The MET dress code
Feb 10, 2012, 1:59 pm
#31
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This should never have to happen, yet boorish tourists who think Broadway is the same thing as "It's a Small World" at Disneyworld, only minus the boats, are more and more common.
Feb 10, 2012, 2:17 pm
#32
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If you think B'way is tourists wearing sweatshirts and jeans, then you're going to the wrong shows. Disney shows? Andrew Lloyd Webber shows? Anything else that has been playing for more than 5 years (Jersey, Mamma, Wicked, etc)? Yes, those are tourist shows.
But if you go see original theater (note: none of the above are plays, they are all musicals), you're going to be with 90%+ New Yorkers, and guess what? They are wearing sweatshirts and jeans. And as long as the phones are off, and the cough drops are unwrapped before the lights go down, who cares what your neighbor is wearing? Just like on planes, we don't dress up to fly, so why dress up to see a show?
But if you go see original theater (note: none of the above are plays, they are all musicals), you're going to be with 90%+ New Yorkers, and guess what? They are wearing sweatshirts and jeans. And as long as the phones are off, and the cough drops are unwrapped before the lights go down, who cares what your neighbor is wearing? Just like on planes, we don't dress up to fly, so why dress up to see a show?
Feb 10, 2012, 2:22 pm
#33
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuT6_...eature=related
Feb 10, 2012, 3:02 pm
#34
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There is no question that dividing line between tourist audiences and theater audiences is drawn between musicals and plays. However, musicals have not always (and only) been the kind of dreck that accounts for 90% of current production. Musicals have suffered because of the Disneyfication of Broadway.
We've been heavy NYC theatergoers for nearly 20 years (4-5 trips/year, with 3-4 shows/visit), and I haven't seen too much difference between tourist garb and native garb.
Meanwhile, if you haven't seen Venus in Fur, GO, and be prepared for two of the strongest acting performances you have seen in a quite some time.
Feb 10, 2012, 3:06 pm
#35
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We've been heavy NYC theatergoers for nearly 20 years (4-5 trips/year, with 3-4 shows/visit), and I haven't seen too much difference between tourist garb and native garb.
Feb 10, 2012, 3:12 pm
#36
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It's even worse at the south. When I go to the Durham Performing Arts Center (DPAC) to see touring shows I'm always in a shirt and tie and I go with my Dad who's in a blazer and button down. We're usually the best dressed there. When we went to see Memphis a week ago there were at least two people wearing baseball caps 
Feb 10, 2012, 7:46 pm
#37
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Precisely because they are marketed as annual productions intended for an audience of, primarily, parents with children. When I was a young child, my parents took me to lots of children's theater, which has an entirely different set of stylistic conventions (though the same underlying theory of two-way communication between audience and performers) which, naturally, result in entirely different audience expectations. Children's theater (and the annual performances of The Nutcracker) are great "training grounds" for introducing kids to the fine arts. The problem introduced by Disney, and picked up by some other producers, is two-fold: (1) instead of producing works specifically crafted for the stage (with the exception of Lion King), it tried to reproduce, not adapt, its animated musicals as theater. Film can do things theater can't and vice versa. One thing theater can't do well is spectacle. Nonetheless, Disney, through its slavish reproduction of its musicals on stage, has created an audience expectation for the very thing that theater does the least well. (2) Disney's latter-day musicals (as opposed to its hand-drawn, painted-cel classics), while aimed primarily at children, have a sprinkling of humor intended to appeal to adults, perhaps to keep the parents from getting too bored. The result is a simplistic and childish artistic work. There is nothing wrong with that, as the success of the Disney movies demonstrates. However, due to both marketing and a plethora of touring bus-and-truck companies, it is also what audiences with limited theater exposure now associate with "theater" -- what I think of as "Theater on Ice" syndrome. The resulting productions are not particularly satisfying and never work as theater should because their focus is on things that theater does not do well, while ignoring the one thing theater does that absolutely distinguishes it from all non-live performance mediums.
We were all dressed up and silent except during applause; today, they are in jeans, whispering loudly to each other and texting. This is the fault of Disney? Not buying it.
Then you must be much younger than I. When I was young, the audience for Broadway was primarily locals -- people from New York and New Jersey who saw plays and musicals on a regular basis. Before I went to college, I used to keep a list of every show I saw on Broadway. By the time I left the city for college at 17, there were over 200 shows on that list. Now, the audience is primarily tourists, for whom attending a Broadway show is a once-in-a-lifetime event.
You're focused on clothes. I'm focused on audience expectations.
Originally Posted by CMK10
...When we went to see Memphis a week ago there were at least two people wearing baseball caps
Feb 11, 2012, 6:25 am
#38
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Because we often get our tickets at TKTS, and we talk to the people around us in line, and 80% of them are tourists. All looking for advice, which we gladly give. And none of them are going to plays, or more "out there" musicals ("Passing Strange, Urinetown, even "Mormon" in it's first few months).
And then we talk with people in line, we talk with our seatmates (before and after the show, not during!) and we talk with the people we're walking out of the theater with. It's not hard to tell. Also the shopping bags are a giveaway.
And then we talk with people in line, we talk with our seatmates (before and after the show, not during!) and we talk with the people we're walking out of the theater with. It's not hard to tell. Also the shopping bags are a giveaway.
Feb 11, 2012, 8:56 am
#39
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Thanks everybody for the info and dress tips.
For some reason I posted this answer 2 days ago but though I didn't get any error, my post didn't appear, I realized it just right now.
