When going to a performance..?

[SJ.]

When going to a performance (play, musical, etc) is it better to go opening night, sometime in the middle, closing night, or does it matter? Just curious, I'd like to drag dh to some musicals this year.

[eternalknot]

We do this a lot as a family. We prefer to go somewhere in the middle, even for shows we're dying to see.

 

I work in customer service, around hundreds of people. I try to avoid large crowds if I can help it. Opening and Closing nights have proven to be quite crowded, IME. But there's something exciting about being among the first -or last- to see a show! Maybe you could do some of each to see which works best for you two :)

[SKL]

I've been disappointed by a couple of opening night shows, because they were still working out the technical glitches.

 

If I have a choice, I think I prefer in the middle.

[chepyl]

Many times opening night is a final dress/tech rehearsal....first time woth some costumes amd set pieces....closing night can be very emotional and the show can be better or hard for the actors. (For community and semi-pro). I would love to he at opening night of a Broadway show! And I have been at a nearly closing show on Broadway.....it was awesome. Local theatre, can be different. They are on a tighter timetable with less time to work. Go in the middle.

[lailasmum]

As an ex stage manager I would say the best shows are probably about a week after first night. All the technical stuff should be sorted but people aren't on auto pilot yet because they haven't done the same thing over and over and over to the point they are dreaming about it. If you have two shows in a day then the second show tends not to be so good just because of tiredness, especially a few weeks in if the same cast is doing 8 plus shows a week.

Edited January 22, 2012 by lailasmum

[Donna]

My dd's violin teacher who plays in an orchestra said the best time to go to an orchestral performance is at least a week (after 1-2 performances) in. The first night is usually not the best as the musicians do not have many rehearsals and become better at playing together with more practice so are more on their game later on. They just get better and better.

[Starr]

Children's performances are ofter the best opening night. They are so excited they really show the energy.

[Veritaserum]

I've played in a number of out orchestras for musicals. I vote for in the middle.

[Alicia64]

I got to a lot of shows and actually enjoy going in the beginning to see the "glitches." I think it's fun to see stuff happen.

 

Not that I'm harboring hostility toward the players or anything -- I just like to see shows when they aren't completely slick.

 

That said, we saw a show after Christmas that had been running for a month and there wasn't a glitch in place -- and I loved it!

 

We're seeing a huge show at the end of the run in March. I'm kind of nervous that the players will exhausted. We'll see.

 

I think it's all based on your personality. Also, I really dislike crowds so won't go opening night either.

 

Alley