Panto - arrive 90 minutes before start?!

[PissyMum]

I’ve just looked at my tickets for the pantomime at my local theatre as I wanted to write the date/ time on my calendar. The performance starts at 7pm but the arrival time is 5.30! It states that you need to arrive at the arrival time and if you miss your entry slot you are unlikely to be allowed to access your seats until the interval.

AIBU to think this is crazy? I’m guessing this will also mean they’ll stagger people leaving too meaning we’ll be say there even longer. I’ve got young kids and the panto is the only thing I stand a chance of getting them to focus on as it’s short and aimed at kids. Pantomimes are aimed at young families. I bought the more expensive tickets as I wanted us to have good seats near the front but I wouldn’t have bothered if I knew it would mean an extra 90 minutes sitting there.

Is this standard for all shows now? It’s only a smallish theatre in a town, it’s hardly a massive West End show.

That's utterly ridiculous, so they're artificially keeping you in the auditorium longer than necessary? You're less likely to catch in the 10 mins of the crowd going out the door than you are from an infected person sitting right behind you laughing and talking for hours

Where there is covid the longer you're exposed to it the more likely you are to contract it, but hopefully if everyone one has had a negative lateral flow, the chances are minimal. Its daft practices like this that show people really haven't got a clue about how the virus spreads and how to mitigate against whilst trying to bring life back to normal.

As for the wait with small children, that's daft too, the amount of times you'll be back and forth past people going to the loo/bar will negate any benefit of not passing folks in the atriums anyway!

I wasn't planning on panto this year but definitely won't if this is the norm.

Our panto tickets say that the doors open one hour before the show starts, but it doesn’t specify what time to arrive and they’ve not given us a slot. I think (hope) you can arrive whenever I don’t fancy the idea of keeping a two year old entertained for an hour beforehand 😑

@DaisyNGO

live but that actually gives more time and opportunity for covid to spread.

The cynic in me says they will use the time to sell or advertise stuff.

I'm only the messenger 🤷🏼‍♀️. I guess for the ticket/floor staff maybe they are less crowded. Who knows - I work in a school crowded by snotty, sneezing, coughing kids 5 days out if 7 so it all seems utterly pointless to me

My DN and his friends went to a show recently.They were given a very early arrival time and assumed that they would be able to pop out for a bite to eat before the show. This was not allowed . I would check with human being before making any plans such as this. Having said that we recently went to a London theatre and getting in And out was very little different to normal.

I fb messaged the empire in liverpool (also atg) and told them we lived too far away to be able to finish work and then arrive 90 minutes before the show started.

They asked us to try to arrive as early as possible but didn't say we couldnt enter if we couldnt make our slot. They checked passports and bags on entry but paid no attention to anyones designated entry time.

I went to see hairspray a few weeks ago. Started at 7.30 our arrival time was 6.30. There was also COVID hoops to jump through, vaccine pass or proof you've been double jabbed or proof you've had it.
We got there, security more interested in the contents of my handbag, barely glanced at my jab cards. After about 45 minutes of sitting there I had to go outside for some air. The queue was really long so it seems most people ignored their arrival time there was no queue at 6.30.

I wish I could check with a human being but for ATG theatres it seems to be a centralised call centre that just sends you round in circles and playing pre recorded messages. I’m just going to turn up a few minutes earlier than I usually would and see what happens.

Are you on fb? I used the theatre's fb page and messaged them direct and got an answer from the empire.

@PissyMum I had this with our local theatre too. (Also ATG). Their phone system is awful.

I Googled "X theatre, stage door" and got to speak to an actual person who was reassuring that arriving 30 mins before the performance would be adequate and that their processes have sped up a lot since they first started checking covid statuses.

I went to an ami drami last night. No masks, no separate seating, not much social distancing at all really, although I tried my best. It was like the old days. (Play wasn't that great but my friend who was in it was an absolute brilliant, shining 🌟 Whoo hoo.) So these rules are something the individual theatres have come up with rather than official guidance.

I went to an ATG show two weeks ago. I wasn't given any arrival time at all.
Staff were briefly checking the Vaccine Passports and and handbags but people were wandering in and out of the theatre anyway and up to the local shop owing to the awful choice of refreshments.

That said, the Theatre was barely a third full.

Just ignore. We had this with an ATG theatre - absolutely pointless. They staggered arrival times but wouldn't open the doors to the actual theatre so the foyers and bars just got busier and and more crowded. If they'd just let people arrive when they wanted, there would've been no problem. Our friends ignored the time as they couldn't physically get there that early and were let in no problem. They only said they'd refuse entry if the show had started which is completely fair I think.

That’s reassuring, thanks all. The show will go on! (Oh no it won’t, oh yes it will etc.)

That seems ridiculous! I can't imagine any small children wanting to sit there for 1.5 hrs before the panto even started.
I went to the theatre in London recently and we were very near the front. We got there about 15 min before the performance.

My arrival time is 40 mins before our ATG show but it does say we won't be refused entry unless the show has started. We'll just rock up as & when

I'd like to know what the theatre's thinking is. I was at the Young Vic on Saturday, the ticket said I had a timed entry at 6.40 but they had us all lined up outside and allowed in at exactly the same time. No social distancing and no requirement to show a covid passport. Everyone left at the same time. Most people were not wearing masks.

You need that time to drink enough to get through the panto! (Hate panto :)) although it does seem ridiculous length of time...

Is it not just because the vaccine passports etc are taking more time and they can’t have everyone rocking up with 10 min to go. It can take a long time in the queues. It is annoying though.

COVID theatre at its finest. How pointless. Venues are digging their own graves here.

We had this when football reopened to supporters at the end of last season, we were fortunate in that our arrival time was just 45 minutes before kick off but others were having to be there two hours before. Once the match had finished it had been said that you wait in your seat until it was your turn to be allowed to leave but what happened in reality was that as soon as the ref blew the whistle everyone was up and on their way out and stewards didn’t stop anyone.
Now we have 74000 going to every match and there are no restrictions.