The Most Important Opera-Related Question Of Our Time – Eating Popcorn? (Lifted from a Reddit discussion.) July 18, 2014

I’m going to my first ‘broadcast to a movie theater’ Met in HD show this week, the Summer Encore of Rigoletto. What is people’s experience with these? I’m torn by the question of whether it’s ok to eat popcorn at an event like this. On the one hand, that wouldn’t be tolerated in the opera house (footnote 1: we need a long thread on why opera houses SHOULD sell popcorn.) On the other hand, it is right and proper that people should always eat popcorn while watching a movie; doing otherwise is practically an insult to the medium.
So, for those of you who have gone to these, what’s your experience? You may presume that the easy cases are disposed of, e.g. that popcorn-eaters shouldn’t be making snorting munchy noises during Gilda’s touching final aria. What are your thoughts?

Just think of your popcorn chewing as giving other people in the theatre the experience of the near-constant coughing that goes on at the Met during a performance.
Somehow they’re all completely fine during the noisy chorus parts, but they all simultaneously remember that they need to clear their throats during the main aria. I think it’s like how yawns are “infectious,” in that seeing someone yawning makes you feel the need to. Old people hear someone coughing and get an itch in their throats that can’t wait, apparently.
Oh, and it’s always the softest, most musically critical part of the aria.
oh man, once I was at Lucia at Deutsche Oper, I had to excuse myself and exit during one of her main arias as I was coughing so much…. I felt SO bad
It’s fine to eat popcorn during a MET in HD rebroadcast. It’s just the movie theater.
When we go, plenty of people eat snacks.
I would keep my munching noises to a minimum, but that always applies.
Chew with your mouth closed and we’ll get along just fine.
Opera, as an art form, was at its best when people regularly ate at the show. I’m all for bringing that back, even if it’s only at the movie theater broadcasts.
I buy popcorn and coffee at intermission, but I put the popcorn aside when the performance resumes.
At the Faust broadcast in 2011, my beloved Rene Pape greeted the HD fans watching and stated he hoped they had enough popcorn for the show.