A Rant About Front of House Staff- Page 2

[whatever2]

Posted: 1/18/13 at 12:31pm

Kale???

Good for you -- such a healthy boy!

[LuminousBeing]

Posted: 1/18/13 at 1:20pm

On my first trip to NYC, I had a bag with my leftovers from Juniors with me as I entered the theater (which I did not intend to eat there). The ticket-taker just warned me not to eat it inside, and when I promised not to, he let me take it in, no problem. The food stayed under my seat, and nobody had any issues.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 1/18/13 at 1:23pm

"but sodas spill and stain (and most houses are carpeted), so they're just following the rules."

Yet they allow you to take red wine to your seat? I know it's in a sippy cut, but those things break and spill.

And I was going to see Mary Poppins at the New Amsterdam. Gorgeous theater. The show was super boring though. And super empty, which is probably why they had time to check my bag. Oh well. Just a waste of like 10 dollars. I told the man that I have a cold and I'd like to keep my drink to take some medicine at intermission, but he wasn't having it. So instead I had to keep blowing my nose every 5 seconds and disturbing everyone around me. Sorry bout it.

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 1/18/13 at 3:41pm

So you could only drink down your medicine with diet soda? Water fountain to good for ya?

As much as the good intentions of anyone bringing food in, as someone who works in theatres sometimes, I can definitely tell you that, on more than one occasion, two and half hours later, that little bag of food will either be forgotten, or just a nuisance they don't want to carry around with them out of the theatre. So you'll often find entire bags of leftovers in their seats amongst the rest of the debris.

As to the drink, it also goes to the waste disposal and trying to keep as many variables under control. When you have to clean a theatre a small theatre many as 3-4 or more times a day between shows, or a massive three-level Broadway theatre twice a day, a little control goes a long way.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 1/18/13 at 4:05pm

everythingtaboo, ever try to take a large pill at a water fountain (something that many theaters don't have anyway)?

As to the rest of your post, if the OP had been allowed to check his bag, none of that would be an issue.

[Pammylicious]

Posted: 1/18/13 at 4:15pm

Doesn't the theater sell candy there. What about the box and the wrappers all over the floor and of course the leftovers folks don't eat.

I am a diabetic and for medical reasons I need to eat every few hours so I bring to the theater a bag of nuts or something sugarless. Would they rather me pass out from a low blood sugar attack. I think not.

They should have let him keep the unopened food. It's simply ridiculous.

[Broadway Joe]

Posted: 1/18/13 at 4:38pm

"Also at The Anarchist closing performance there was someone in the 4th or 5th row with a 2lt of soda and a couple behind them with a pizza. a full pizza in a box. It was the most terrifying time I've spent in the theatre..."

The Anarchist was a terrifying time for me as well, I'd rather watch someone eat a pizza then ever have to sit through the torture of that show again.

[yankeefan7]

Posted: 1/18/13 at 4:39pm

You could not find a place to buy a bottle of soda in NYC around 11pm - lol.

[Jane2]

Posted: 1/18/13 at 4:54pm

Well, as one who worked foh for about 15 years, I understand some of the problem!
First of all, there's the obvious issue of eating inside the theater, mostly because of the cleanup. As far as the theater selling candy, etc. , the concessions manager should be ordering those candies that create the easiest cleanup. I know because I was house manager and bar and concession manager of a theater for several years.

The part I don't understand is why not let the guy check his bag? A large portion of what we checked at coatcheck is bags of leftovers, tourists' bags from the M&M store, etc.

Finally, when someone says "there are bigger things to worry about" I just want to answer with "yes, there are. The BIG things AND the small things are worried about. BTW, food all over the theater is not a small thing to worry about. It's one of the bigger things. Your welcome!

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 1/18/13 at 5:20pm

I'm not saying what this particular situation was right or wrong, in fact based on what we've been told, I think they went too far as well!!! I'm just trying to explain the other point of view.

ghostlight2, I wasn't being serious about the pill comment. I will say, seriously, we're all theatregoers here and we all know they won't usually allow any liquids except water in a plastic bottle, so let's not pretend that it's such a shock they won't allow a bottle of soda into the theatre. And let's not forget the soda was in the bottom of the bag, under books and kale (of all things), so we all know full well that the OP had every intention of smuggling in food and again should his bag not be checked.

