While I am no longer working in the sector and have since moved on to a new field which I adore, I did spend five years from 2015 to 2019 working in the performing arts scene. While I worked multiple roles across these five years, a majority of them were dedicated to running special events from small 20-person functions up to 1,000-person opening nights for significant musicals. As I come up to the two-year mark since leaving, I have been reminiscing on my experiences – from the amazingly brilliant to cringe-worthingly bad that still keep me up at night.
One thought that keeps coming to my mind is opening night etiquette and my recommended dos and don’ts when attending your first opening night. Therefore to resurrect the Theatre Insights series for its second article, I would like to take you through my list of dos and don’ts from my many years of experience.
Before I begin this list, I would like to make clear that this list is based purely on my personal opinion and observations and should not reflect the thoughts or values of any specific performing arts venue(s).
If you receive an invitation, respond exactly how you are asked to.
From responding to an email address, entering your details on a website, booking your own tickets via a coupon code, or even calling someone up old-school – your invitation will typically feature one means of confirming your tickets. Time and effort have gone into setting up that system to ensure that all responses can be captured and that inquiries are answered quickly.
Therefore, you should always ensure that this is the means you exclusively use. The folks collating the responses, such as myself, are often time-poor, and hitting “REPLY” to an email rather than using example.com/rsvp can be how emails get lost, and mistakes can quickly happen. Oh, and don’t forget to actually respond – even declining can look better than just going radio silence.
On the other hand, if you have issues RSVP’ing through the official channels, then hit reply to a contact email to fix the problem post-haste.
Also, if you notice an error with your name or any details in the email, do send through changes to ensure data accuracy! Which is good practice anywhere, lest you have to claim your tickets under an inaccurate name. I have to do that all the time myself…
If you need to cancel, cancel early
It is understandable that things come up and that you can no longer attend the performance – whether work or illness related. However, keep in mind the person who is ensuring the seats are filled and let the RSVP line know as soon as possible if you need to cancel your tickets. If it is a 7.00 pm performance and you send a message at 6.45pm that you have been unwell and unable to attend, it leaves virtually no time to ensure your seats are filled. On the other hand, do so at 3.00pm and the switch is a breeze.
Also, generally, it is not a good idea to send someone in your place without asking and getting confirmation first, as they may not be able to claim your tickets depending on how strict the identification process is.
Arrive Early
It goes without saying that the rush to collect tickets is usually 15 minutes prior to the show commencing. So start your night off on the right foot by picking up your tickets as early as possible on the evening, perhaps wander to the quiet merchandise stand if possible, and then go to the next fun part of your evening. This is good advice for performances in general, given that many venues, especially inner-city venues, tend to have minimal parking, and nothing puts a damper to a fun night than starting it off hunting for a place to put your car.
If you arrive late, do note that virtually all performances have lockout periods, so you could very well miss anything from an opening number to a whole act. Typically with musicals and theatre you will miss a few minutes, but with opera and ballet which require uninterrupted performances, then you can end up in murkier territory.
Every Seat for Invited Guests is a Good Seat…
Seating plans take a lot of time to design. From initial allocations, making constant amendments, getting approvals, having whatever file you use to collate seating plans corrupt, and manually stuffing ticket wallets – the process can take a week or two to complete. Not every seat in a venue can be directly in the centre of a row in a premium reserve – as much as I wish that were the case. Therefore, while I aspired to give the best view to as many as possible, ultimately, it became a massive juggling act.
Very few venues I imagine would offer VIP guests (or any guest for that matter) a seat with terrible sightlines, so do understand that even if you are on the side of the row, you should still have a great view of what is happening on stage. There is little that anyone can do at that stage about putting you in “better seating”, so go in, get comfortable, and don’t add another stressor to your life.
Having had to sneak into many events last minute to take my seat, I can confirm that the side seats can often provide a unique perspective about the things taking place on-stage. And who knows, that seating choice might just be so you can purposefully be dragged up for some surprise audience participation, or perhaps lead to the discovery of your new “favourite seat”. I can attest to the latter!
