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How to behave at the theatre, New York-style
Arrive late, applaud incessantly and
make sure you pack that facemask. Here's how to blend in on Broadway - but what
about the West End?
Broadway … a bit like the West End, but with less ice cream.
Photograph: Stephen Chernin/Getty
When I booked my tickets for my first ever trip to New York, my expectations
of Broadway largely
centred on what I'd picked up from films – mostly from A Chorus Line, The
Producers and 42nd Street, to tell you the truth. So, directors are mean and
authoritarian; the actors are working hard and desperate for their big break;
the audiences are glamorous, beautiful, rich and appreciative. But, however big
and shiny the neon-lit signs outside the theatre are, what happens inside must
be pretty much the same as the West End, right? Not
quite.
For one, it's peculiarly British to be obsessed with timekeeping and orderly
queues. On Broadway, tutting at line-jumpers and latecomers is
verboten. It's inevitable that the audience will start arriving about
two minutes before curtain up, and the show will start about 10 minutes late.
And there's nothing that you – or your tsking – can do about it.
In the unlikely event that someone at the theatre in London wears a surgical
mask in order to protect against swine flu, they would be pointed at and mocked
by the rest of the audience. Not so on Broadway. The little collection of
germ-averse theatre-goers there don't even trigger eyelid-batting, apart from
the lone, cynical English journalist who made a point of fake-coughing very
loudly behind each of them.
Americans are famous for their vociferous appreciation of theatre and sports
and … well, most things, really. So, if there's a notable star in the show,
their first entrance will be greeted with a lengthy whoop as the audience can no
longer contain their excitement. Don't expect to hear their first half-dozen
lines. However, if you're a tourist with a ticket for the
current revival of Waiting for Godot in the West End, with Ian McKellen and
Patrick Stewart, just clap politely – at the end.
The West End's Victorian theatres aren't built for limb-stretching comfort,
which prompts an awkward sideways shuffle punctuated by a sad apology to
everyone you bump past in order to exit the aisle. The question in this
situation is whether to face forward towards your fellow theatregoers, or waggle
your bum at them instead; it's a quandary mulled over with less intensity in
Broadway – legroom in the aisles is far more generous. No room for complaint
there.
One moan I have been know to make, however, is about the cost of tickets in
London (particularly since the introduction of premium seats), but Broadway
takes the biscuit: a show in there costs about twice as much as you'd expect to
pay in the West End. The lesson here is to make sure you pick wisely, or at
least buy your tickets from the
half-price ticket booth in Times Square on the day you want to go.
While the tickets might be pricey, the programmes are free. Of course,
there's also the souvenir brochure, all kinds of low-quality tat and overpriced
drinks and sweets designed to fleece you of even more cash – but no interval
ice-cream. Eating dessert in between the acts is considered bizarre behaviour by
New York audiences.
Finally, if you're looking to meet your favourite stars for a photo and an
autograph, actors on both sides of the Atlantic are usually happy to meet and
greet polite fans at the stage door after a performance. Note that in the UK,
though, obsessive fandom and stage-door lurking is less acceptable once you're
over the age of 18.
Seasoned travelling theatregoers, what are your top tips for visitors to the
West End or Broadway?