Rules on how to behave in the theatre

[Natalia]

My husband, friends & I applauded and even yelled "Bravo!" a couple of times during the live transmission of the Bolshoi Theater Reopening. Ditto the live Beauty with Hallberg. At a live transmission, it's fun to 'transport' ourselves to the site. Nothing unhealthy in that.

What IS unhealthy, IMO, is the Tweet Seats or Tweeting-texting during performances. Can't people RELAX and engross themselves in the one event in front of them? Or have we created a nation of little brats and/or sufferers of ADD - attention-deficit disorder? There *is* a lot of ADD nowadays, it seems. I've met a lot of people recently who could never sit down and read a book or a newspaper for more than 3 minutes; it would be sheer torture to ask them to sit still for 30 minutes from 'lights out' to intermission. I'd pity those who have clinical ADD...but a lot are simply spoiled brats.

[Birdsall]

My husband, friends & I applauded and even yelled "Bravo!" a couple of times during the live transmission of the Bolshoi Theater Reopening. Ditto the live Beauty with Hallberg. At a live transmission, it's fun to 'transport' ourselves to the site. Nothing unhealthy in that.

What IS unhealthy, IMO, is the Tweet Seats or Tweeting-texting during performances. Can't people RELAX and engross themselves in the one event in front of them? Or have we created a nation of little brats and/or sufferers of ADD - attention-deficit disorder? There *is* a lot of ADD nowadays, it seems. I've met a lot of people recently who could never sit down and read a book or a newspaper for more than 3 minutes; it would be sheer torture to ask them to sit still for 30 minutes from 'lights out' to intermission. I'd pity those who have clinical ADD...but a lot are simply spoiled brats.

I agree about some of the cases being a case of spoiled brats. I used to work in the public schools and some kids had a reputation that they can NOT sit still, and some teachers accepted that, but get an old fashioned, strict teacher who has that strict aura in every gesture she makes and that kid who everyone claims can't stay quiet and sit still suddenly transforms into a well behaved child. They will try to get away with what they can.

For Cristian and Marga above, I hope you two (and Natalia) weren't offended by my confusion about applauding at the movies. It was more of a "What is going on?" question and wanting to know how others think and feel. Also, I just reread my post. Cristian, I meant it was cute that you applaud with your cats, I wasn't trying to be condescending and say it was "cute" to applaud. I visualized you with your cats. I just reread and realized that it could be interpreted wrong. I am also glad you all explained why you applaud. So it is the same as my father going nuts at a televised football game! LOL I understand it better. I thought that might be it, but I wasn't sure. I have to say even when I see a performance of a lifetime like Nina Stemme's Brünnhilde in SF this past summer I sort of get overwhelmed and become silent. The audience applause actually pulls me out of it and then I realize, "Oh, time to clap. Let me applaud her since she really deserved it!" That's even in a live performance. So in a move theater I still get that but then the applause breaks in and I have time to realize it is just a screen. I guess it is a different way of reacting to joy at seeing something extraordinary. I am usually speechless and quiet and think, "Wow!" I guess it is just a case of different people reacting to beauty in different ways.

[kfw]

The fact of being carried away by the beauty of performance, live or not...? Then you shoud see me applauding at home by myself with my two kitties as witnesses..! ;-)

Well, that is cute! But I never really understood my father screaming at the tv when he watched football.

I do. Maybe I got it from my father, or from my father talking to other drivers on the road, but it just comes naturally. As to applauding at HD performances, for me it's about being in and part of an audience.

[Birdsall]

I wondered about those people - why did they even bother to come if they are so unmoved by it all? The chatter at intermission gave me a clue: most were spouting platitudes to each other, like "weren't the costumes pretty!" and "she's very beautiful, isn't she?" and "I didn't care for the first part at all; it was so slow it almost put me to sleep." I understand that they may not be balletomanes in any degree of the word, but it sounded to me like the performers could have just as well been modeling fashions or doing pantomime.

I wonder how anyone could find the first half of Sleeping Beauty boring (comment you overheard during intermission). If nothing else the music is just so glorious, even apart from the dancing. I love the fairy dances and then the Rose Adagio of Act 1. For me the second act is a bore until the actual vision. I get bored during the Prince's hunting scene. But then the Vision scene is lovely. And the last act is just a lot of fun with fun variation after variation and beautiful music also.

I do think costumes and sets can be a big disappointment (or the opposite too) even if the dancing "should" be the main thing. Luckily, ballet seems to be a little more immune to ugly, crazy sets/costume, but in opera it is quite common to have crazy concept productions that are usually ugly, and despite wonderful singing it simply ruins the performance for some of us. So I think comments on costumes and other superficial aspects of a ballet are probably normal. Just playing Devil's Advocate. Not trying to be argumentative.

