late seating and manners

[California]

I thought sure we had a thread on this, but I can't seem to find it back.

I have to agree with Macaulay's Notebook today on the annoyance of late seating, especially when ABT is at the Met. But I disagree with his claim that Covent Garden is nearly perfect. He doesn't say what the exceptions might be. I'll name one: flash cameras going off during the performance, which happened twice last spring when I was in London to see the Royal Ballet.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/29/arts/dance/latecomers-to-the-theater-always-step-on-toes.html

[abatt]

Thanks for posting that. He mentions that the ushers at NYCB are more sensitive to timing than at ABT. Maybe where he sits that's true, but not where I've sat. In the rings at the Koch it's a free for all. People wander into the auditorium any old time in the rings and stand near the entracne door talking, looking through their noisy plastic bags, and being completely disruptive to anyone seated in the vicinity of the door. It happens at virtually every performance. Nobody should be admitted into the auditorium once the curtain is up. Period. There are now TV screens everywhere in the hallways that show the performance. Latecomers should be forced to sit outside and watch the TV screen until the intermission.

[atm711]

No pity for Mr. Macauley in his free seats......

[California]

No pity for Mr. Macauley in his free seats......

And they're on the aisle, at least when I've spotted him in the orchestra at the Met, so he can make that mad dash for the exits -- whether to get back to the office, avoid the crowds, or whatever. Has anyone ever spotted him hanging around for all the curtain calls?

[mimsyb]

No pity for Mr. Macauley in his free seats......

And they're on the aisle, at least when I've spotted him in the orchestra at the Met, so he can make that mad dash for the exits -- whether to get back to the office, avoid the crowds, or whatever. Has anyone ever spotted him hanging around for all the curtain calls?

Actually, he stayed for all the curtain calls at the final performance of the Bolshoi's "Sparacus" last month. That was amazing to me, as it was such a disaster of a performance and his review reflected that. But perhaps he had no deadline to make.

[sandik]

My father was an adept at the "applauding while leaving" style -- we lived a long drive away from the theater, and he got up quite early in the morning to commute to work.

We had tickets to the Seattle Opera during the years they were accumulating their first Ring cycle -- one production a year, usually in February. It got out quite late, and I remember following him up the aisle, applauding as we walked backwards...