Should Broadway/theater have dress codes??

no crocs too.

Given the prices, people should be able to wear whatever they want.

R2 No. Given the prices, people should dress up a bit. No need to be ticky tacky.

Everyone's a slob nowadays.

r2 Given the high prices and the ornate theater interiors, that is MORE reason to dress up. People who feel the need to feel comfortable as if they are home lounging is weird.

With those rules, OP, half the people at the Met Gala wouldn't get in.

No, especially not in New York. The weather extremes, the aggressively tight seating, and the poor crowd control practices make it very difficult or uncomfortable to dress up. The way the pricing is now, people shouldn’t be discouraged even further. Even failing shows think they can sell tickets for $300.

r7 Jesus Christ, give it a rest. A blouse or collar shirt and slacks are not uncomfortable at all. Business casual is comfortable.

I’m right here living in the theater district!. People dress like slobs to go to the theaters I refuse to go to see anything if I have to sit next to people who look like they are dressed to be in a Walmart. They line up outside the theaters like animals as they are scrutinized for weapons as the line moves sloooowly. Where do these slobs come from? They seem like tourists but Jesus, tourists used to wear normal clothes to go to the theater. No. I don’t want to sit by these assholes. They have zero respect for Broadway.

If I'm traveling and I think I might go to the theater, opera, ballet, etc. I bring slacks, a nice shirt and casual shoes. I'm not dressed to the nines, obviously, but I'm not dressed like an adolescent slob in a mall.

When I see something in NYC where I live, I always were slacks, a nice shirt, dress shoes and a sports jacket.

No, because there’s already a decline in attendance.

Our culture started to slide when people thought wearing pajamas to the theater or a plane trip was perfectly acceptable.

r10 Exactly. Nothing fancy. Most jobs are "business casual: which is just a nice button up shirt/collared shirt and dress pants. I never feel uncomfortable in that. Why is there no middle ground between gym attire and wearing a 3 piece suit??

What r11 said. Broadway needs all the paying customers it can get. OP you want to make it so even fewer people go to Broadway, trying to kill off the whole industry.

Face it, the world has changed. People no longer want to dress up. Broadway like everything else had to evolve with it.

r11 Not being allowed to wear pajamas and flip flops to Broadway will not decrease sales. And if it is that speaks to a wider cultural issue.

[quote]No. I don’t want to sit by these assholes. They have zero respect for Broadway.

Thank you, Helen Lawson.

This attitude that "if I pay I am the boss" is so toxic in the USA. It is very childish.

I'm surprised Miss Lupone has not yet called out a poorly dressed audience member in the midst of her big number. How dare they spit on the sanctity of the thear-TUH!

My sister accuses me of dressing up although I am very casual. I wear dress pants and a regular shirt-- very comfortable as I get slacks that are soft and stretchy. I don't see the point in wearing gym wear outside of the gym.

I cringe when people make excuses like "tourist have been walking all day." Like what do you think people did in the 1950s and 1960s. I feel like there is nice looking sneakers that look like dress shoes, stretchy pants that look like dress pants, and t shirts that look somewhat formal.

There are no sneakers that look like dress shoes, nor are there T-shirts that look somewhat formal.

Having said that, loafers, casual slacks and collared shirts or blouses aren't inherently uncomfortable. That anybody would object to that very casual outfit as "dressing up" and insist that it would cause them pain and suffering is absurd.

We are not part of the show and we will not dress to make you feel special on your big night out.

But LIFE is the cabaret, R22.

As long as there is a pocket from which I can easily access my cell phone...

Has anyone been to church lately? Lots of people look like they’re at a baseball game.

r21 Yes there are dark/black sneakers that look like dress shoes.

noblesole.com

r25 And people used to dress up at the baseball games

R25, in Catholic churches that's been going on since the folk masses started in the late 60s/early 70s. Suddenly everyone was emulating those hippie slobs.

I don’t give a shit what anyone wears, it’s their BEHAVIOR that needs work. Theaters should post rules in the lobby. NO screaming, no standing on seats, no lighters etc.

We're a lot closer to the days of all Broadway shows on a streaming service than we are to having additional rules mandated for attending live shows

I do not give one single fuck what anyone else wears to the theatre. I came to look at what's going on onstage. I just don't want to hear you (phones, wrappers) or smell you (BO or cologne/parfum).

Only well dressed, attractive, young and thin people should be allowed into a theater.

I’d love to watch people try and enforce a Broadway dress code.

R31, I'm with you. I'm there to watch a performance and couldn't give a damn what the people around me in the audience are wearing. So long as they're clean (i.e., don't have an offensive odor), it's all good.

Tourists are the biggest draw to Broadway, especially during summer. Checking a bag is more and more expensive, so if you can travel with a carry-on, more power to you. If I have limited real estate in my luggage, I am not packing a special outfit just to go see theater in.

It's certainly easier to dress better for the theater during the winter months.

I think "no pajamas" is a good rule, unless you're 8 years old and want to go on the swings at the drive-in before the movie while your Mom & Dad get you a tonic at the refreshment stand.

I think it should also apply to decent restaurants and airplanes.

r35 Business casual is not a "special outfit"-- it should be the majority of what you are wearing anyways if you are on vacation in NYC. Why would someone be wearing sweatpants, pajama pants, flip flops (gross in the city) when going to museums, restaurants, etc. in NYC??

