Munch ado about noshing

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NEW YORK -- Patti LuPone couldn't believe her ears.

"There was this woman in the first row, eating out of a paper bag, so loudly that even people around her were trying to get her to stop," an appalled Miss LuPone said of an incident that happened during her Broadway run in the musical "Sweeney Todd."

Another actor on stage used her prop -- a flute -- to nudge the woman to stop eating, reaching into the audience with the instrument and pushing down on the woman's bag of snacks, Miss LuPone said.

"But the woman kept eating whatever it was -- things that came out in little balls."

Such encounters have become increasingly common in theaters up and down Broadway, where the sound of music is sometimes mixed with a symphony of snacking.

More Broadway theaters are allowing people to bring drinks, candy, chips and even popcorn to their seats as they try to boost their bottom lines.

And the bottom line is -- the bottom line. Concession sales at the Hilton Theatre have more than doubled since refreshments were allowed into the shows about three years ago.

Meanwhile, to eat or not to eat is an issue that has divided Broadway.

The Shubert Organization, which operates 17 theaters on Broadway, does not permit food or drinks to be taken into performances.

The Nederlander Organization allows snacks into most of its shows, especially in performance spaces that are staging family fare such as "The Lion King" and "Beauty and the Beast." Nederlander also allows people to bring in wine poured into spillproof cups.