My DH and I are tall and dared to go to the theatre.

[MangoSeason]

I’m 6 ft 1. My DH is 6 ft 4 and very broad. We went to see Hamilton at the Sydney Lyric Theatre yesterday and were subjected to a tirade of passive aggressive invective by the lady sitting behind us, for the whole show. The Lyric Theatre has very roomy seating, but a very low incline. This is beyond our control. We were not trying to thwart the woman! We were very close to the stage and everyone has to look up here anyway. I don’t think she missed as much as she wanted to make everyone around you believe. The lady behind me offered to swap with her but she loudly announced that “she is just as bad”. Sorry for my tall self exiting in your world.

I mean I do get it. It would be frustrating to be seated behind a couple like us. However, I’ve been at shows that I have looked forward to for years and have dealt with unexpected issues- the man with the very loud vocal tics two seats down, the lady who had to go to the toilet 6 times in a show. It is frustrating but I don’t carry on like a pork chop and I certainly don’t direct any invective towards the person for issues beyond their control. I may privately sigh or have a whinge afterwards but that’s it. DH and I can’t shrink!

We are both used to the under breath FFSs when we sit at shows. We really try to avoid sitting in front of people if we can. But at a sold out show with allocated seating, we are not doing it to upset you. We weren’t wearing hats, wearing scarves or big collars or high hair styles. We were simply existing, sitting quietly within our allocated seats. It was a matinee show with dozens of pre-teen kids around us. They would have had the same issue as the woman and none of them were carrying on at all. They were just enthralled, like everyone else.

Fully prepared to be massacred by the shorter people now!

DH is 6 foot 7... it is rare we go to the cinema or theatre (especially these days) but fuck it - he's tall. He's hyper considerate - tries to get an aisle seat so he can lean out into it a bit, slumps right down as much as he can - but other than that there is not much more he can do. I'm a short arse as well to add to the fun.

Thankfully the sort of concerts we go to tend to be the ones with orchestrated video game music which have a much more relaxed vibe to them and people cosplaying and stuff - so we get minimal aggro but we've had a few times at the cinema where people have invariably come in really late to their prebooked seats and started kicking off cos poor DH is sat in our booked seats with the cheek to be tall.

School plays he tries to sit us at the back but I've got sick of never seeing anything (I wish it was just iPad recordings - we have full professional camera kit coming out at ours) so we compromise at the side and he tends to step out into the aisle and stand up once things start.

It also takes a fucking age to get around the shopping as little old ladies keep asking the nice tall young man to get stuff off the top shelves for them! (He's a soft sod)

@CounsellorTroi

Why are the people right in the middle of the row always the last to come back after the interval?

Because they are the last to join the loo queue, by the time it's finally their turn, interval is over

YABU nothing else for it - cut your legs off😂

It's a shame she wasn't asked to leave. Disruptive people usually are.

I've just realised I might experience such things when everything opens up again. I started going out with my boyfriend last February so we didn't get a chance to go on many dates before lockdown happened. He's 6ft 1, so a whole foot taller than me. I will have to ask him if anyone has moaned about him being tall at shows etc.

I’m 5’ 4 and resigned to a life of shite views at shows/gigs. DH is 6’ 3 so at gigs he usually stands behind me and manoeuvres us until I can see

It’s crap but I don’t blame the tall people for being tall. I’ve found that they are usually considerate and move so I can see (where possible, obviously difficult with fixed seating).

I find it MUCH more annoying to be seated behind someone who wiggles around and sways side to side. I was behind a woman doing that during a lecture a while ago and I almost tied her to the chair with her own scarf.

@Alaimo I can assure you that I would never deliberately stand behind someone so tall! I'm not sure what happens, general shifting of the crowd or people sat down who get up at the last minute, or something but when I end up with someone blocking my view I haven't chosen to stand behind them.

It can't be helped if you're tall, but I very nearly asked somebody to take out her ponytail at one. It was built up about four inches on top of her head, and every time she moved it swung.

