So You Can Bring Babies Into A Theater Now?

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/14/10 at 9:46pm

I had today off work and decided to catch MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET since I hadn't seen it yet and I figured with that Times review there had to be something good there. Show was ok, nothing to write home about but WHEN IN THE WORLD did theaters start letting in babies and toddlers?! I swear, I'm sitting there and about 20 minutes into this incredibly loud show, I hear a damn baby cry. I look over and this group of Japanese tourists have their kids there with them. They took them out when they started to cry but it was all through the show! I really thought children 4 or under weren't allowed into these theaters but maybe that's changed.

Add that to the fact that people thought they were at a rock concert and talking, moving all over the place and ating their lunches and texting and I felt like I was at 101 DALMATIANS again.

[Marquise]

Posted: 4/14/10 at 10:09pm

Sorry you had a bad theater experience. I don't think babies should be allowed into shows or concerts. The lights, sounds, acoustics, clapping of the audience they can't comprehend that....they get frightened and then of course they start to cry. The poor baby s defenseless. The parents should really be more responsible and hire a sitter if they plan on going to the theater. The theater should have a strict policy regarding this.

Mind you, I feel more sorry for the baby being subjected to all of this.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/14/10 at 10:13pm

"The theater should have a strict policy regarding this. "

That's just it, I thought all theaters DID have a policy regarding this.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 4/14/10 at 10:28pm

I'm sure you asked someone while you were there, Jordan?

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/14/10 at 10:33pm

No, I had to run downtown right afterwards and it's not like I'm one to cause a scene over something like that.

[Piper3500]

Posted: 4/14/10 at 10:35pm

i saw quite a few young ones at HAIR actually. maybe they were guests. they have an age limit but my daughter is 4 and a half and is going in London because she does not have the filter to know (before she is taught by others) that nudity is "terrible" and some of the language along with the racial stuff is now inappropriate - but she can sit through shows - knows every song and is very much into music. if she has one point of " i want to go" we leave. babies and toddlers would bother me at a show other than the Lion King or what have you (but i even think that is too scary for a baby)

Jordan - I lurrrrrrrrrrrve that avatar!!!

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 4/14/10 at 10:37pm

I think it's appalling. Did these people pay full price for each baby or were the babies just sitting on their laps? I can't believe that the theatre would even let them in with infants.

[Jane2]

Posted: 4/14/10 at 11:02pm

You guys should see the babies I see being taken into the theater. Some of those infants look like they were just born and the parents went from the delivery room right into our theater. They bring them in those carrying car seats, strapped to their backs, strollers, and so on.

I once saw a woman sneaking one in. she had it under her jacket, with the jacket closed.

[Piper3500]

Posted: 4/14/10 at 11:10pm

^ i wouldn't be able to keep quiet if i saw that. poor baby. i may get clocked one, but i couldn't keep my mouth shut.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 4/14/10 at 11:13pm

Aren't tickets required for everyone? $15 an hour for 3 hours of babysitting is a lot cheaper than a $120 theatre ticket.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/14/10 at 11:15pm

These kids were all sitting on laps, so I don't believe they had tickets.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 4/14/10 at 11:18pm

When I saw Ragtime at the Kennedy Center last year, there was a couple behind me with a new born.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 4/14/10 at 11:19pm

I would have asked what the policy was, at least.


THEN, you make scene.

[Piper3500]

Posted: 4/14/10 at 11:29pm

well, a new born that would probably sleep through a whole show, fine. but a one year old or toddler who can't keep quiet or still? hmmm



i know that policy for most things with kids, but i don't think it's right at the theatre and most uncomfortable for a parent. not all seats are $120 but i am sure a sitter would be less expensive in the long run too. i agree with that one.

Updated On: 4/14/10 at 11:29 PM

[Jane2]

Posted: 4/14/10 at 11:34pm

I only saw it because the woman leaned over and I could see into her jacket. I'm sure that once she got into her seat, she'd let the baby out for air. oy.

[Piper3500]

Posted: 4/14/10 at 11:37pm

i'm sure she let the baby out for air too - it's just the thought.