[Natalia]

No offense, Bart. I'm only offended by the spoiled brats who can't let go of their gadgets during a performance. I'm also offended by theaters that are so desperate to fill seats that they would encourage Tweeting during performances &, in general, 'coddle' to the brats.

[Helene]

Bart, I the same reaction to Stimme last summer!

I learned to clap at the screen at the Vancouver Olympics. The medal ceremonies were held jointly at Whistler and BC Place in Vancouver. The ceremony alternated between the two venues, with each of us watching the other on big screens. There were two young Russian cross-country skiers awarded gold and silver, and their joy was so infectious that the stadium in Vancouver exploded. That's when I realized that it was no longer considered strange to react to virtual reality.

After that, applauding for Netrebko or Alexandrova in a movie theater was a piece of cake

They know we're watching, even if they can't hear us.

The Tweeters, on the other hand, should be locked in the room with the crying babies, in my opinion.

[little-junkie]

I did applaud during the live broadcast in the theatre, along with a few other people. When the dancing is good, you can't help it. But it felt somewhat strange when you see people coming in with soda drinks and popcorns, everyone in casual clothes, jeans and runners. A lady was looking for seats closer to the center of the row with her husband, and went for the row in front of me, but then she found out those were taken and I asked if she wanted to take the two beside me. Instead of going around the row of seats, she climbed over by standing up on top of the arm rests and hopped...

Since we are on the topic, it reminds me what my sister told me about a Giselle performance she saw in Mongolia. She was there for a 6-month internship and went to see the Mongolia Ballet. She said it was like going to a teenage movie in the theatre, everyone went to the event, and mostly teenagers. They talked, and texted, cell phones ringing off the hooks without muting, having drinks and food, all these happening WHILE the performance was proceeding as usual on stage. She was having a culture shock.

[SandyMcKean]

......for me it's about being in and part of an audience.

I too clap at the Met Opera performances in a theater.......and thinking about it (the "why" of it), it is, I think, for the reason above. Performing arts simply don't happen without an audience. No performer any of us know could possibly excel with no audience. In that lies the "magic" of the performing arts. I think I simply miss being part of that audience. Clapping to a screen is technically dumb, but emotionally satisfying.

Here's another strange one for you. Sometimes when I see a Met Opera there are only 3 or 4 other people in the theater (especially at the encore performances). I am always disappointed when the "house" is so small. It affects my mood during the entire performance. I far prefer when there are dozens or hundreds of people there (altho not a full house). I suspect I have these irrational feelings because the "power" of an audience isn't restricted to just the performers themselves feeding off it (ask any performer and they will tell about how they "feel" the audience's attention and appreciation), but all the human beings in the room feed off it.....and that includes the audience itself.

When I and others clap at a Met performance, we form a community IMHO. So I guess I disagree with the premise that there is no point in clapping since the performers aren't there......the audience is there.....and they are alive and communicating (it's no accident it seems to me that "community" and "communicate" have the same root).

[dirac]

I also wonder why people at the HD transmissions of opera and ballet applaud. I believe in applauding performers but not a movie screen. Applause is for the performers, so when they can't hear it, what is the point? It is no big deal, b/c it is always at the end and not disruptive, but I just wonder what is going on in these people's minds.

I tend to agree. Applause is part of a live performance; it's how the audience communicates with the performers in front of them. (I was going to say that you don't clap while watching television at home, but some do, apparently....) You certainly can applaud at a cinema simulcast, but by me it's pointless and a trifle pretentious. I have on very rare occasions witnessed people applauding after a movie when they have been particularly impressed or moved, but not often.

Yelling at the television during sporting events, as your father and mine did/do, is slightly different in that competition and rooting interests are involved, so of course people who are emotionally engaged in the contest whoop it up a bit. But you'll note that the behavior still differs from that which you see from the people who are in the stadium watching the game live.

[dirac]

No offense, Bart. I'm only offended by the spoiled brats who can't let go of their gadgets during a performance. I'm also offended by theaters that are so desperate to fill seats that they would encourage Tweeting during performances &, in general, 'coddle' to the brats.

I find those people with their glowing phone screens most annoying, but I would describe this new practice as an adjustment to changing times and habits. It's one way to accommodate a sector of the audience without annoying their fellow audience members. After all, they are buying tickets, and via Twitter they're sharing the experience with others. Certainly it's an experiment worth trying, especially if the Twitterers are younger people.

One COULD argue that, for those people who can't or won't sit still and just listen and watch, it's better to have them do express themselves silently.

I'm not sure that people availing themselves of Twitter would necessarily be disruptive if social media didn't exist. Chicken or the egg, I guess.

