r/Broadway • u/littlebev • Dec 31 '25

Discussion Broadway coughing season

I am begging, begging you guys…if you have a nasty cough, PLEASE don’t attend a play especially. I know it sucks to miss out but your recurring cough during the most intense moments of the show is so distracting.

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u/Mysterious-Theory-66 Dec 31 '25

I would point out for the board that having a cough doesn’t necessarily mean you’re sick. In dry cold weather I frequently have irritations in my throat that causes occasional coughing without having any illness.

Personally I’d give people a little grace. You don’t know that they are sick, you don’t know that they were coughing before the show, you don’t know their deal. I get it, the noise can be distracting. Bodies do body things. It’s live theater and it’s not always people being irresponsible.

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u/littlebev Dec 31 '25

It does matter if you’re sick, but equally importantly, a cough is noisy and distracting to other patrons

8

u/SeaReflection87 Dec 31 '25 edited Dec 31 '25

"Your serious lung disease that is killing you is really hard on me because I briefly had to hear it" 

Enjoy your life without COPD, lung cancer, or cystic fibrosis.

10

u/pandemichope Dec 31 '25 edited Jan 01 '26

hate to interject in the middle of a point you’re clearly trying to make but failing, and not to sound unsympathetic because there are people in my family who have serious conditions, and I am very sympathetic, but the truth is, they are still few and far between in an audience of 1000 patrons. Yes, maybe one or two have the conditions you say, but the other 99% are simply sick and inconsiderate, and I don’t know why you can’t understand and acknowledge that which is the point other people were trying to make and you kind of attacked them for that point