But… if you do need specific seating….
If there is a medical reason for you requiring specific seating, more specifically accessible seating (Eg. wheelchair), or you have some issues with vision or hearing – do let the person know when accepting your invite. The more notice they have, the more time dedicated to guaranteeing your seating will give you the best possible experience.
Dress Codes
If there is a medical reason for you requiring specific seating, more specifically accessible seating (Eg. wheelchair), or you have some issues with vision or hearing – do let the person know when accepting your invite. The more notice they have, the more time dedicated to guaranteeing your seating will give you the best possible experience.
This will probably be the most controversial recommendation on this list as some can be more pedantic than others around it. But, with few exceptions, dress codes tend to be nothing more than recommendations. If you want to look fabulous and/or have your photos plastered over the local or state newspapers, then definitely follow the recommendations (or perhaps add your own spin to it). Otherwise, there is no shame in just wearing a nice button-up shirt/pants, dress or something else that looks “nice” and that you are comfortable in. That said, going to the theatre in your sandals, a grotty t-shirt and ripped jeans may get more than a few people looking at you.
The main exception tends to be that of “Black Tie” or “White Tie”, which should be seen as an indication that this is a formal event and you are expected to wear something more along the line of formal attire.
Functions, Free Programs etc.
Depending on the producer of a show, freebies may be part of attending the opening night. These can range from special opening night programs being placed on the seats of everyone (or available to purchase), special media kits being given out to media or even nothing at all.
While there is no harm in quietly asking whether you get one, please do not loudly complain or berate front-of-house staff if there is nothing available. At least in my opinion, media should be basing their reviews on their own experience and reviews rather than content in the program. Furthermore, they could very well be given out as a surprise to everyone when they enter the theatre, or there was simply no budget to hand out hundreds of programs. Similarly, even if free programs were being handed out, availability may have run out. Ultimately, front of house staff have enough on their plates and tend to have no autonomy to give out freebies.
On the note of functions, it can be complicated for a lot of venues to invite everyone to a pre-function or post-function due to venue capacities. Therefore, if you do not receive a pre-show notification about it or an entrée card in your ticket wallet, assume you will not be invited. Keep in mind that in a lot of cases, those who ran the opening night, such as myself, often never made the cut due to numbers. This, I imagine, would be especially true nowadays with social distancing requirements.
The way to look at it is that folks who paid for their tickets would typically not be invited to these events. Also, sneaking in is never a good idea. Just… no….
Don’t Get Absolutely Hammered by Alcohol
It goes without saying, while a few wines or beers will probably be okay, drinking yourself into a stupor is just…. no… don’t do this.
Take Full Advantage of Everything on Offer
While there are many business and relationship-development purposes behind opening nights that can go unseen or unnoticed by most (This was one of the things that kept me in the field for so many years, in addition to working with so many amazing colleagues and producers), whether you are attending the event as an invited guest or as a paid patron – my top recommendation is to just have fun.
Take a walk down the red carpet and have your photo taken (and at the same time, request someone take yours using a personal camera/phone), enjoy the photo opportunities throughout the venue, try out some of the special menu items on offer and immerse yourself in what would likely be an incredibly passionate crowd.
Worrying about your seating or if there was a reason you didn’t get invited to a post-performance function will only serve to damper your experience. Sit down, and just enjoy a few hours of theatrical immersion!
Do You Really Need to Attend an Opening Night if Not An Invited Guest?
Opening Nights can often be just another night for a majority of patrons in the building – and if anything it may very well be a little more inconveniencing due to the best seats being taken up for invited guests and the general buzz of the night. Therefore it is definitely an experience and has personally led me to some of my most memorable nights at the theatre. But if you want a calm and relaxing evening, with no difference in the performance given off by the cast, band and crew – perhaps choose an alternate date.
