Another rings, a pager beeps, and suddenly 20 people with phones attached to their ears are talking and laughing loudly. The curtain rises to the calamity of ringing phones, beeping pagers, and talking patrons. Flashing lights disturb performers and can easily cause them injury. A dancer is spinning furiously, and as she prepares to finish the turns and leap, a camera flashes, blinding her just long enough for her to miss the landing and go flying into the orchestra pit, wrecking all the instruments, and kicking the conductor in the nose. Regardless, you can't take flash photography in the theater.
Classical music is often funny and is always surprising and exciting.
Chances are you'll even recognize a lot of the music because it often appears in movies and commercials. Whatever makes you feel comfortable. You'll see people wearing suits, vests, sweaters, skirts, khakis, slacks, jeans, and shorts. Generally, it is considered proper concert etiquette to clap only after a piece is completed. Look in your program book to find out how many movements a piece has.