Police state tactics over taking pictures in the theater- Page 4

[stevenycguy]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 12:31pm

This individual was stealing copywrighted material. The theater was enforcing its rule. Updated On: 2/16/15 at 12:31 PM

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 12:36pm

It's like NAZI GERMANY!!!

[Seperite]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 12:42pm

Angry Jane2 --

Not every show makes an announcement about photography prior to the show. Many do, but not all. They all should, given the high number of first-time theater-goers at any given performance.

A "no photography" message buried in the fine print in the Playbill isn't effective. An insert that explicitly says so, along with a diagram of a camera and a line through it to communicate the message to non-English speakers, would be more effective.

Seriously. Stop being so angry. Every message of yours is replete with invective and personal insults. We are having a 'discussion.' Be an adult. Enough with the tantrums.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 12:52pm

Are you...slow? I don't want to be categorized as being insensitive but you seem to be more than a little "slow".

[tazber]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 12:59pm

Lol. Jane is one of the least angry people I know.

She's probably just impatient with your incessant whining.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 1:09pm

Yeah, Jane. Calm down.

[Kad]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 1:12pm

""The third option is to jot down the name and photograph of offenders, share the information with other theaters, and bar entry in the future. Every theater has security cameras, so it's easy to get a picture of a patron who engages in bad behavior. Virtually all tickets are paid for by credit card, so it's easy to get the name of an offender, or someone in his/her party. Although it might not be possible to get the name of the actual offender, anyone who knew that the person who bought them tickets might be barred "

That sounds more like police state behavior than what actually happened.

[Jane2]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 1:20pm

Dear OP - you can call me anything you want, lol. It doesn't bother me in the least. As I already said, your comments are so ridiculous, they anger me. I have little patience for it.

I'll try very hard to calm down, newbie.

Updated On: 2/16/15 at 01:20 PM

[tazber]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 1:24pm

Jane,


CALM THE F*** DOWN!!!!

Updated On: 2/16/15 at 01:24 PM

[Jane2]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 1:28pm

HAHAHA, oh that poor kitty!

[Jane2]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 1:31pm

Actually, I find this to be a very calming activity, don't you think?

[FutureGM]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 1:39pm

I am an usher at a Broadway house. We do have an announcement, as well as a large insert that goes in the Playbill instructing people to turn off their phones/electronic devices. The paper might as well be blank, and the announcement might as well be in Japanese for all the good they do. We still have to keep an eye on the audience and take care of those people who are taking photos, recording, or playing poker on their phones (honest to goodness, this was an actual patron).

I agree that the usher and HM were only doing their jobs. If this was in fact the AA Theatre, then I know the ushering staff and HMs and they are all very dedicated to their jobs. I also know, like most theatre owners, Roundabout is very strict about their photography/recording policies.

To me, not only is it a copyright issue, but my fear is always the safety of the actors. I am lucky in that where I work I get the opportunity to hang out with the cast and crew. From what I understand, from their perspective, it can be very insulting, not only because you are taking a photo/recording without their permission, but also if you are hiding behind a camera/cell/iPad, you are not invested in the show. They feed off the energy of the audience and, contrary to popular belief, they do see the people recording/taking photos, and it makes them upset that their show is not interesting enough to hold your undivided attention.

I have to give props to the SMs too. There are times when we may miss that people are filming/taking photos. However, the people on the stage do not. They will tell the SM and the SM will tell us, and we'll take care of it.

Theatre excites me like no other industry can. I see it as an absolute privilege that I get to see as many shows as I do. I shut off my phone the moment I sit down, and I do not turn it on again until I am on way out the doors. If you can't be away from your phone/the outside world for 1.5/2/3 hours, perhaps seeing a show is not the best idea.

I know someone mentioned The River a few messages ago, and it may have seemed "kindergarten-y" but, you know what? It worked. I saw The River too, and it was the quietest audience I have been a part of for a long time.

I get that going to the theatre is exciting (believe me) but I don't see any reason to disrupt your fellow audience members and actors by taking photos or a phone call. The call can wait, and you can take plenty of photos outside the theatre, with the actor at stage door, or even use one of the professional shots from the production.

I am posting this not as an attack, but as the perspective of a Broadway usher. We are very proud of and love the shows we get to work on, we just want the audience to feel the same way.

[tazber]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 1:47pm

Well said FutureGM.

