# A Guide to Theatre Manners **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 2, 2004, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-guide-to-theatre-manners/232009 "2004-03-02T01:08:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![chicksdigscars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@chicksdigscars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chicksdigscars)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-guide-to-theatre-manners/232009/41 "2004-03-03T04:42:21Z")
A few years ago, David Copperfield did a series of shows in my relatively small home town. This was quite a big too-do for us. I bought tickets to one of the evening shows and arrived at the theatre in plenty of time to find my seat before the show started. Knowing that the inhabitants of my geographic area are chronologically challenged, the fact that the theatre was almost full when I got there seemed to be a good sign that there would be few, if any, stragglers. WRONG! I can’t completely recall how the show started, but Copperfield made his entrance from above in an elevator-type contraption. Lots of smoke, whistles and lights, etc. He made a few remarks. People were continuing to enter the theatre up to 30 minutes AFTER the show started! There were so many late comers that he started recapping what he had done for the all the “new arrivals.” It was embarrassing. Of course, none of them got the fact that he was really chastizing them for being late. They thought he was just being funny. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-guide-to-theatre-manners/232009/42 "2004-03-03T15:58:58Z")
We went to a comedy show at The Improv in Vegas last month. The host, Amy Anderson, handled a cell phone interruption brilliantly. A guy’s phone rang, and he started talking. She asked for the phone, and talked to the person, asking their name, and where they were, told them who she was and where she was. Then she said, “So tell your friend to turn off his motherfucking cell phone!” and handed it back to the guy. No other phones rang during the performance! It was very funny. ---
**Author:** ![lurkernomore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@lurkernomore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lurkernomore)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-guide-to-theatre-manners/232009/43 "2004-03-03T16:59:05Z")
> [@BayleDomon](#): > > My complete and utter apologies. I didn’t mean to insult New Yorkers–I know I was treading a bit close to the line. Understand I’ve only seen the Tucson side of live theatre, which is an extremely small side compared to New York. 🙂 That plus some of the worst customers I’ve ever had took great delight in trying to lord it over me that they’re from New York led to some speculation, which was of course totally in error. Thank you for the statistics, **lurkernomore**. Rude theatre-goers are rude theatre-goers, no matter where they’re from. > > Again, my apologies, and I’ll back out of this thread. No problem. Just “fighting ignorance” ( call it enlightening and educating). No offense taken, and it is a common misconception. Heck, I broke a rule last time I went to a play (Phantom) - wore jeans, clean, black, not blue, not torn, but jeans - but I kept my mouth shut. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-guide-to-theatre-manners/232009/44 "2004-03-03T17:09:17Z")
Well this thread just pisses me off. I have whinged for years abouut movie audiences - eating, talking and having phones ring, on the basis that “theatre audiences” don’t behave like this. Great now I can expect to be annoyed by other people at theatrical events" ---
**Author:** ![Yakkette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/bbce88/32.png) [@Yakkette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yakkette)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-guide-to-theatre-manners/232009/45 "2004-03-03T18:07:42Z")
> [@avabeth](#): > > And we’re looking into Wicked when my bridesmaids take me to NYC for my bachelorette party in May - mainly because my maid of honor and I are both absolutely in LOVE with Norbert Leo Butz - and the fact that Kristin Chenowith, Idina Menzel and Joel Grey are in it doesn’t hurt either:). How was the show? > > Ava The show was EXCELLENT! Very entertaining…so much so that my theatre/musical/play despising SO liked it! 😃 But be warned. From what I hear, it’s sold out well in 2004. Best bet is to try to get to the box office for tix if you can. Good luck! ~Y ---
**Author:** ![Elza\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Elza\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elza_B)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-guide-to-theatre-manners/232009/46 "2004-03-03T21:19:42Z")
> [@Yakkette](#): > > The show was EXCELLENT! Very entertaining…so much so that my theatre/musical/play despising SO liked it! 😃 But be warned. From what I hear, it’s sold out well in 2004. Best bet is to try to get to the box office for tix if you can. Good luck! > > ~Y I have my ways;). Nah, I just have friends who can usually get me tickets to anything I want - I think we’ve already got the plans for Wicked in full-force, so getting tickets won’t be too hard:). I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it - it’s gotten fairly good reviews, and definite thumbs-up from friends who’ve seen it. It sounds like a pretty amazing show! Ava ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-guide-to-theatre-manners/232009/47 "2004-03-03T22:20:19Z")
> [@](#): > > _originally posted by **lurkernomore** _ > New York City residents comprised 18% of ticket buyers; NYC suburbanites comprised 27%; domestic visitors, 49%; and international visitors, 6%. Nice stats, but I really can’t let this pass. Add the NYC residents and NYC suburbanites --\> 45% of ticket buyers were at least local to the NY area. That’s what I take “suburbanites” to mean - they might not live directly in the city, but they’re not too far away, either. So perhaps you can’t give them as big a pass as you might think. Just sayin’. Snicks ---
**Author:** ![lurkernomore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@lurkernomore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lurkernomore)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-guide-to-theatre-manners/232009/48 "2004-03-04T03:32:21Z")
> [@Snickers](#): > > Nice stats, but I really can’t let this pass. Add the NYC residents and NYC suburbanites → 45% of ticket buyers were at least local to the NY area. That’s what I take “suburbanites” to mean - they might not live directly in the city, but they’re not too far away, either. So perhaps you can’t give them as big a pass as you might think. Just sayin’. > Snicks the usual “metro area” definition actually stretches over 100 miles in at least one direction (east). That’s a pretty big distance for some of them. People in Montauk are further away from Times Square than Philadelphia is. If you see some of those people, you definitely say “tourist”. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-guide-to-theatre-manners/232009/49 "2004-03-04T14:13:37Z")
Yeah, the behavior of people in theaters, at least here in New York, can be apalling. Doesn’t seem to matter what kind of theater. I will say this: I don’t often go Broadway shows. In fact, I don’t ever go to Broadway shows. Just not my cup of tea. But I do go to the opera, as often as finances permit. The Met, City Opera, even the Amato Opera, whenever I can. And I’ve observed that opera audiences (and audiences for classical music in general) pretty much police themselves. They are largely well-behaved, and any instance of disruptive behavior (cell phones, talking, etc.) is simply not tolerated. One poster mentioned breaking the rules by wearing jeans to a show of some sort. There’s one rule I break all the time. I pay what is for me a ton of money for these tickets. I’ll dress any way I damn well please. My clothes have no bearing on the amount of pleasure someone else will take in the opera/performance/whatever, and if somone’s night out is ruined by the sight of a tattooed man in jeans and a t-shirt at an opera, well, then that person is an idiot and a snob and I’ll be happy to kick their butt if they say anthing about it. But I’d wait until after the opera and kick their butt outside, 'cause it would be rude to disrupt the performance. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-guide-to-theatre-manners/232009.md?page=2)