and rolling their eyes, making snide remarks (What IS this? That guy is NOT hot..) Not even being descreet about it either. In the bathrooms after the show I could hear them whining to whoever brought them about having to be bored all night. I swear to God, I was ready to turn around and sock one of htem in the face. Sorry, had to rant, there is a line between polite unawareness of being disrespectful and blatant bitchiness in a public place.

[wicked1]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 8:55pm

I have so many complaints about people in the theatre that it would take all night to type them all. However, while in NYC in August I went to see The Lion King. There was a guy across the aisle from where I was sitting who was drunk or something. His girlfriend had to keep leaving her seat to bring him things, the theatre staff was tending to him, and finally after about 20 minutes of this the theatre staff helped him leave the theatre. It was so distracting. Not only did he waste his money (since he didn't see any of the show) but he made it hard for the rest of us to enjoy the show.

His girlfriend stayed for the rest of the show. I guess she wasn't going to waste her money!

Posted: 1/19/05 at 9:07pm

i liked the one about not inflicting your feelings of a show on someone else.

when I saw Avenue Q, my brother and I were next to a woman who was clearly not enjoying it and during intermission she said things like 'its certainly different' and it was a bit of a mood killer because we were loving it.

[jo]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 9:08pm

I once sat right next to a young man who took out a pack of M&Ms and crunched the candies noisily all throughout the first act of Lion King. It was a good thing I had a chance to transfer to an empty seat after intermission or I would have told him a few things

I belong to the dress-nicely-because-I-think-theatre-is-a-special-event school but so long as someone is decently and cleanly dressed, that's fine with me. The worst offenders are those who have not taken care of their hygiene requirements, especially during the summer :rolleyes:

Re food - I think some food smell strongly like food ( e.g., hamburgers) and should not be eaten inside the theater even during intermissions

On the last show of The Boy From Oz, I was lucky to have gotten a ticket for a "second row-center" seat. Guess what, right in front of me on Row AA - a couple saw the show while being lovey-dovey with each other. Not only was this not a moviehouse ( where this is more like standard romantic behavior ), but it was also a very special performance. I could hardly see over the top of their heads joined romantically together ( because my sightline was supposed to be between the two seats in front) and had to crane my neck on the side most of the time. Eek!

Thanks for the link - a rather humorous take on theatre behavior, but the message is serious

Updated On: 1/19/05 at 09:08 PM

[CatieElphie1]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 9:26pm

I agree with everyone here...DEATH TO CELL PHONE USERS...the thing that drives me up the wall is when people get a phone call, and instead of just turning it off you hear(stage whisper) (I CAN"T TALK RIGHT NOW...NO I"M IN A SHOW!!"
arghhh!!