[Jane2]

Posted: 4/14/10 at 11:52pm

The policy where I work regarding tickets for kids is they need their own ticket. If parents claim that the child will sit on their lap, they must get a $20 lap ticket from the BO.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 4/15/10 at 6:00am

I think all theaters SAY no one under 4 will be admitted...but I'm not sure if any of them would enforce it.

I don't think I've ever been at a PROFESSIONAL show where an infant has been present...but have often been at some where the kids were entirely too young to be there due to subject matter and the like.

And if the child OR other patrons were in any way impeding on my attention or enjoyment of the show...you had better bet I'd complain to the management and if that didn't work, I'd make a scene. In fact....I have--over texting (a parent at Shrek) and another time a group of women (at Burn the Floor) that:
a: wouldn't stop talking
b: wouldn't stop taking pictures
c: wouldn't stop pulling out their phones and texting.

The usher had already BEEN on their case, and they wouldn't listen so the house manager was called. It was U G L Y. Threats were made, names were called. How they didn't kick the women out is beyond me.

[ken8631]

Posted: 4/15/10 at 8:19am

My wife and I have been to many shows, have never seen anyone under 4 there. I'm surprised, and would not at all be happy if a toddler was disrupting the show. Definitely just not appropriate to bring someone so young into a show where you are expected to be quiet and pay attention to what's going on onstage, not in the audience....

What would Patti Lupone say?

[Piper3500]

Posted: 4/15/10 at 8:35am

"What would Patti Lupone say?"

bring the child up, hug em and then berade the parents.

what would Kevin Spacey say??

[Justin D]

Posted: 4/15/10 at 9:41am

Last time I saw Lion King there was a baby in the FRONT ROW, yet to my shock not a peep the whole show, it just slept through it.

[Jane2]

Posted: 4/15/10 at 10:07am

There are many arguments that the parents have. First of all, they deny that the kid is under 4. How is anyone going to prove them wrong? (eye roll).

Second, they claim that the kid knows how to behave in the theater.

Third, they claim that the kid has already seen the show several times and loves it.

yada yada yada

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 4/15/10 at 10:41am

These kids were all sitting on laps, so I don't believe they had tickets.

When I worked box office, the only show that allowed babies was The Nutcracker because it was an annual holiday show with a bazillion performances over two solid months. But the policy was that EVERY person, regardless of age, had to pay for a full price ticket. It didn't matter if they sat in your lap or not, it was the law. It has nothing to do with the number of seats filled, but the count of people in the audience. And with a show like The Nutcracker, if you don't sell tickets for all the children in the audience whose parents want to save a buck by holding the children in their laps, your house count is off by roughly 25% or more and you could get slapped with a major fine (or get shut down altogether) if an emergency arose involving the fire department or police. Some parents get absolutely irate about the policy, but they are usually more concerned with themselves and money than they are with the safety of their children. Otherwise, they would take their kids to something else, hire a babysitter, or spend time at home with their children.

Unless the target demographic of the show is for young children (The Wiggles, Disney on Ice, Barney, etc.), I don't think any children under 6 should be allowed into a theatre. Or on an airplane (expect in the case of a family emergency). My last trans-Atlantic flight included 7 solid hours of a shrieking infant who didn't appear to be more than about 4 weeks old. The mother's answer to the situation? Pick the baby up and bounce it up and down non-stop. I'd shriek, too. And every time the baby fell asleep, the mother wouldn't stop checking it and shaking it until it started crying again. She should have been fined.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 4/15/10 at 10:56am

I don't even think babies should be allowed in friggin' church...except for a baptism.

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 4/15/10 at 11:19am

Once when I saw Shrek there was a little girl in the front row who couldn't have been older than about 2 or 3 years old and she was quiet and engaged for the whole show, but unfortunately not all kids are like that. I've had some pretty crappy experiences with little kids in theaters though and I think it's obnoxious and totally selfish when parents take a child who can't sit through a whole show to the theater. I know when I was little, I was able to sit still for a whole show and my parents took me to a lot of things when I was very young (I saw my first Broadway show at 4), but a lot of kids just can't.