[kfw]

Yelling at the television during sporting events, as your father and mine did/do, is slightly different in that competition and rooting interests are involved, so of course people who are emotionally engaged in the contest whoop it up a bit.

Golly, who would want to sit through any performance without being emotionally engaged? I applaud at HD broadcasts because in one way or another I'm moved, and because, as I wrote earlier in other words, applauding and hearing applause makes it more of a communal thing. Nothing pretentious about that.

[Birdsall]

Concerning popcorn and sodas and casual clothes, I have to say that I consider the HD movie transmissions more like a movie, since it is in a movie theater. I would never smuggle in food or drinks and chomp during a live performance in an actual opera/ballet house, but I always buy popcorn and coke for the HD transmissions. I think it is a much more casual experience than an actual opera house experience, and I do not dress up like I do when I go to the actual opera house. I think different people will have different opinions about this, because an acquaintance of mine dresses up for the Met's HD transmissions. He thinks I am terrible to show up in cargo shorts and t-shirt, but it is Florida and a movie theater. I personally think it is odd to dress up for a movie theater in this day and age even if you are going to a ballet or opera in the movies. With that said when I am in the actual opera house I am not thrilled to see people sometimes show up in t-shirts and jeans. So I am a bit conservative about how to dress for actual live ballet and opera but I think casual clothes for the HD transmissions is common sense personally.

In fact, when the Met did Tristan und Isolde, I put up the arm rests and laid across a few chairs near the front while watching. Most comfortable experience of Tristan und Isolde I ever attended! LOL And opera where hardly anything happens and goes on and on (don't get me wrong, I love Tristan und Isolde). Wagner was probably rolling in his grave, and I LOVE Wagner's operas. I would never lie across three seats in an opera house, but the movie theater, yes.

I tend to sit close up where less people sit when attending the movie HDs, but I still make sure I'm munching popcorn with mouth closed (unlike some people), and during Wagner I pick strategic times to munch! LOL Most Wagnerites are a little more picky, I suspect. In contrast noises at the ballet do not bother me quite as much since my main focus is on the dancing. I like to hear the music also, but even soft whispering that makes me see red in a movie or an opera actually bothers me much less during a movie transmission of a ballet. I think it is because the best part is silent (the dancing).

[dirac]

Yelling at the television during sporting events, as your father and mine did/do, is slightly different in that competition and rooting interests are involved, so of course people who are emotionally engaged in the contest whoop it up a bit.

Golly, who would want to sit through any performance without being emotionally engaged? I applaud at HD broadcasts because in one way or another I'm moved, and because, as I wrote earlier in other words, applauding and hearing applause makes it more of a communal thing. Nothing pretentious about that.

Yelling at the television during sporting events, as your father and mine did/do, is slightly different in that competition and rooting interests are involved, so of course people who are emotionally engaged in the contest whoop it up a bit.

Golly, who would want to sit through any performance without being emotionally engaged? I applaud at HD broadcasts because in one way or another I'm moved, and because, as I wrote earlier in other words, applauding and hearing applause makes it more of a communal thing. Nothing pretentious about that.

I think it's clear from my quote and the rest of my post how I was using the phrase "emotionally engaged."

[puppytreats]

This makes me think of the old news clips of teenage girls screaming at the sight of the Beatles. With all the talk about Hallberg "groupies" and "dancecrushes", I imagine a lot of screaming and jumping occurred in living rooms last night. Besides, if we gasp and laugh out loud at the sight of Colbert leaping in his tights, why wouldn't we also express ourselves with applause?

[kfw]

I think it's clear from my quote and the rest of my post how I was using the phrase "emotionally engaged."

It seemed clear enough to me, which is why I wrote what I did. You are free to correct me of course.

[dirac]

It seemed clear enough to me

I'm afraid we'll have to agree to disagree on that.

[dirac]

I think different people will have different opinions about this, because an acquaintance of mine dresses up for the Met's HD transmissions. He thinks I am terrible to show up in cargo shorts and t-shirt, but it is Florida and a movie theater.

To me dressing up for the transmission is a confusion of the occasion similar to applauding as you would at a live performance. One is one, the other is the other. (I do think it would be appropriate to dress if it was a premiere or a special showing.)

[kfw]

I think different people will have different opinions about this, because an acquaintance of mine dresses up for the Met's HD transmissions. He thinks I am terrible to show up in cargo shorts and t-shirt, but it is Florida and a movie theater.

To me dressing up for the transmission is a confusion of the occasion similar to applauding as you would at a live performance. One is one, the other is the other. (I do think it would be appropriate to dress if it was a premiere or a special showing.)

The occasion is the performance, and if the performance is special to people, they dress up. (Or if, like me, they prefer to dress down even on special occasions, they may dress up out of consideration for other members of the audience).