Perhaps this should be the policy for the legitimate theater?

Yes, a dress code by all means!

No one is asking you wear a jacket and tie, but going to the theatre is not like going to the movies.

I was in London early last year and went to see Moulin Rouge, booked an end of row seat as my legs get restless and they had a new feature where you can scan a QR code by your seat and order drinks and food to be delivered. The delivery method is via everyone sat in your row passing it down, so I assisted with multiple orders.

Who gives a fuck about clothes when you've got shit like that to put up with.

That ship sailed long ago…deal with it.

Sorry, OP, I only pull the Balenciaga out for opening nights.

I saw an interview a few years ago with Zachary Quinto and he was bitching about people dressing like slobs when they went to the theater, and also how they ate and drank during the show. He's a cunt but I had to agree with him about that.

Plot twist: the call was coming from backstage

People eating anything more than candies quietly unwrapped are unbelievably annoying. You are not sitting at the counter of S’barro with your slices.

r40 Food in the theater!!??

r41 Not to late to turn course. Anyone serious about broadway is not gonna skip it because they can't wear their flip flops and they're spongebob pajama pants.

Anyone serious about Broadway doesn’t gives a rat’s ass if people wear their flip flops and their spongebob pajama pants.

No one is going to Broadway shows. Who gives a shit?

R6- Totally.

DEI lunacy means that RIFF RAFF is allowed to attend the Met Gala nowadays.

OP? Unclench, dear. It's 2024. Athleisure has been deemed high fashion for nearly a full decade now.

If your tragic eyes simply can't bear the *sight* of the unwashed, flip flop-wearing masses, might I suggest reserving a box each time you attend a fine arts performance? You can arrive early and depart late to avoid any uncomfortable run-ins with people not wearing a bespoke tux.

I miss dining at 21, where a jacket was required.

[quote]unwashed, flip flop-wearing masses

Ill-mannered tourists with their Big Gulps, Mysties, Slurpees, and Frosties, their dirty feet overflowing rubber thongs, and babies who sneeze Fudgesicle juice!

No one went to 21 for the food.

r49 6 million people went in 2021/2022 and far more before the pandemic.

[quote]No one went to 21 for the food.

We went for the lawn jockeys.

I've never been to a Broadway show or ever visited NY, but I have been to a number of symphonies (my grandmother was in the Brazeal Dennard) and was always raised to dress up for that.

Brazeal was in your granmamma, is more like it.

r58 Yeah, you're not funny. She just died earlier this month. Kindly fuck off. K? Thanks.

It's not just happening at theaters and in airplanes. In May, I attended a high school graduation ceremony. There were people there who were wearing fraying cut-off jean shorts and torn tee-shirts. This is how they respect the graduates for their 13 years of hard work?

I went to a funeral for a very old woman recently where people were walking in wearing sweatpants. Again, it's a respect issue. This is how they respect the woman who raised her family through the depression and the war and got through it.

Rr59 cry me a river—faker.

People who use their phones or talk or eat during a show should be immediately removed and put on a list. If it happens a second time, their photo is put up on a wall of shame and they are banned not just from every Broadway theater, but from every theater worldwide! An international blacklist for the assholes that think the fact they paid for a ticket entitles them to act like they're in their own homes.

Uh, anyway, back to the real world... yeah, it'd be nice if people dressed up a bit. At least something better than gym clothes or pajamas.

r60 I went to a funeral a decade ago and I was shocked a woman was wearing a t shirt and black sweat pants. It was black so it didn't look too casual, but it was my uncle and it annoyed me. Outside of weddings it seems people don't think they have to dress up.

r60 My brother dressed up for my high school graduation ceremony (late 2000s) and this older woman went up to him and thanked him. That is how rare it is now.

Greedy producers will take anything, even in the nude. I used to always dress biz casual or even full suit if I was coming straight from work. Now I don't care and have shown up in sweats and sneakers and fit right in with the slobs. One thing I won't do is line up outside 2 hours before curtain like I'm at the megaplex by the mall. I can get there 5 minutes before curtain and still have plenty of time and just walk in. Most shows start at 10 min past the hour.

[quote] Business casual is not a "special outfit"-- it should be the majority of what you are wearing anyways if you are on vacation in NYC.

R37, can you define business casual?

I’ll be a little slob on a plane if I’m in coach and especially if it’s a long flight. But there’s just something about NYC at night that makes me want to dress up.

[quote] was black so it didn't look too casual, but it was my uncle and it annoyed me.

You were in a Kaftan. Did you hiss at her?

A suit, or a sportcoat, paired with a dress shirt with the top left unbuttoned. Or at least a half zip or full zip cardigan. No puffy vest. Leather shoes or better leather casual shoe.

I'm either dressed up or dressed down. There's no in-between. IMO, business casual is just a dull, bullshit, extra, unnecessary set of clothes.

For the theater (Broadway), I'd dress up. I don't think I'd be offended if others dressed down. I would be offended if they made a lot of noise (eating, phone).

The really stupid part here is that it is truly not a BFD to pick up a button-down and some stretch-y black jeans at Uniqlo. Black pants always work, especially in NYC, and with a button-down and black shoes (even casual ones) is at least business casual-level.

That’s theater ok, but not biz casual ok.