Do you hold the curtain? or do you enforce an "on-time" Go?
In limited cases. Generally, holding for 5 minutes is not a problem for us at all. Above 5 minutes, there needs to be an overriding reason to hold.

Does it happen often (holding)?
We generally hold up to 5 minutes for most performances as a courtesy. That happens pretty regularly.

What are the main / top reasons that you would hold?
Up to 5 minutes = Many people still finding their seat, Box Office back-up, etc. More than 5 minutes = 1/2 the audience still not seated, actors not in-place, etc.

What type of theater do you represent (professional / community / academic)?
Professional

And where are you located?
Bloomington, IN


Edited by lparks - 5/20/10 at 11:52am

It happens. We are small and can usually peek out the door to see if any of the unclaimed ticket folks are running in from parking their cars, and we have held a couple of minutes for that. Additionally, until recently, we have had some "less than desirable seats" in the house and when people in the center were know shows, we sometimes took a couple of minutes to shift folks around a little... Of course, then there are those times that the lead doesn't show up on time, or the light board crashes just before curtain, or the tornado sirens go off or the ....... you get the idea.. But we never hold for very long. Longest I can remember was 5 min..