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Theatre Etiquette

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Avalon Grand Master

+ Avalon

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I've only been to a few musicals in my life. Years back some friends and I went to see "Evita". Every time a song was sung the crowd would applaud it was so annoying!

 

One birthday a friend took me to see some musical - I don't remember which now. It was a theater in the round. I had a bad seat behind a pole. But I noticed there was a blind man who had a seat up close.

 

One fond memory I have with my mother was going to see a college production of "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum".

 

I'm not a Star Wars fan but like(d) Mark Hamill. So I went to see the first movie a few weeks after it opened. The cinema was packed. I found a seat behind three teenage boys. They had already seen the movie several times because every time a character on the screen spoke they recited the words out loud along with the actor.

 

 

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LaffingBear Veteran

LaffingBear

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Pretty good read. I agree with most of the points.

 

I dont see the harm in standing at your seat and conversing before the show starts or during intermission.

 

The comment regarding clothes caught my attention. For personal reasons, I did not attend a live performance from 2005-2018. Holy Moley... the change in theater attire shocked me. I expected nice jeans. I did not expect workout wear. I did not expect cargo shorts and flip flops. I recognize that I'm old and judgmental; I wish that some standards of attire still existed.

 

Cell phones are an addiction. Everyone seems to think they're the exception. The one person who can drive and text, etc. I suppose Vegas Cirque Du Soleil counts as live theater. Two months ago, Cirque announced beforehand "no recording, no pictures. If we see you recording with your phone, we'll take it. No kidding... we've done it."

 

The young folks in front of me decided they were the exception, recorded the second half. So, in addition to the spectacle I was supposed to see, I was distracted by this bright light of the phone screen held aloft. I wanted to snatch the phone and give it to an usher.

 

I saw Paul Simon's concert recently. There were several times during the show that we had to yell at the people in front of us to lower their phones. We literally couldn't see the stage, as the new norm seems to be to hold a phone aloft recording the concert.

 

I also agree with the point regarding be healthy or stay home. I remember seeing Mamma Mia at the WinterGarden early 2000s. Sat next to someone snorting, sweating and sniffling through entire performance, and wearing a mask. It was the height of the bird-flu scare... I was certain I'd get sick.

 

Oh well... nothing left but lamentation. Impractical to believe etiquette and civility will make a comeback.

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edjames Mentor

edjames

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Alas the folks that should read and ay attention to that issue of Time Out will never see it. The whole issue is devoted to the do's and don't of etiquette in public places.

 

Last night I had an older woman sitting next to me at the American Ballet Theater at the Met. She continually cleared her throat every minute of the first act. It was annoying and distracting. I bolted from the row at the first intermission and plopped my behind in a 5th row center orchestra aisle seat and watched the remainder of Don Quixote, which was divine!

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BenjaminNicholas Grand Master

+ BenjaminNicholas

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I've only been to a few musicals in my life. Years back some friends and I went to see "Evita". Every time a song was sung the crowd would applaud it was so annoying!

 

One birthday a friend took me to see some musical - I don't remember which now. It was a theater in the round. I had a bad seat behind a pole. But I noticed there was a blind man who had a seat up close.

 

One fond memory I have with my mother was going to see a college production of "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum".

 

I'm not a Star Wars fan but like(d) Mark Hamill. So I went to see the first movie a few weeks after it opened. The cinema was packed. I found a seat behind three teenage boys. They had already seen the movie several times because every time a character on the screen spoke they recited the words out loud along with the actor.

 

 

 

 

Please tell me you're Alan Funt in disguise

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WilliamM Grand Master

+ WilliamM

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When I saw the revival of South Pacific on Broadway in 2008, an elderly lady sat next to me. She wanted to talk. I was concerned. Glad I listened. She was in the original production of South Pacific, and wonderful comments about Richard Rodgers and Mary Martin. And she loved the revival.

 

What seemed like an awkward situation was very interesting. Unsure of the spelling of her lsst name, so have to guess. Perhaps Her name: Bernice Sanders

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Avalon Grand Master

+ Avalon

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When I saw the revival of South Pacific on Broadway in 2008, an elderly lady sat next to me. She wanted to talk. I was concerned. Glad I listened. She was in the original production of South Pacific, and wonderful comments about Richard Rodgers and Mary Martin. And she loved the revival.

 

What seemed like an awkward situation was very interesting. Unsure of the spelling of her lsst name, so have to guess. Perhaps Her name: Bernice Sanders

 

https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/bernice-saunders-78432

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poolboy48220 Grand Master

+ poolboy48220

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I still have, someplace, an article from some magazine in the early 80's titled "How to Drive". Very much the same tone. One phrase I remember is "people who don't share your view of the non-linear nature of space and time, otherwise expressed as 'People Just Drive Too Damned Fast Today'.

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azdr0710 Grand Master

+ azdr0710

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the points she makes are pretty self-evident......as is common with writers trying to be hip and edgy, cuss words and single-word sentences (Turn. Off. Your. Cell. Phone.) are thrown about here.....this author is pretty smug, actually

 

but, as Kevin suggests just above, she needs to decide whether to write the word as "theater" or "theatre"!.......(hmmmmm, my spell-check just flagged "theatre"!!......it must be one of them hick 'merican models)

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rvwnsd Grand Master

rvwnsd

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the points she makes are pretty self-evident......as is common with writers trying to be hip and edgy, cuss words and single-word sentences (Turn. Off. Your. Cell. Phone.) are thrown about here.....this author is pretty smug, actually

 

but, as Kevin suggests just above, she needs to decide whether to write the word as "theater" or "theatre"!.......(hmmmmm, my spell-check just flagged "theatre"!!......it must be one of them hick 'merican models)

I suppose your GPS pronounces it "the-ay-ter."

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LaffingBear Veteran

LaffingBear

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I am currently in Vegas. Saw a show tonight, triggered a memory of this post.

 

Has theatre etiquette or basic comportment changed? Are people no longer expected to refrain from conversing during a performance?

 

Am I just supposed to expect that, hereafter, any show will consist of the performers and a darkened theater with phone screens blinking and held aloft as constant distractions?

 

Does every human believe that they're the one and only exception to the pre-show public announcement that flash photography and video recording is prohibited?

 

It was maddening

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cany10011 Grand Master

cany10011

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This was an interesting article. Thanks for sharing! One situation i never get a clear answer to is when a patron needs to squeeze by to get to their seat, do they face forward (ass toward your face) or backward (ass toward the stage)? Different friends say one or another, but I‘m not sure of the answer. I think ass toward the stage is better that way they can apologize and look at you in the face. am I right? I‘ve seen it done both ways.

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LaffingBear Veteran

LaffingBear

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This was an interesting article. Thanks for sharing! One situation i never get a clear answer to is when a patron needs to squeeze by to get to their seat, do they face forward (ass toward your face) or backward (ass toward the stage)? Different friends say one or another, but I‘m not sure of the answer. I think ass toward the stage is better that way they can apologize and look at you in the face. am I right? I‘ve seen it done both ways.

I think its opposite simply due to body mechanics.

 

Easier to squeeze by when knees bending same way

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