little kids at shows not age appropriate- Page 2

[HumATune]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 12:44am

Just because something goes over a child's head doesn't mean they should be there. Honestly I find it appalling what some parents will take their kids to. Yes, there are some shows that are okay, IF the parents talk about the content with their children beforehand and afterwards. But there are shows kids should just not be at until they’re a bit older. Why in the world would anyone bring a five-year old to RENT? There are other more age-appropriate ways to introduce a children to the subject of AIDS and HIV.

[dazzling.grace]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 1:44am

Just putting my two cents in...

I remember seeing Les Miserables when I was very young. Probably four years old. I do not remember much about the content, whether or not I understood it, but I do remember being extremely excited to see it. I remember sitting in the seats and being awestruck to see the costumes, to hear the orchestra, the moving set! I do agree that if a child has behavioral issues, then it is not appropriate for them to see a show. And of course, content is something that should be a main factor. I'm really glad no one took me to see RENT when I was that young. But I think that the magic of the theatre is almost more overpowering than any of that to a child and that should come into play as well.

[Carl Magnum]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 1:57am

I was 4 the first time I saw Cabaret.I was 5 when I saw Cats and 7 when I saw Les Mis for the first time. At 9 I saw Phantom and Miss Saigon. I didn't see RoboCop until I was 18. And those are only the musicals, saw countless plays before the age of 7. It's all relative, plus I was raised in a theatre.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 11:51am

I think it depends on the child, but...

Most theatres state "children under x are not admited" (x usually equals 4)...but I don't think they're checking the ID when the kid comes in.

And most shows have guidelines such as "appropriate for ages x and up" (usually x = 12, 14 or 16). But some parents don't care. THEY want to see something and don't want to pay for a sitter, so the child comes along regardless of if it's appropriate.

But I do think it depends on the child.

[singingwendy]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 12:28pm

"By all means, bring children to the theatre from the time they are young so that they learn how to behave and to love theatre, but PLAN it in a way that will be best for EVERYONE. And I don't care of it's a Disney show designed for children or whatever, if things still go bad, take your child OUT!!! "

Miss P---There is the answer. Someone once told me that they wanted to raise their children to be "good audience members" and so they would buy tickets to all kinds of concerts and shows but never planned on staying through the entire thing. They would stay until the child got antsy and distracted. As the child grew older, they got to see more and more of the performance, until the child was able to sit through an entire show.

It's really not fair to expect a child under the age of 8 or so to be enchanted with ANYTHING for 2 hours. Their attention spans just aren't that long. Sure, there are exceptions to the rule, but unless your child has an intense love for the show, don't expect them to be mesmerized and sit still.

[AudreyTwoTwo]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 12:38pm

I'm gonna say Legally Blonde, and for this reason only:

a six year old was sitting two seats to te left of me, and her father was next to me. Throughout the whole first act and the first half of the second act, she was shoving the playbill in his face and lifting it above her head, high enough to obstruct another audience member's view. It was very distracting because out of the corner of my eye I would see articles about various shows. Then, what ticked me off even more, when she saw Laura Bell Bundy in the second act, she said, "Who's that?" (I know she meant what character, but how the hell can you not know the lead when she's on the PLAYBILL that you've been shoving in your fathers face?)

When I went to see Avenue Q last year, there were a bunch of 8 year olds. I really hope they were able to handle it, they weren't near me so I wouldn't know.

[trinaaron]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 1:09pm

"But some parents don't care. THEY want to see something and don't want to pay for a sitter, so the child comes along regardless of if it's appropriate."

Since there aren't any discounts for children, I highly doubt that's the reason since it would be a lot cheaper to pay a sitter. Several months ago I took my 7 year old daughter to see Wicked, her first actual Broadway show. She did OK. She had seen Peter Pan and Beauty and the Beast in regional productions previously, and was actually much better behaved at them for the very simple reason that THEY DIDN'T ALLOW EATING IN THE THEATERS. At the Gershwin it seemed that every single person around us had some kind of candy, with all the crinkling and crunching that entails. My daughter, being a normal child, was quite distracted by the fact that all the adults around her had sweets, while she didn't. Whose fault is that? Also, we asked an usher for a booster seat, which we never got, and you would have thought we asked for him to go make it himself. So not only was she hearing all the people around her, she couldn't see very well. I agree that children should be taught proper theater behavior, but don't expect them to behave any better than the people around them.

[ClumsyDude15]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 1:20pm

When I went to see Brooklyn on Kids Night [yes, asking for trouble, right.]. This five year old girl next to me kept moving all about. Her mother asked her "Do you like the show, honey." and the girl responded: "No, I hate it! I wanna go home!". This converstation was heard by 95% percent of the orchestra and most likely the actors on stage.


I know when I went to see BEAUTY AND THE BEAST when I was 9, I was quite as can be and completely in a trance, I shh people when they talk when I'm in a theater to this day. I'm completely entranced and enchanted half the time I ignore all the noise around me.

