What is it with runtimes?

I feel like, more and more recently,* I've been seeing shows where the announced runtime is notably shorter than the actual runtime. I can understand a 5 minutes difference, maybe even 10 - they do say "approximate" after all. But recently I've seen shows that run 15, 20, 25, and sometimes even a full half hour longer than the runtime that is both listed on the website, and told to us by the the house staff. Sure, if it's in early previews, I get it. But these are shows that have been running for weeks or months. And many of them don't even have intermissions that could run long and contribute to the problem. What gives? Is it so hard to update these things? Is it so hard to say "2 hours" rather than "90 minutes" when the latter is simply incorrect? Is it a marketing ploy to avoid alienating people who can't sit through long shows?

(Sorry for the rant - I realize this is a total "first world problem," but so are all the things we complain about on here, and this one actually has had negative consequences for me).



*It's likely that this isn't a new problem, and that I've just become more aware of it since I my schedule got busier, and I had to be more aware of runtimes, to catch trains and the like.

Updated On: 10/16/17 at 03:31 PM

Springsteen doesn’t even post it’s run time in Ticketmaster online or if u call them. Not in Playbill either. I had to ask the box office. Two hours; no intermission. Considering the body scanners, pat down, and police presence perhaps that’s why they don’t. Most shows I’ve been to have been plus/minus ten minutes or so, but not 30 mins.

I've noticed this too lately. The usher at As You Like It at CSC said it was 1:35 and it was close to 1:50.

@nasty_kakhis - you're preaching to the choir here. I have been very vocal on this board in the past about my contempt for elderly audience members, for the exact reasons you mentioned, and more. Somehow I'm not surprised that this, my most recent irritation with theatres, comes back to the blue hairs.



@Uncle Charlie - these are just a few recent examples. I don't feel like naming all of them.



--Hamlet (Public) - in its final week

Listed: 3.5 hours

Ran: a few minutes under 4 hours



--The Terms of My Surrender

Announced: 1h 50m (though I see they've thankfully now updated it accordingly)

Ran: 2h 10m, with no special guest.



--Desperate Measures - several weeks into the run

Announced: 2 hours

Actual: 2h 20m



--The Last Match

Announced: 90 minutes

Actual: 105



--The Toad Knew (BAM)

Announced: 90 minutes

Actual: 2 hours

Admittedly only a week long run, but it was the final show of the week, and the production has played in a number of venues before this one. Plus, 30 minutes is a huge difference.

For two different plays this season, I was told the play would run two hours including intermission. What the usher should have said was two hours plus intermission, since in both cases, the plays ran 2 1/2 hours. I guess the best way to phrase the question is, "At what time will the performance end?," but one can't always count on accuracy there either.



I have encountered the same phenomenon as the OP more times than I care to count. It's annoying, especially if you are counting the minutes for a bad show to end, only to find it continuing on and on and on. A good rule of thumb is to automatically add ten to fifteen minutes to the announced running time.

The Broadway ushers truthfully answer the question and usually respond "You'll be out at 9:30pm". That's what the audience is asking. They want to catch a train, meet someone for dinner, etc. They don't want to be fed a lie.

Off-Broadway and Off-off-Broadway usually deliberately lie to make the performance sound shorter. How hard is it for them to train their ushers to say "You'll be out at 9:30pm"?

The first time I went to see Dolly, the show really started at like 8:15. I didn't have a huge problem with it (I was just excited for the show to start!), but it can be troublesome for people who need to go somewhere afterwards or have other obligations.

JBroadway said: As for late start times and curtain calls:in my experience, most Broadway shows include the obligatory 5 minute delay and the curtain call in their stated runtime, and as you observed, they tend to be more accurate. So I'm assuming that the inclusion of those added factors is the standard.

I've always interpreted running time as the actual play length once it starts. If a 2 1/2 hour show starts at 8:10, I expect it to end at 8:40. Perhaps that's part of why your times are so far off.

The one I loved was A Doll's House Part 2. They said it was 90 minutes. In fact it was 77 minutes when I saw it. When I saw Bandstand, it was just starting its intermission as ADH2 broke.

I still think ADHP2 was more of an outline of a play than a real play. The ideas were clear, worthy of dramatization, but everything seemed like shorthand and very 'linear', i.e., now she talks with the maid, then she talks with Torvald, then the maid, then the daughter, then Torvald, then it is over. I did NOT feel satisfied, although I know it got excellent reviews and had passionate devotees on this board. Didn't help that I had seen The Little Foxes the evening before...an excellent, complex play with complex characters, in a great production.

Jarethan said: "The one I loved was A Doll's House Part 2. They said it was 90 minutes. In fact it was 77 minutes when I saw it. When I saw Bandstand, it was just starting its intermissionas ADH2 broke.

I still think ADHP2 was more of an outline of a playthan a real play. The ideas were clear, worthy of dramatization, but everything seemed like shorthand and very 'linear', i.e., now she talks with the maid, then she talks with Torvald, then the maid, then the daughter, then Torvald, then it is over. I did NOT feel satisfied, although I know it got excellent reviews and had passionate devotees on this board. Didn't help that I had seen The Little Foxes the evening before...an excellent, complexplay with complex characters, in a great production."

I enjoyed ADHP2, but I had to choose between that and The Little Foxes and I wish I had chosen the latter.

Some of those runtime examples appear- just based on the listed time vs. the actual time- to not take intermissions into account.

I also suspect some runtimes are recorded in a final dress, with no accounting for added time for audience.

Updated On: 10/17/17 at 02:05 PM