What’s the dress code for a Saturday afternoon matinee on Broadway (at the Nederlander)? This ol’ country boy’ll wear a tie if he needs to, but he’d prefer to leave the coat at home.
No need for a coat and tie, but dress “nicely.”
Khakis and a nice button-down shirt, then?
No need for a coat and tie indeed! Oh boy, friedo. Can’t wait till Eve drops in to straighten out your barbarian ass!
[grinny here]
Eve may feel free to do whatever she wants involving my ass.
Khakis and a nice shirt indeed, chriszarate.
And nice shoes too.
That’ll do.
These days, almost anything goes. If you wear a tux, you’ll look like a pompous twit; if you wear a t-shirt and cut-offs, you’ll look like a slob. But almost anything in between will be fine.
You WANT to wear a jacket and tie, go ahead.
You’d rather wear a turtleneck sweater and a pair of clean jeans? Go ahead- nobody’s going to point or stare at you. Honest.
Unless it’s a special event (the Tony’s, opening night, whatever), nobody’s really expected to get very dressy at Broadway theatres any more. Wear decent casual clothes, and you’ll fit right in.
Astorian’s right. There are a few refinements, though. If you’re at a premiere, a business suit is best. Friday and Saturday nights, some nice ‘downtown’ clothes (ie lots of black, etc.) would be good. Matinees NSM.
Also depends on the show. The audience at THE PRODUCERS will look very different from that of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST or THE GOAT or PROOF, etc.
The Nederlander has RENT–if that’s what you’re going to see, then take the subway down to Washington Square Park and see what the NYU kids are wearing, and wear that <g>.
Thanks for the advice, but I’ll steer clear of the NYU kids. All I ever got from them was a bag of pencil shavings.
I scoured the Internet, but what does NSM stand for?
I think it means Not So Much. Matinees can be considered “less formal” than the evening shows.
Having said that, when I lived in Times Square I went to many shows, and about the only thing I wouldn’t wear is shorts or a shirt without any sleeves. Really, wear whatever you’d be comfortable with.
I’d dare say that, at Rent, you’ll look more out of place with a tie than with jeans and a clean shirt.
Sorry, it does mean Not So Much.
Yeah, what Servo said. The best thing to do is to not wear things that are falling apart, not to wear obscene T-shirts or show TOO much midriff, and most of all, behave with simple courtesy and respect to those around you. I’ve seen people in jeans be wonderful theatergoers while ladies in Chanel suits let their cellphones ring, sing along with the cast, have a running synopsis going with their neighbors, etc.
I’ll usually wear nice slacks but the trouble is I live in an Outer Borough and have to carry around everything with me from home like a snail. I’ll bring my nice shoes but I can’t very well bring a whole dress with me.
I went to see Chicago last February. Me and my wife saw the 8pm show and dressed up rather nicely. We like to place dress up and pretend we’re rich…I mean, that’s why you go to the theater isn’t it?
She wore a nice evening dress, I had a suit…but people were in there wearing everything from Tux’s to cutoffs. In my opinion, if you want to slouch, go to the movies…but it shows respect to the cast if you dress nicely.