We've all done the sneaky thing. They should have allowed him to check it, sure. But something tells me there's something missing in the story that led to a judgement, whether correct or incorrect, to force it being thrown out.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 1/19/13 at 2:49am

It's not that I was trying to be sneaky. It's just I didn't honestly think of it as a big deal because I knew I wasn't going to open it and drink it. I've made the mistake of bringing in a sparkling water and trying to open it and the "chisssh" sound every time you open soda gets annoying.

Second, does anyone else think it's tacky that Disney doesn't use a normal Playbill? But a showbill? What the what?

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 1/19/13 at 3:43am

"Second, does anyone else think it's tacky that Disney doesn't use a normal Playbill? But a showbill? What the what?"

No, actually, not at all. There is a specific reason for that.

http://www.playbill.com/features/article/112023-ASK-PLAYBILLCOM-Playbill-and-Showbill

[Phantom4ever]

Posted: 1/19/13 at 4:26am

When I used to live in New York and people used to visit me, this was always an issue when we saw Broadway shows. My visitors would always ask "can I take this doggybag/treat from Juniors/snacks for tomorrow into the theater. And I'd always have to say I didn't know because it was always a different story. Some theaters were very strict, some didn't care. Some would have a different policy every time, some would have ushers who enforced the rule and ushers who did not.

Way back when, when I was a very young high school teacher, I took a group of juniors to see the original Les Miserables. They all had bags of leftovers from dinner. At intermission, I suddenly smell this awful smell, and I looked over and one of my students had this big piece of fried chicken out. I thought wow that is pretty gross and this theater is going to smell like chicken for the rest of the show. I told her to put it away and not to eat smelly foods in an enclosed area where people can't escape from it lol.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 1/19/13 at 10:33am

You can eat and make a mess but only with their overpriced food.

Watch out the Kale police are coming

Which I had a piazza & soda @ the Anarchist. It would have made sheer torture bearable.

[Jane2]

Posted: 1/19/13 at 10:36am

"It's just I didn't honestly think of it as a big deal because I knew I wasn't going to open it and drink it."

Oh come on. YOU may have known you weren't going to open it but THEY couldn't and shouldn't assume that to be true. Don't be so naive!

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 1/19/13 at 10:43am

Do not try and sneak in a keg of beer. I think they will nab you.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 1/19/13 at 1:42pm

AEA: Thanks! That's good to know! I couldn't figure out why the Showbill felt different then realized the name was different on the front. Although that reasoning is a little stranger considering they have shows at two other theaters that have Playbills.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 1/19/13 at 1:49pm

That's because Disney, for all intents and purposes, is the landlord at the New Amsterdam, so they can dictate the use of the Showbill over the Playbill. The Minskoff and Nederlander are not considered properties under their control so they don't have to worry about trying to enforce their ban on the advertisement of alcohol and tobacco on Disney property.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 1/19/13 at 1:57pm

I get that. Just seems like a pointless fight if 2 of the 3 shows have the alcohol and tobacco advertisements.

[theaternut]

Posted: 1/19/13 at 2:26pm

Really? You sit two hours in the theater and your common sense doesn't kick in to tell you that you can go for a little bit without eating?

[Cape Twirl of Doom]

Posted: 1/19/13 at 5:58pm

Really? You sit two hours in the theater and your common sense doesn't kick in to tell you that you can go for a little bit without eating?

Who is this in response to? It can't be the OP since he wasn't planning on eating during the show...


And btw it never would have occurred to me that unopened food & drink in your bag would be confiscated in a theatre. Maybe it's just the house you were at? A few times when I've gone to see a show I've bought a cupcake from Crumbs beforehand to have at home later, and it's never even gotten a second glance from security. Like someone above said, there is also no smoking inside but you can bring in a pack of cigarettes.

[Jane2]

Posted: 1/19/13 at 10:26pm

"Like someone above said, there is also no smoking inside but you can bring in a pack of cigarettes."

That's a poor analogy. Anyone can get away with eating anything inside a dark theater. No one can get away with smoking there.

[DEClarke]

Posted: 1/20/13 at 11:51am

Sorry to hear that you had to throw food away.

When I first went to NYC, the first show I saw in New York was SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER at the Laura Pels Theatre. I had left over Pizza from Ambroisa's. It was in a styrofoam carton, in a plastic bag tied with a knot. No one said anything to me about it. I slid it under my seat and it stayed there until we were ready to leave. No big deal. But, I did feel bad that anyone sitting near me could smell the pizza. I worried that that may have been distracting, but no one said anything.