little kids at shows not age appropriate — Page 2

Just putting my two cents in...

I remember seeing Les Miserables when I was very young. Probably four years old. I do not remember much about the content, whether or not I understood it, but I do remember being extremely excited to see it. I remember sitting in the seats and being awestruck to see the costumes, to hear the orchestra, the moving set! I do agree that if a child has behavioral issues, then it is not appropriate for them to see a show. And of course, content is something that should be a main factor. I'm really glad no one took me to see RENT when I was that young. But I think that the magic of the theatre is almost more overpowering than any of that to a child and that should come into play as well.

I think it depends on the child, but...

Most theatres state "children under x are not admited" (x usually equals 4)...but I don't think they're checking the ID when the kid comes in.

And most shows have guidelines such as "appropriate for ages x and up" (usually x = 12, 14 or 16). But some parents don't care. THEY want to see something and don't want to pay for a sitter, so the child comes along regardless of if it's appropriate.

But I do think it depends on the child.

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I'm gonna say Legally Blonde, and for this reason only:

a six year old was sitting two seats to te left of me, and her father was next to me. Throughout the whole first act and the first half of the second act, she was shoving the playbill in his face and lifting it above her head, high enough to obstruct another audience member's view. It was very distracting because out of the corner of my eye I would see articles about various shows. Then, what ticked me off even more, when she saw Laura Bell Bundy in the second act, she said, "Who's that?" (I know she meant what character, but how the hell can you not know the lead when she's on the PLAYBILL that you've been shoving in your fathers face?)

When I went to see Avenue Q last year, there were a bunch of 8 year olds. I really hope they were able to handle it, they weren't near me so I wouldn't know.

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When I went to see Brooklyn on Kids Night [yes, asking for trouble, right.]. This five year old girl next to me kept moving all about. Her mother asked her "Do you like the show, honey." and the girl responded: "No, I hate it! I wanna go home!". This converstation was heard by 95% percent of the orchestra and most likely the actors on stage.


I know when I went to see BEAUTY AND THE BEAST when I was 9, I was quite as can be and completely in a trance, I shh people when they talk when I'm in a theater to this day. I'm completely entranced and enchanted half the time I ignore all the noise around me.

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Updated On: 4/9/07 at 01:20 PM

a child barely 2 yrs old complete with sippy cup at the Bee on Saturday. Sat on his mothers lap the whole time and she kept covering his mouth everytime he spoke and I think he kicked the people in front of him. I swear they mustve had the stroller parked in the lobby, he was that young.

The 7 yr old girl in the 2nd row of Lil Dog Laughs takes the cake though.

In terms of behavior, for me, if the child acts up it's a problem, but if they are sitting there and are quiet, then it's fine.

In terms of appropriate, there are some shows out there that I've seen little kids at that I've thought to myself, "They shouldn't be here, I guess the parents don't mind him/her to hear sex jokes or cursing." There were a couple of young kids at the matinee of Jersey Boys the last time I saw it and that was the thought going in my head. A couple of months earlier from that, I was sitting in a restaurant and there was this table of kids and their mothers and grandmothers and while the kids were playing with their action figures and talking about which Spiderman movie they had(I know don't you hate that), the women were talking about Broadway and Jersey Boys was brought up and the one woman said that they shouldn't take the young ones to it cause of language.

Now, when I went to Spring Awakening last week, there were some young kids, but they looked like probably 8th grade or freshmen in high school or maybe they were seniors in high school, I don't know. See to me, if they can handle it, then they should be able to see it, but if they aren't mature enough like Spring Awakening I think a child should be at least 17 or 18.

if the kid doesn't understand that there's a difference between acceptable behavior in public and private, the kid doesn't belong in the theatre, rather a playpen. note: it's perfectly acceptable public behavior if an adult slaps another adult who has brought an unruly child into the theatre, but lines to do so should always form in the aisle nearest to the seat in which the offender is sitting. tossing playbills at the jerkwad is also permitted, but only if you have reasonably good aim.

I saw a little, probably three or four years old at Avenue Q. One of the puppets came up to her during the money song and hugged her. Aww.

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The children often act better than the adults......the little ones don't have cell phones etc......i rather sit next to a parent, that has children (hopefully well behaved) than these cell phone and text message fools

I went to the theatre from a very early age, but my mom started us off at a children's theatre. A show geared towards children with an audience FULL of children! Eventually we moved up to things like Annie and Oliver. By the time I was 9 or 10, I went to pretty much everything basically because my mom generally didn't know what she was taking me to!

I recently went to the RENT tour, and there was a little girl no older than eight or nine in the front row --- in a lepoard print outfit! And it seemed like she had seen the show before. I saw the show when I was 13, and there were still things that went over my head at that time. However, times have changed and the 9 year old probably knows more or as much as I knew at 13! Would I take my 9 year old? Probably not. The thing is - while I've always loved Rent's music, it wasn't until I understood the message that I fell in love with the show.

Parents have the right to take their children to whatever they want. Trust me - they will most likely get more out of any Broadway production than they would a movie. AND the fact is that they most likely see worse on cable and hear worse at school. As long as they are good audience members, children should be able to attend any show their parents buy a ticket to. If their parents are educated about what they take their children to see, so much the better...

What I did not enjoy is the giggling teeny boppers in the balcony of Spring Awakening. In my opinion, maturity and respectful audience behavior is the name of the game.

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Broadway aside, I remember being in a production of RENT and seeing my five year old niece front row center. It was quite odd for the entire cast to perform contact with her literally three feet away from us. Especially because the stage was flat and the audience was level with us.
I think that every child is different and of course the way they are raised is different from parent to parent. Different kids have different maturity levels. As long as they aren’t too distracting then it’s okay. I remember one little girl at the theatre had her Gameboy advanced out the entire time and the light was pretty distracting.

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I have been to several shows where kids have been sitting behind me and have been nothing but obnoxious. Most recently, at Cinderella. I guess this can also go in the theater-etiqutte thread but since someone posted here about kids behavior I figured I'd add in my two-cents.

I realize Cinderella is sort of a kid show. I was there for Broadway week (Jan 23rd) and was sitting in the frontmezz. Behind us were two kids who looked about maybe ages 5 and 8 and their mother. Behind them were 2 more kids and another mother, whom I later learned, they were all together. I typically hate when kids sit around me and dread the talking I know is about to take place throughout the show but to my surprise, all kids behaved very well during the first act. However, the 2nd act was horrible. Firstly--both kids behind us were standing on the seat as the 2nd act was starting.They wanted to switch seats to sit with their friends so then the mother climbed over the seat as well (mind you, there was no one sitting to their right so they could have easily walked around to the row behind them). As the act started they began to open a bag of potato chips, loudly. For about 5 minutes all i heard was the bag, and the grocery store bag they were in, rustling around. I finally turned around and said "SHHH!!!" and received an evil death glare from the mother as her kids continued to mess with the chip bag. She didn't tell them to stop or be quiet, she let it continue. There were also no ushers in sight and I didn't feel like getting up to find one. It was so frustrating!