Late Arrivers — Page 3

Jane2 said: "Just want to add that the house manager/staff do not establish the rules for late seating. It is done by the production. When each new show comes into a theater, the house manager and ushers are told by the production exactly when to seat latecomers. I know that some ushers don't follow their instructions, but generally, they are following orders.

The manager and ushers are the ones who get the complaints, though!"

Just to reiterate what I said above, often there are are strict late seating points (example: after the first song and then again after the third song). But more often than not, aside from two or three specific late seating cues, the production staff gives a vague "whenever appropriate" or "use your discretion."

Late eating at intermission simply is not a feasible solution. It is a well known and employed process at opera houses, and theor patrons know this. However, when done on Broadway, it has caused significant problems for front of house staff (people screaming at staff; throwing tantrums; threates; storming down to their seat anyway). While house managers are empowered to remove misbehaving patrons, most theater owners restrict the reasons for doing so (on Broadway, anyway).

chernjam said: "I will offer myself up as raw meat for you all...

This past Saturday I was late for Sunset Blvd. I had purchased $179 tic, center orchestra (right on the aisle) - and the person coming with me was unfortunately delayed coming from Conn. Can't tell you how frustrated and anxious I was standing at the theatre and seeing the doors start to close and knowing we were going to be late. We finally made our way in just as Joe's body was being raised from the pool... and were told we had to wait - I think we were allowed to our seats at the car chase scene (which there were at least 6 other people late at that point as well)

I agree with all of you about planning ahead - and believe me I was embarrassed and beyond frustrated to be late. Not only to disturb other patrons (and I hope not, the actors) but for myself because there was no way I enjoyed this performance as much as I should have because I came in so harried myself.

And row L seats on top of all that.



"

I would have just left your friends ticket at the box office and met them inside....no reason for you to miss part of the show.

I've been late to a show only once ever. I thought I had given myself plenty of time, got there around 7:50 thinking I didn't have to rush at all... and realized when I saw no one outside the theatre that the show started at 7:30, not 8pm. Doh. It was a comp ticket I was picking up at the box office, so I didn't have the ticket on hand to double check beforehand. Still completely my fault though. Luckily I was seated in the mezzanine and there was a whole bunch of empty seats on the side, so I just sat in an empty aisle seat and then moved to my actual (middle) seat at intermission. There was NO WAY I was going to walk in front of anyone while the show was going on.

But more often than not, aside from two or three specific late seating cues, the production staff gives a vague "whenever appropriate" or "use your discretion."

It may be vague, but I don't think any usher with basic common sense should think "whenever appropriate" means in the middle of a song or scene.

I went to a show tonight where they announced that latecomers would be seated in the back of the mezzanine. Others have mentioned this as well, with the Public and Sunday. I like that policy. The latecomers don't have to miss a huge chunk of the show by waiting until intermission. There is minimal disruption for the rest of the audience because it's going on behind/above them. And there's also slight punishment involved for being late by downgrading their seats.

"Oh, you paid $200 for front row center tickets? Should have been on time. Upstairs is the mezzanine. You can move at intermission."

They'll learn.