dressing for the london theater
 

Hi all, want to attend the phantom of the opera while in london. I typed up my question and saw all the posts were from around 1999.That's almost 10 years ago. Is smart casual still the norm for attending the opera in london? Or do I need to dress up?

Hi.

My wife and I took our kids (10 and 8) last January 2007 to watch Wicked at the Victoria Theater. I wore jeans and so did my kids. We did not feel underdressed as there were a lot of theater goers that wore jeans as well. I don't know if it was a fluke,...oh yes, we watched it in the evening too...

Hope this helps.

Have a shower and change your clothes

As with practically all plays and musicals, there are (just like ten years ago) precisely two rules in the London dress code:

1. Wearing clothes is preferred, though not mandatory.
2. What you wear isn't quite up to you: overdressing (suits, ties, stuff like that) is permissible if you're on your way home from work, but otherwise the infallible sign of a provincial or transatlantic hick. Unless you're on your way from work, scruff is the standard dress.

For real operas (which Phantom certainly isn't) at Covent Garden, dressing up (suits or black tie) is normal in seats over £150. Otherwise, in London, there's no dress code for operas either. Some out of London opera houses (well, Glyndebourne and Garsington) require black tie.

"Smart casual" has never been the standard in any London theatre. We went more or less straight from dressing up in the 1930s to todays's complete lack of rules.

Well, that's a relief. At least I don't have to lug nice clothes all over the place while on my travels.
flanneruk, what a laugh! You almost made me fall out of my chair! Naked theater, can you imagine? LOL!Where I live they would throw you in jail for having that much fun :)

<<< Naked theater, can you imagine? >>>

Yes, it's the sort of thing that often happens at the Edinburgh Fringe

And the rest - there were 2 shows featuring naked performers on in Glasgow last week.

Naked? In Glasgow? Last week?

Give those people a medal (or at least something warm).

wow, I didn't know they actually did that! Guess I will have to be careful with my theater goings. Definetly not something you see in the states! LOL

Who are you travelling with? Impress someone? Please your partner? Want courtesy? Think, High school reunion!

shaytravel, are you saying there is never nudity on stage in the US ?!?

Well, there might be, but I have never experienced any. Maybe in San Fransisco or New York. I live in a pretty small town (less than 5,000 people). I've seen some pretty strange stuff, but never purposefull public nudity. Not that I'm opposed or offended by it. Here they call it public indecency. We had a guy who liked to ride his bike to town naked everyday, believe me it was a scandle! I thought it was quite a riot, especially being one of the younger people in this sleepy little retirement commnity:)

And I should mention I'm from California. We're supposed to be as liberal as they come! I think the younger people are, but the older folks are very set in their ways. At least in my experience.

Left Coast commies

<<< think the younger people are, but the older folks are very set in their ways. >>>

Speak for yourself, I was at a dance performance recently where the nearest naked dancer was about 4 feet from me

In an American village ?