Theatre Etiquette. Annoying woman in front

Just remembering when I took my youngest daughter to see Cinderella at the theatre when she was about 4 years old. She was fine through the first act but after the interval she started a coughing fit then suddenly vomited all in her pretty party dress. I didn't know what to do. We were in the middle of the row and if I had bundled her out there would have been bits of sick over everyone in the row we passed. She was quite happy so we stayed.
At the end the lady behind me said I had ruined the show for her due to the smell of vomit.
35 years on and I still cringe at the memory !

People eat frankfurters in our cinema and smell lingers for ages. Not a smell I enjoy

Last time we went to the cinema( booked seats) we had some very noisy eaters and rustlers behind us so we thought, sod this for a bar of soap, got up and moved to some better seats. No one told us off for sitting in the wrong seats and the place was half empty anyway.

I think people should speak up. I remember how many times I've been to the cinema when a child has kicked my seat in front of them. Pulling hair is a not acceptable. They are not pulling their mates hair, that means they know it is wrong. I have gone with special needs children and school trips and both those are a definite telling off, however much fun THEY are having. It is not right to spoil other people's enjoyment. I think it is OK to tell the person to stop moving about in front of you. That is not normal behaviour.

Mirren
I am a very short person, but I feel your pain
As I said earlier, to some extent you are taking a chance when you book theatre/cinema tickets you have no idea who will be sitting next to you, behind you or in-front of you.
Some kinds of behaviour are obviously rude and anti social, but being tall isn’t one of them.

This really, really upset me because I am " that tall woman " . Not the actual one OP encountered, you understand, but the poor person who , at 6 foot( which I obviously cannot help ) has been tapped on shoulders , told to sit down & embarrassed beyond reason by short people who feel entitled to abuse us. It started when I was 18 and went to see " Joseph " . I am embarrassed now at being told to" sit down because I can't see."
I am now 66 and still ashamed of my height.
I now try to get end seats, or move out of the way in cinemas, theatres and church.
I think you were very rude.
The lady couldn't help her height and did you consider she might have a neurological complaint if she was nodding?
I am guessing you wouldn't tap a man or an obese person in such a manner, would you ?
No wonder you got glared at !

Some years ago, DH and I went to London to watch a performance of Les Miserables. Two seats to my left, was a young man who we dubbed The Serial Whooper because every - and I mean EVERY - time a male cast member came to the end of his song this young man would bob up and down in his seat, raise his hands and clap above his head whilst yelling ‘Whoop! whoop!’ At the top of his voice. It got to the point where the actor playing Jean Valjean was beginning to cringe in anticipation of the whooping as he neared the end of his numbers. It spoilt the whole experience somewhat, so, a year or so later, my DH took me to another theatre performance of Les Mis and I found myself fully expecting the Serial Whooper to start up after the first number. Sigh of relief to find he wasn’t there!

I remember going to see Jesus Christ Superstar with my year 7 sons school as a volunteer. I was sitting behind a man who wriggled the whole time, leaning on one elbow then the other. A small child was in front of him so his view wasn’t compromised. It drive me mad and spoilt the whole thing for me. Guess what, he was their drama teacher.

i don't see how anyone can object to standing to applaud.
how is that egotistical ?!
just stand up yourself if you want to see.

Same happened to me. Tall man, kept dodging his head about so I had to dodge too. Like all of us we had paid dearly to go to the theatre and wanted to see the play. We did manage to move in the interval and really caught up with the play thereafter. I then apologised to the woman behind me originally as my dodging about must have annoyed her.

Now that, Aldom, would ruin my night at the theater. Being thrown up on I mean, not him being sick and needing an ambulance.

I was at the cinema when a gentleman seated two seats to my left began to feel unwell. He stood up, obviously intending to go to the cloakroom. But before he could move he vomited violently on the head and shoulders of the woman in the seat in front of him. The gentleman's wife managed to get him as far as the aisle, where he collapsed. An ambulance was called. Staff took care of the unfortunate woman and during the interval, cleaned the seat where she had been sitting. I have often wondered about the outcome for the poor man who was taken ill.

How annoying. I think I would have said something too, perhaps, "Are you ok? Do you have a headache? Because I've noticed you keep moving your head." Recently, at the theatre someone was filming the ballet on their mobile. Evidently, no one called her out until she was spotted by the usher shining the torch into her face. I would have had to say something had I been near enough. I did once "Shush" the people behind me at another venue, in London. So selfish and annoying. Some people don't realise there IS a correct way to behave in theatre or cinema which is different from the way you are on your sofa at home.

Food should not be allowed into a theater in my opinion. Unless you have a medical condition that requires it.

Every live performance I have been to, there is an intermission. Use the restroom, grab a drink and a snack and then go back to the show.