[Marga]

I agree with kfw's post above this one. I didn't dress to the nines, but I did wear what I would to an afternoon at the ballet. So did my daughter, who wore a dress and heels, when we attended the live broadcast of Esmeralda. It would have felt wrong to wear jeans! The others in the scant audience were nicely dressed in semi-casual attire, too. No jeans to be seen. And no one took food into the theatre. I certainly could not have sat there with a snack and a drink. We had a nice lunch together at a café, just as we might were we at Lincoln Center, for example. I guess what I'm saying is, we treated it as a special occasion, and it more than exceeded our expectations. We left on a natural high, with a satisfying feeling of exhilaration and things to talk about.

[Birdsall]

I didn't mean to start arguments or anything. I think people's differences make the world interesting. I will applaud at performances where performers are in person but probably never will at a movie presentation no matter how much I enjoyed it. I will dress up for opera/ballet houses but not movie theaters. I will always want popcorn at the movies!

With that said I will no longer wonder why people applaud or dress up at the HDs. They are making it a special occasion for themselves, and that is great. That is their prerogative. Life is rough and depressing at times, so I can't fault anyone for making something in life more fun and exciting by making it into a special occasion!

[dirac]

The occasion is the performance, and if the performance is special to people, they dress up. (Or if, like me, they prefer to dress down even on special occasions, they may dress up out of consideration for other members of the audience).

It's a free country.

[dirac]

I didn't mean to start arguments or anything. I think people's differences make the world interesting. I will applaud at performances where performers are in person but probably never will at a movie presentation no matter how much I enjoyed it. I will dress up for opera/ballet houses but not movie theaters. I will always want popcorn at the movies!

With that said I will no longer wonder why people applaud or dress up at the HDs. They are making it a special occasion for themselves, and that is great. That is their prerogative. Life is rough and depressing at times, so I can't fault anyone for making something in life more fun and exciting by making it into a special occasion!

You started a lively discussion, Bart, that's all, and thank you!

[Anthony_NYC]

Regarding applause in the movie theater, maybe it's a regional thing. Here in New York, it's very common for an audience to applaud at the end of a movie if they thought it especially good. There might even be additional applause for particular names while the credits roll by. For the HD broadcasts of opera and ballet, I think it's great when people applaud like it's a live performance--it adds to the communal experience of it and makes it more exciting. Again, here in New York that seems completely natural, but I can see how it might seem pretentious somewhere where it is not the usual thing (though I personally would miss it).

I don't think applause at movies is anything new, by the way. I've noticed in old musicals that the moviemakers sometimes have even programmed in "applause time." A good example is Fred Astaire's famous hat rack dance in "Royal Wedding." At the end, Astaire and his "partner" take a bow during several seconds of silence that seem awkward at home on TV, but in a movie theater are inevitably filled with the sound of clapping hands (as well as cheering the night I saw it at the old Biograph revival house on 57th Street years ago).

Anthony

[dirac]

Here in New York, it's very common for an audience to applaud at the end of a movie if they thought it especially good.

Oh, it happens elsewhere too. I've done it myself and no doubt it was even more commonplace in the days when the movies were still a relative novelty and people were aping theater manners, just as the movies used to mimic stage performances. Audiences also do it as a way of recognizing a well-loved performer - when the jockey Gary Stevens appeared in his first scene playing George Woolf in "Seabiscuit," those of us who recognized him gave him a hand, no doubt to the puzzlement of everyone else. My point was that it's the exception, not the rule, to applaud at the movies - it's not customary as it is for live performance, even less than enthralling live performances. Not a big deal, either way.....

Television sitcoms today routinely leave time after laugh lines, usually filled in with canned laughter.

[cubanmiamiboy]

I think different people will have different opinions about this, because an acquaintance of mine dresses up for the Met's HD transmissions. He thinks I am terrible to show up in cargo shorts and t-shirt, but it is Florida and a movie theater.

To me dressing up for the transmission is a confusion of the occasion similar to applauding as you would at a live performance. One is one, the other is the other. (I do think it would be appropriate to dress if it was a premiere or a special showing.)

The occasion is the performance, and if the performance is special to people, they dress up. (Or if, like me, they prefer to dress down even on special occasions, they may dress up out of consideration for other members of the audience).

I'm a rabid advocate of ENFORCED dress codes for opera and ballet. I surely miss the sunny days of seeing tourists dropping jaws when told they were not allowed into the theater in cargo shorts and/or flip flops. I guess they couldn't understand the measure if the audience around them was basically made of starved nationals-(who would scrapped long sleeves and dressy pants out of nowhere)- in a crumbling grand dame of a theater.