Updated On: 4/9/07 at 01:20 PM

[jordangirl]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 1:25pm

"Since there aren't any discounts for children, I highly doubt that's the reason since it would be a lot cheaper to pay a sitter."

Possibly in some cases, but I think a lot are tourists who don't want to deal with out of town sitting services. And like people who plan a Disney vacation and then a kid comes along, the kid has to deal with whatever the parents want to do.

[NJgirl]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 2:06pm

a child barely 2 yrs old complete with sippy cup at the Bee on Saturday. Sat on his mothers lap the whole time and she kept covering his mouth everytime he spoke and I think he kicked the people in front of him. I swear they mustve had the stroller parked in the lobby, he was that young.

The 7 yr old girl in the 2nd row of Lil Dog Laughs takes the cake though.

[Jade]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 2:12pm

If you're talking about the child's behaviour, it does depend on the individual child and show. Obviously, some shows are more child-friendly than others. I don't think there is a specific age where suddenly every child will behave well enough to be taken to the theatre. The original poster mentioned the children were sitting in their mum's lap, which I think is fine (as long as they weren't disturbing anyone's view) but constantly asking what's going on is not fine. If they're doing that, they're too young for the show.

As for appropriate content... I'm going to talk about Rent here. Once when I saw it in England, there was a woman taking her daughter who only looked about 7. During the interval I heard the mum announce "her favourite character is Mimi," which I found quite disturbing. Because, much as I love Rent, I don't think an HIV+ drug-addicted stripper is a good role model for a 7 year old girl. The kid was perfectly well-behaved but I still think she was too young to see Rent.

[worrell4077]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 4:21pm

In terms of behavior, for me, if the child acts up it's a problem, but if they are sitting there and are quiet, then it's fine.

In terms of appropriate, there are some shows out there that I've seen little kids at that I've thought to myself, "They shouldn't be here, I guess the parents don't mind him/her to hear sex jokes or cursing." There were a couple of young kids at the matinee of Jersey Boys the last time I saw it and that was the thought going in my head. A couple of months earlier from that, I was sitting in a restaurant and there was this table of kids and their mothers and grandmothers and while the kids were playing with their action figures and talking about which Spiderman movie they had(I know don't you hate that), the women were talking about Broadway and Jersey Boys was brought up and the one woman said that they shouldn't take the young ones to it cause of language.

Now, when I went to Spring Awakening last week, there were some young kids, but they looked like probably 8th grade or freshmen in high school or maybe they were seniors in high school, I don't know. See to me, if they can handle it, then they should be able to see it, but if they aren't mature enough like Spring Awakening I think a child should be at least 17 or 18.

[Rentroxmysox29]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 5:48pm

I know! I hate it when parents bring very little kids to shows and they won't shut up! I remember when I saw Rent, like 4 rows down from me I saw like a 6 boy crying "MOMMY! when will it be over?" Rent is so not appropiate for someone that age, with the mature themes in it.

Updated On: 4/9/07 at 05:48 PM

[G_Schlozinski2]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 5:55pm

if the kid doesn't understand that there's a difference between acceptable behavior in public and private, the kid doesn't belong in the theatre, rather a playpen. note: it's perfectly acceptable public behavior if an adult slaps another adult who has brought an unruly child into the theatre, but lines to do so should always form in the aisle nearest to the seat in which the offender is sitting. tossing playbills at the jerkwad is also permitted, but only if you have reasonably good aim.

[alliez92092]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 7:46pm

When I saw Spelling Bee, a family had they're three kids with them. They couldn't have been over 4. One was 2 even. People hear about Spelling Bee and they're like, "Aww, it's going to be a cute show about kids spelling." And then we get to "My Unfortunate Erection"

[JustABroadwaybaby2]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 8:04pm

I saw a little, probably three or four years old at Avenue Q. One of the puppets came up to her during the money song and hugged her. Aww.

[G_Schlozinski2]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 8:11pm

ROFL! now I have images of pedophile puppets in my head...!

[junkyard]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 8:23pm

The children often act better than the adults......the little ones don't have cell phones etc......i rather sit next to a parent, that has children (hopefully well behaved) than these cell phone and text message fools

[winston89]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 8:49pm

First off, someone that is in high school at any age is old enough to see spring awakening.

Secondly, I saw my first show Big the musical when I was six. I never said a word and even though I was in the last row of the Shubert balcony I fell in love with it. I have seen shows that I didn't like. I recall there was one weekend when I was younger where we went to the TKTS booth in the twin towers and got tickets at night for Les Miserables and the next afternoon for beauty and the beast. I can tell you that I enjoyed Beauty and the beast MUCH more then I did when I saw Les Miserabels. But, I was never loud about it. I recall turning to my father at one point during the barricade fighting and said that it was too loud and he and I got up quitely till it was over. I wasn't loud about it at all.