I used to be able to get £10 tickets at my local theatre as a student, and I went a lot. My lectures were also nearly all in the mornings, so I became a big fan of the mid-week matinee. Usually fairly quiet, or school or coach trips of OAPs who were smaller than me!

London theatres are the worst-i appreciate they were built along time ago and most are listed but the rake is crap and at 5ft im always behind someone taller the odds are against me

as long as they dont fidget too much i can usually see inbetween them and the next person-would love to see Hamilton have only seen it on tv

It goes both ways though. I am short and have never not had enough room for my legs on planes or trains. Incidentally, my favourite theatre seats are right at the front of the stalls - reduced leg room means they’re often cheaper so it’s a win win for my tiny legs!

Lots of Tallism on this post.....

There was nothing you could have done, and you had every right to be there, @MangoSeason - however I am green with jealousy at you seeing Hamilton live.

I’m 5 foot. I usually book the balcony seats which say restricted view, it’s rarely very restricted (but I know what to expect) and no ones head is in in the way. Problem solved.

Is this is stealth boast that you went to the theatre 🎭.... only joking

🤣🤣 I am tall and have had this problem too with even taller people but c'est la vie innit!!!

@Whammyyammy console yourself that you’ve never had to leave the shop without milk because it’s right at the back of the shelf and you can’t reach it. This has happened to me twice this year alone! 😭

Thanks for the username, OP.
As you were.

I’m 5’2 and have felt frustrated at times in the theatre if I can’t see - I love to go but can’t afford it very often. Would I ‘carry on like a pork chop’ or blame you? Of course not! Do I think tall people should sit at the back? No, you’ve paid for your seats and should be able to sit where you’ve chosen, I need to book further in advance and sit where is better for me if it’s an issue - are people saying this happy to sit separately from their friends/partner/children based on everyone’s height? As for thinking you’re lucky because you always get good views, that’s balanced out by me being lucky as I always have enough leg room!

Oh, and not do I expect tall people to hurt their backs by slouching in their seats the whole time!

@AntiSocialDistancer

I once had the audacity to have a tickly cough during a play once. I'm sorry my asthma offended you, patron of seat D23 but don't worry - you made it perfectly clear by glancing over with evil pointed eyes every time I gave in to the need to breath.

I will carry the shame with me always.

Come on now, you can’t expect someone not to be annoyed by that during a play!

My ex was very tall (and broad).

He always picked the front seats so he could stretch his legs out.

Being able to block the people behind was always a source of pleasure and amusement to him - where there were multiple seats he could choose from, he always headed straight for the ones in front of women; I spent quite a few evenings being bollocked by him on the way home for swapping seats to allow somebody smaller than me to be able to see something other than his back and shoulders. Apparently, being tall was a disability and my moving was displaying a lack of loyalty to him and his needs.

I've also spent entire gigs trapped behind men of similar size where they have deliberately moved in front of women; at the last one, the performer stopped playing and told the three that were doing it to move to the side or be removed (they were regulars at the artist's gigs). The performer happened to be 6'5" himself.

You can get blow up booster seats that she could keep in her handbag. When we go to the theatre dh will sit at the end of the row if possible as he is 6ft 2 and we also know at least one of our kids will need to pee at some point. I am short so just end up craning my neck to see but we tend to sit towards the front so I need to do that anyway and less of an issue if someone tall is sat in front of me. You can't change your height, she can stop being an ignorant arsewipe. Yanbu.

YANBU. It's not your fault your tall but it is also help for other people to be aware to be considerate when you can. You did your best, that's all you can do.
I remember my partner and I taking our dd to a showing of a kids movie. It was assigned seating and fully booked. She was sat in the middle of us.
A family 2 kids and mum and super tall and broad dad. They looked at us, found their seats in the row on front and sat dad straight infront of our little girl.
Thats just bloody rude and he got told so. (politely before anyone gets worked up)

Just came to mention that the "pork chop" expression, has it's roots in antisemitism according to www.australianculture.org/australian-slang

I'm only 5ft and would have been a bit miffed to be sitting behind you both, but it's luck of the draw. I do inadvertently sigh (inwardly) to myself when somebody over 5ft 5 sits down in front of me!!