"salesman" cell phone riff...

[thetinymagic2]

Posted: 3/24/12 at 1:35pm

http://gothamist.com/2012/03/23/an_open_letter_to_the_owner_of_the.php

[defyingravity11]

Posted: 3/24/12 at 1:39pm

I was there last night. I can't believe that the cell phone owner didn't turn it off after the first ring.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 3/24/12 at 3:36pm

I canNOT believe he didn't shut off his cell phone BEFORE the performance began!!! WHAT THE FVCK!!!

[musicman_bwayfan]

Posted: 3/24/12 at 3:36pm

While this is not related to DoaSalesman, there is a cellphone connection:

I saw BEST MAN last night from the center mezzanine and the person sitting 2 seats over from me was with two other friends (all three were foreign). In the first act, he took out his cell phone and started to take pictures. During 2nd and 3rd act, he was fiddling around on his phone on Facebook, email, and browsing the internet. I don't know how anyone could be bored with James Earl Jones on stage or if he just had no manners what so ever. Everyone around him that I could see was giving him the stare of death and softly clearing their throats. Unfortunately, the ushers didn't see him, so he got away with his distracting behavior the whole 2 hours and 30 minutes.

[eponine88]

Posted: 3/24/12 at 3:55pm

I was at this performance as well. In my section of the mezzanine you could have heard a pin drop everyone was so engrossed in what was going on onstage so as soon as the phone went off more than a few people jolted back in shock. There were a LOT of death glares being shot in the direction of the sound.

[hermajesty]

Posted: 3/27/12 at 11:30am

this happened to me once, two young girls using their phones. I told them to switch them off but they just glared at me. They used them the whole time, so inconsiderate

[AngelorPhantom1359]

Posted: 3/27/12 at 11:38am

When I saw Master Class in July, 3 different people's phone went off. Tyne stayed in character and looked out at the audience and said "do you think we could get that under control? This takes a lot of concentration!"

[Huss417]

Posted: 3/27/12 at 11:39am

So why not at intermission tell an usher?

[willep]

Posted: 3/27/12 at 12:54pm

At the opening night performance of Once, I was sitting in the mezzanine and during the beautiful scene on the bluff, the audience was completely silent, not a single sound in the house aside from the crashing waves in the sound design, and someone's phone went off. I couldn't believe it...at an opening night performance no less!

Updated On: 3/27/12 at 12:54 PM

[egnarotsew]

Posted: 3/27/12 at 1:37pm

Was Tyne still speaking to the students of the class when she said that? A phone went off when I saw master class but it was during the second monologue and she just kept going.

[TheaterAddict17]

Posted: 3/27/12 at 1:38pm

This video says it all...

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/STAGE-TUBE-Brian-Williams-Takes-on-Audience-Cell-Phone-Usage-Patti-LuPone-More-20120322
Updated On: 3/27/12 at 01:38 PM

[defyingravity11]

Posted: 3/27/12 at 7:32pm

I remember people carrying on full conversations on their cell phones at CYRANO and STICK FLY.

[adam.peterson44]

Posted: 3/27/12 at 10:06pm

They should add to the usual announcements requesting people to turn off their cell phones that any use of the cellphone during a performance constitutes permission for other audience members to take the phone and turn it off, break it, whatever they need to do. I wonder if that would be more of a deterrent than knowing they are annoying thousands of people (since they obviously don't care about that).

[PlayItAgain]

Posted: 3/27/12 at 10:16pm

Saw GATZ at the public on saturday, managed to go 6 hours and 29 minutes without any disturbance, and the last 3 lines someones phone behind me started buzzing extremely loud, could not believe it.

[AngelorPhantom1359]

Posted: 3/27/12 at 10:47pm

egnarotsew,

The first 2 times it happened she didn't say anything. The first time was in the very beginning and the second time was when Tyne was speaking the Italian lyrics while the accompanist played, and the third time, when Sophie and Callas have their last section of their scene, she addressed the audience. She treated it like it was a disorderly student, but everyone knew she must have been mad, and she actually received an ovation after she said that.

[AngelorPhantom1359]

Posted: 3/27/12 at 10:49pm

AND I also would like to recount when my mother and I went to see Patti LuPone at the NYC Ballet, some girl in front of us took out her phone and started checking her e-mail. After about 2 minutes I said to her, "that is glaring in all of our faces." She acted like I called her ugly or something because she looked like she was ready to cry.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 3/29/12 at 11:27pm

Went and saw the show tonight…Absolutely DEVESTATING! As we entered, each usher we were pointed to reminded us to turn off our cell phones. Everyone was told at least twice individually, to turn off our phones. INCREDIBLE audience. Dead silence, could hear a pin drop!

Man, perhaps it is because of my age, perhaps it is because of some of the conversations I have had with my Dad or perhaps because there is a bit of Willy Lohman in me, I am a mess after this show! I have to admit, rather shame faced that after 30 years working in the theatre, I have never seen or read this play until tonight!

[thetinymagic2]

Posted: 3/29/12 at 11:37pm

yeah, exactly the way I felt. Although having seen the other 3 revivals, THIS one hit home the most. It DOES get better with age (ours). Hard to believe Miller had such insight at age 33.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 3/30/12 at 1:46am

Thetinymagic, I think Hoffman's age helps with this, he seems perfectly adaptable to present day Willy to past Willy flling right inbetween the two.. Linda Emond had me on the edge of destruction with her "Attention must be paid" diatribe in Act one!

Miller was and is a National Treasure! There was not one person, male, female,young old, in that theatre that did not have at least one button pushed during the performance!

[Eris0303]

Posted: 3/30/12 at 10:40am

I think I may have told this story before so if you've heard it just bear with me.

Once at Legally Blonde a whole family (two parents and three kids) say down two rows ahead of me. Just before the show started the dad handed out Nintendo DS game systems to each of the kids. The three kids played through the first act while the dad played with his cellphone. At intermission the woman in front of me said something to the dad and he snapped back that his kids can't pay attention that long. The kids were all elementary school age so that was a stupid argument. When the dad became more defensive an usher was called and the games or cellphone did not make an appearance the rest of the show.

What always struck me about this story is how nice it is to have that much disposible income. I don't know where these people were from but let's just assume they're from where I live so they took the train (Trenton, NJ area) and that they paid full price. 5 people x $130/ticket = $650. Then there's the train 5 people x $30/round trip = $150. Adding in $7 to parking at the train station and we'll throw in another $150 to cover any food or stuff they bought. That brings us to $957. My father would have freaked out if he spent that much money to have us NOT pay attention. Not that my father would have spent that kind of money in the first place. But, wow.