No understanding of etiquette

I got my ticket for the performance of Verdi’s “Otello” and looked forward to a good musical experience. I have been an opera fan for most of my life. Living close to New York City has given me the chance to enjoy many live performances at the Metropolitan Opera, the New York City Opera, Opera Philadelphia and other regional companies. There is a certain basic etiquette expected of opera-goers. People go to the opera to hear beautiful music, to see costumes and choreography and to be swept away by the drama on stage. These days, using any electronics during a performance is forbidden. It can disrupt the technical aspects of the production as well as disturb the performers. It is also incredibly rude to the people sitting near you in the theatre. I was not prepared to see so many people sitting in my general area of the audience using their phones for texting and taking photos during the performance. In a dark theatre, the light from a phone or camera or laptop is distracting to other people in the theatre.

For the entire performance, one critic, sitting in the first row (seat A134), was disturbing everyone sitting around him. He used his phone to take pictures, holding it high to get a better shot of the stage and blocking the view of those behind him. The light from his camera screen was distracting and annoying to even more people. He used a laptop throughout the performance. The light from the screen was very distracting and took away from the drama on stage. He should know better. If he has to work during a performance, he should sit in a place where he will not annoy paying customers. If he tried to do this in New York, he would be thrown out of the theatre very quickly. How can a reader have any confidence in what he writes if he does not practice the simplest etiquette for any live performance? 

He should be ashamed of himself!

Gerry Isaacson

Somerset, New Jersey