[South Florida]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 1:58pm

The farting guy was the worst, but yeah grow up and turn off your telephone.

[South Florida]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 2:00pm

And if I catch you doing it by me I'm reporting you at halftime, if there's no halftime I might kill you.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 2:05pm

Yeah. Don't fart near South Florida.

[MayAudraBlessYou2]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 2:23pm

As a former house manager, I have to also disagree with the OP. Oftentimes we are vigilant about policing videos and photos because the producers and stars are the ones who flip out when they see it happening. And the house manager is the one who gets screamed at. True, some ushers arent great at being discreet while shutting the situation down. But most often, when an issue escalates and becomes a distraction, its the patron at fault. Like the man a certain broadway tour who screamed that i was an asshole during the middle of the musical because I blocked his shot and told him to put the camera away. The producers were 100% behind me though, since it is copyrighted material, and they want ownership of it. Some people just don't care about the rules. To say there should be no repercussions and we should allow them to ruin others' evenings is not the answer.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 2:34pm

And if I catch you doing it by me I'm reporting you at halftime, if there's no halftime I might kill you.

As the Dowager Countess might ask, "What is...a 'halftime'?"

[South Florida]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 2:48pm

Always though my dream job might be pulling over ***hole drivers, but the thought of beating up a picture taker in a NY alley...

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 3:03pm

This is for you Future GM. Well done.

[Seperite]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 3:06pm

FutureGM --

Well written response. Thank you for expressing your disagreement civilly.

The person who started this thread, lamenting the excessive tactics of overzealous theater staff in policing camera issues, is the same person who lauded the direct approach taken at the River. No one on this thread, least of all me, is disputing that photographing during a performance is disruptive, annoying, selfish, wrong (and perhaps, as you point out, even dangerous.) The criticism, which I seem to be alone in expressing, is only that there are other techniques that theater staff can employ to rectify the problem without resorting to interrupting others' enjoyment of the production, or violating an offender's privacy rights. As the experience that both you and I had at the River bears out, a direct and 'impassioned' appeal at the start of a performance seems to have a positive impact. Escorting offending patrons, or barring them from future productions at any theater, would too. Checking-in phones would be a hassle, but as mentioned, it's effectively employed at other venues, and if the problem of photography is severe enough to warrant it, so be it. There may well be other creative solutions as well. But running down the aisles and frantically trying to get the attention of an offender in the middle of a row, in the midst of a performance, does not strike me as the best choice.

[South Florida]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 3:11pm

Seperite you're damaging this thread

[Jane2]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 3:21pm

To Seperite- I have worked in theater management for almost 15 years. The jobs I've held are: house manager, concessions manager, bar manager, ticket scanner, usher, coat checker and everything else involved in FOH. I say this because the amount of audiences I've worked directly with is in the thousands. I know from experience that nothing that has been tried concerning the problems discussed here works. Nothing. Nothing will stop the turning on of cell phones and nothing will stop the taking of photographs. I repeat, people will do what they want to do, no matter how nicely or harshly they are told.

But as workers in theater management, it is our job to try, doggone it. We don't have an easy time of it and we deserve a lot of credit in fighting a losing battle night after night. Believe me, it isn't fun. It isn't fun being abused by patrons who resent having to follow the rules.

You keep making suggestions, thinking that they surely must help the problem. They don't. You stubbornly refuse to accept the information I for one, have given you. You call me angry, I call you extremely difficult in communicating with.

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 3:26pm

"Why don't they formally record productions and sell them to the public after a decent interval, such as five years?

How wonderful to see Gertrude Lawrence in The King and I, or Julie Andrews in My Fair Lady."

That would be loverly. What baffles me is the people who aren't interesting in capturing the performance but instead getting blurry photos of the actors. Why? Seriously, why?

[Pootie2]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 3:28pm

I'm just glad the OP isn't an usher or stage manager, because he's way too passive to consistently stand up for other paying patrons' rights ("rights"). As a paying tourist, I'd witness the humiliation of a rude idiot with a bit of glee, to be honest. People are warned ahead of time. If they don't comply, just "let it go" isn't the answer either and is a total cop-out. No rules should even exist if they're not enforced, at least to the human abilities of the employees, and in which case, you can kiss a lot of creative efforts goodbye.

Seperite, I think it's your general attitude (in sum "since you can't catch everyone, you shouldn't bother trying at all") that piss people off more than the specific scenario you're complaining about. The one who should let it go is you.