I think it depends on the child to tell youthe truth. I have seen so many people underestamate what kids at particular ages know. Do I think it comes down to how old the kid is? No, I feel that each parent knows thier kid enough to know what they think they can sit thorugh and not. I feel that there could be one five year old who can easilly see a broadway show and be mature about it but there could be another kid the same age who is too young to see a show. Same thing goes for maturity level. One thing might not work for one kid but it could work for the another kid the same age.

[hermionejuliet]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 9:10pm

I went to the theatre from a very early age, but my mom started us off at a children's theatre. A show geared towards children with an audience FULL of children! Eventually we moved up to things like Annie and Oliver. By the time I was 9 or 10, I went to pretty much everything basically because my mom generally didn't know what she was taking me to!

I recently went to the RENT tour, and there was a little girl no older than eight or nine in the front row --- in a lepoard print outfit! And it seemed like she had seen the show before. I saw the show when I was 13, and there were still things that went over my head at that time. However, times have changed and the 9 year old probably knows more or as much as I knew at 13! Would I take my 9 year old? Probably not. The thing is - while I've always loved Rent's music, it wasn't until I understood the message that I fell in love with the show.

Parents have the right to take their children to whatever they want. Trust me - they will most likely get more out of any Broadway production than they would a movie. AND the fact is that they most likely see worse on cable and hear worse at school. As long as they are good audience members, children should be able to attend any show their parents buy a ticket to. If their parents are educated about what they take their children to see, so much the better...

What I did not enjoy is the giggling teeny boppers in the balcony of Spring Awakening. In my opinion, maturity and respectful audience behavior is the name of the game.

[saulssweetie]

Posted: 2/6/14 at 11:51am

Had to bring this thread back up. I was at Twelfth Night the other day and the people in the row behind me brought their child who was 6/7. For most of the show the child was quiet but every so often she would ask questions or start making commentary. The people in the row in front of me were turning around to look, so I wasn't the only one distracted by this. I know introducing children to the theater at a young age is a good idea, but I thought this was inappropriate.

[darreyl102]

Posted: 2/6/14 at 12:18pm

Broadway aside, I remember being in a production of RENT and seeing my five year old niece front row center. It was quite odd for the entire cast to perform contact with her literally three feet away from us. Especially because the stage was flat and the audience was level with us.
I think that every child is different and of course the way they are raised is different from parent to parent. Different kids have different maturity levels. As long as they aren’t too distracting then it’s okay. I remember one little girl at the theatre had her Gameboy advanced out the entire time and the light was pretty distracting.

[JoseLee_]

Posted: 2/6/14 at 12:26pm

I've seen The Book of Mormon 7 times and my 11 year old brother really wants to see it. I bought the ticket already but everyday it gets closer to the show I feel regretful. I'm not worried about the show because we always see that type of dirty humor it's the staring we're going to get.. not looking forward to that. I guess I'm going to have to MAN UP.

[Hairspray0901]

Posted: 2/6/14 at 1:04pm

I have been to several shows where kids have been sitting behind me and have been nothing but obnoxious. Most recently, at Cinderella. I guess this can also go in the theater-etiqutte thread but since someone posted here about kids behavior I figured I'd add in my two-cents.

I realize Cinderella is sort of a kid show. I was there for Broadway week (Jan 23rd) and was sitting in the frontmezz. Behind us were two kids who looked about maybe ages 5 and 8 and their mother. Behind them were 2 more kids and another mother, whom I later learned, they were all together. I typically hate when kids sit around me and dread the talking I know is about to take place throughout the show but to my surprise, all kids behaved very well during the first act. However, the 2nd act was horrible. Firstly--both kids behind us were standing on the seat as the 2nd act was starting.They wanted to switch seats to sit with their friends so then the mother climbed over the seat as well (mind you, there was no one sitting to their right so they could have easily walked around to the row behind them). As the act started they began to open a bag of potato chips, loudly. For about 5 minutes all i heard was the bag, and the grocery store bag they were in, rustling around. I finally turned around and said "SHHH!!!" and received an evil death glare from the mother as her kids continued to mess with the chip bag. She didn't tell them to stop or be quiet, she let it continue. There were also no ushers in sight and I didn't feel like getting up to find one. It was so frustrating!

[bobs3]

Posted: 2/6/14 at 1:50pm

"I finally turned around and said "SHHH!!!" and received an evil death glare from the mother as her kids continued to mess with the chip bag."

Oh, the "evil death glare" from the mother. If you dare to object to their parenting skills they take great offense and sometimes go ballistic!

And NEVER, EVER, NEVER, EVER go to a Saturday or Sunday matinee at the Paper Mill Playhouse. You will regret it for the rest of your life. Those effing parents cannot or will not control their children and GOD forbid you say something to them about their children's behavior.