Of course I never had in mind jeans, I have not weared jeans even in Broadway shows (including Disney's). Though I think I have seen more formal dressed people on "serious" plays. Like when I went to see Jane Fonda in "33 Variations". People was very fancy that night. Anecdotally, I even remember Tom Hanks within the audience, and.. as a peruvian tourist, I died to take him a picture to show my friends later; but of course, I didn't. He was with his family, enjoying the play, and I considered disrespectful to take him a picture without permission (I was sure he would say NO if I ask, it wasn't the moment and place )
For some reason I posted this answer 2 days ago but though I didn't get any error, my post didn't appear, I realized it just right now.
Of course I never had in mind jeans, I have not weared jeans even in Broadway shows (including Disney's). Though I think I have seen more formal dressed people on "serious" plays. Like when I went to see Jane Fonda in "33 Variations". People was very fancy that night. Anecdotally, I even remember Tom Hanks within the audience, and.. as a peruvian tourist, I died to take him a picture to show my friends later; but of course, I didn't. He was with his family, enjoying the play, and I considered disrespectful to take him a picture without permission (I was sure he would say NO if I ask, it wasn't the moment and place
)
Last edited by Villavic; Feb 11, 2012 at 9:16 am
Feb 11, 2012, 12:05 pm
#40
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Because we often get our tickets at TKTS, and we talk to the people around us in line, and 80% of them are tourists. All looking for advice, which we gladly give. And none of them are going to plays, or more "out there" musicals ("Passing Strange, Urinetown, even "Mormon" in it's first few months).
Feb 11, 2012, 1:42 pm
#41
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I have stopped wearing my grass skirt so I can stay incognito.
Agreed completely. ^
Rather than go through every message since I last read this thread, let me make a general reply.
For some people, going to the opera, theater or a fine restaurant is solely about the production. What you get from what is shown on stage or delivered to your table is solely what counts.
For some other people, the "atmosphere" plays a part in enhancing or detracting from the experience. Part of the atmosphere is your fellow patrons.
Let's say we parked an MD-80 in a hangar at LGA. And we had a fully-equipped kitchen available with Daniel Boulud and his A team running it. Do you think you would enjoy your meal as much as in his restaurant on the UES? If not, then atmosphere must play a part.
On Saturday and Sunday many people in New York City are attending services in their churches and synagogues. True, if you don't come in a jacket and tie, most places will still let you in, but the congregation may have certain expectations of its members. This is ethical, moral and legal all at once.
Do I think you have a right to attend the Met, a Broadway show, or a haute cuisine restaurant in almost any clothing you like? Yes, unless and until the management establishes a legal dress code. Put me down as someone in favor of one.
Rather than go through every message since I last read this thread, let me make a general reply.
For some people, going to the opera, theater or a fine restaurant is solely about the production. What you get from what is shown on stage or delivered to your table is solely what counts.
For some other people, the "atmosphere" plays a part in enhancing or detracting from the experience. Part of the atmosphere is your fellow patrons.
Let's say we parked an MD-80 in a hangar at LGA. And we had a fully-equipped kitchen available with Daniel Boulud and his A team running it. Do you think you would enjoy your meal as much as in his restaurant on the UES? If not, then atmosphere must play a part.
On Saturday and Sunday many people in New York City are attending services in their churches and synagogues. True, if you don't come in a jacket and tie, most places will still let you in, but the congregation may have certain expectations of its members. This is ethical, moral and legal all at once.
Do I think you have a right to attend the Met, a Broadway show, or a haute cuisine restaurant in almost any clothing you like? Yes, unless and until the management establishes a legal dress code. Put me down as someone in favor of one.
Feb 11, 2012, 1:51 pm
#42
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For some people, going to the opera, theater or a fine restaurant is solely about the production. What you get from what is shown on stage or delivered to your table is solely what counts.
For some other people, the "atmosphere" plays a part in enhancing or detracting from the experience. Part of the atmosphere is your fellow patrons.
For some other people, the "atmosphere" plays a part in enhancing or detracting from the experience. Part of the atmosphere is your fellow patrons.
Feb 11, 2012, 2:19 pm
#43
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It's too bad, because your reply is off-point.
If you had read the thread, you would have known that discussion is not about "atmosphere," or "what's on the stage," but the degradation of audience conduct in specific contexts, i.e. casual dress at the opera or Broadway is a concomitant of casual (and inappropriate) behavior at these venues.
If you had read the thread, you would have known that discussion is not about "atmosphere," or "what's on the stage," but the degradation of audience conduct in specific contexts, i.e. casual dress at the opera or Broadway is a concomitant of casual (and inappropriate) behavior at these venues.
Based upon previous discussions, I'm going to cut you a lot of slack and assume you are just having some kind of a bad day. This is not a deposition, counsellor! If you recall from the "Spiderman" thread, I got my BA in Speech and Theater.
Please re-read this thread and see that we are actually in agreement on most points. Beyond that, I'm not going to nuance each and every word of my post.
Feb 11, 2012, 2:25 pm
#44
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There is no need to be snarky. Obviously I did read the thread. To state otherwise is gratuitous
Based upon previous discussions, I'm going to cut you a lot of slack and assume you are just having some kind of a bad day. This is not a deposition, counsellor! If you recall from the "Spiderman" thread, I got my BA in Speech and Theater.
Please re-read this thread and see that we are actually in agreement on most points. Beyond that, I'm not going to nuance each and every word of my post.
Based upon previous discussions, I'm going to cut you a lot of slack and assume you are just having some kind of a bad day. This is not a deposition, counsellor! If you recall from the "Spiderman" thread, I got my BA in Speech and Theater.
Please re-read this thread and see that we are actually in agreement on most points. Beyond that, I'm not going to nuance each and every word of my post.
Feb 11, 2012, 2:25 pm
#45
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