But I rather like to think of the theater as an occasion to look nice and experience culture. The people on stage have worked hard to entertain you and the other attendees have paid quite a bit to attend. Show some respect.

In my humble opinion only.

I have been the person who disturbed someone behind me in the theatre by moving in my seat.

I had honestly not realised I was doing it, and apologised. I was not offended at being asked politely to sit still, but mortified that I had been guilty of distracting another member of the audience.

I have on various occasions myself asked others to please not talk during the performance and my aunt once left at the first interval as she just could not stop coughing and was embarassed at disturbing others by doing so.

I went to see The Lion King and the young woman next to me was , texting with her phone ALL night it really annoyed me, a steward spoke to her a couple of times. but she carried on.
Another time I was at a concert and the tall person in front of me held his phone up making a video a lot of the time, I might as well have stayed at home and watched it on my own TV screen rather than his phone screen

we went to see Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty ballet. Behind us was a box containing very giggly women. Just before the interval l could smell curry. l turned around to see these women tucking into M&S curry smelling picnics bits and pieces!

I went to the ballet in Belfast a few years ago and had to ask for a different seat during the interval as couldn't stand the strong smell of perfume from the well dressed coiffured woman beside me. No doubt it was expensive perfume but overpowering.

My daughter works for an orchestra so I often attend classical concerts with her. I absolutely dread getting a tickle in my throat as if I coughed I'd be seriously in the dog house! We are often sitting with her colleagues as well so I get quite nervous. I always make sure I have water with me in a bottle I can drink from silently, and a pocket full of sweets I can suck if my throat gets tickly. I'm very short so I would never block someone's view, but sitting still is expected. I guess it's difficult if you have long legs but I wouldn't really know.

I gave up going to the cinema a long time ago as I have a tendency to fall asleep during a film unless it's very exciting. Snoring results in a sharp jab in the ribs. At home I may be shouted at but I can cope with that!

I agree Peaseblossom something like a bag of Malteser’s or Revels or a small bar of chocolate can easily be eaten quietly. The problem is there are a lot of people who are totally inconsiderate and just don’t care what effect their constant rustling & chomping has on others.

Sachamac it would be a lot better if people ate sweets which didn’t have noisy cellophane wrappers. Crisps and popcorn are annoyingly noisy, and to be honest, I find the smell of all that popcorn nauseating. I always wait for a noisy bit in the film before I open a sweet and never do in the quiet bits.

We had very expensive seats for a ballet a couple of years ago and an announcement was made asking the audience not to film. The woman next to us had a man in front of her holding up a tablet and filming. At intermission she really told him off and he got up and left!

InnocentBystander

I, my wife, and our son were at a London theatre a while ago, and at the end of the performance, during the curtain calls, a woman in front of us stood to applaud - as did a number of others, but not all. Because she was standing there clapping and whooping, we could see nothing of the curtain calls so I asked her if she could please sit so that we could see. In a loud and angry tone she said "I am giving my standing ovation! I will not sit for you or anyone!"
This habit of applauding from a standing position is now a scourge of the theatre. Why does the woman (in this case) think her standing ovation makes a scrap of difference to the performers when she is depriving paying customers of the opportunity to see the curtain calls with her ego-feeding actions?

As an ex theatre pro I would side with the lady standing to applaud. It is not a case of you 'seeing' the curtain calls. They are an opportunity for the cast to thank the audience and for the audience to thank the cast. If people feel like standing to applaud as the show was great then bring it on. It is these ovations that keep us going. So stand up and join in... or shush!

The worst incident at the theatre and we still laugh about it was a woman in front of us who every now and then seemed to give a jump. At the intermission, she went to go to the loo and right in front of us dropped in a faint.DH was a medic and looked at me then got up and went to her and her crying daughter.
He asked if her mother wore anything tight and the daughter unbuttoned her mother's skirt. DH then asked her to take her mother's teeth out as she still had not regained consciousness, he was just taking her pulse when he was pushed out of the way by the usherette who said she was trained in First Aid and what was he doing fumbling with the women clothes.
He just gave a big shrug and came back to his seat. Her daughter called for him to give CPR and said her mother had a very tight all in one on and the usherette did know what she was doing. The lady eventually regained consciousness and DH helped her daughter escort her to the foyer and she went to the hospital for checkups.

Performers tend to like a standing ovation ime

Went to see War Horse at the theatre. One of a group of adults with learning disabilities became very emotional - which I felt added to the atmosphere tbh although could hear some whinging (not unusual - the so called great British public are always whinging about people with learning disabilities).

Some teens on a school trip were irritating - eating and whispering all the way through.

One older lady because very distressed at the sound of warfare. The person she was with was able to get her out. It was all a bit sad. At the end heard some eejit complaining to an usher about her. Twat.