Music Hall Etiquette

Don’t allow an uninterested or very young child to create an ongoing audible or visible distraction... — photo source, Pinterest 

Dos and Don’ts

Here’s how novice concertgoers can enjoy a concert without disturbing others’ enjoyment:

• Do bring cough drops or lozenges if you anticipate an onslaught of throat-clearing, but 
• DON'T bring the kind that are wrapped in cellophane, or paper that has to be ripped. 
• Do bring a quiet timepiece or none at all but 
• DON'T bring a watch that beeps unless you are absolutely certain it won't.
• Do bring children to events in the arts: They are its future, but 
• DON'T allow an uninterested or very young child to create an ongoing audible or visible distraction. 
• Do react: You have every right to express your feelings about a concert at the appropriate interval. Applause at the end of a complete work or a set of short pieces is the norm. (Reaction between movements of a symphony may raise a few eyebrows; however, honest responses are fine at any time when they won't lessen enjoyment of others or interrupt the continuity of the performance.) 
• Don't feel that silence or even honest expressions of displeasure are unreasonable when they are deserved, but 
• DON'T talk during the show. Do read program notes before the concert or play. You can follow texts to vocal works during a performance, but 
• DON'T shuffle the pages. And don't worry so much about applauding or laughing at the theater. Both are expected during a play. – By Robert V. Palmer, Gannett News Service, 1989

Etiquette  Enthusiast, Maura J Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiqipedia©️ Etiquette Encyclopedia