Cell Phone Rings at History Boys - Griffiths Stops The Show- Page 4

[MaronaDavies]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 6:19am

Actually, back before cell phones, doctors always left the theatre's phone number with their answering service. When they arrived at the show, they left their names and seat numbers with the theatre staff. If an urgent patient call came in for them, they could be located and pulled from their seat immediately and quietly.

There's no reason they couldn't go back to that.
Updated On: 6/1/06 at 06:19 AM

[EponineAmneris]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 9:04am

That is great! I'm glad Griffith's did that. The actors MUST take a stand and help stomp this ceel phone stuff out. Sounds like many are doing just that.

I was at PHANTOM one night and during ALL I ASK OF YOU, a cell phone off right in front of me. Talk about killing the mood.

[Eastwickian]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 9:58am

I agree, I had a similar experience when I saw My Fair Lady in London a few years back. Just after Eliza made her final appearance at the back of the stage and said 'I washed my hands and face...' there was a long pause as Jonathan Pryce had to wait for a phone to stop ringing. It completely ruined the climax of the entire evening! Good on Mr. Griffiths for not putting up with this stupidity

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 9:58am

It's rare that I attend a show and a cell phone doesn't ring.

Awake and Sing was the worst--5 cell phones went off! Loud and audible. You'd think after multiple announcements and others going off it owuld make a difference but no...

I'm getting stronger at controlling situations that I can though. At the Pajama Game recently, I was talking to a nice woman next to me, but then when the 2nd act started she started texting. It was driving me crazy. Finally I leaned over and said you know it's illegal to have cell phones on in the theatre right? Then she turned it off. Go me.

[TicketMediaGuy]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 10:29am

I think the point made by the original poster is that Griffiths broke character after the THIRD cell phone went off... all this happened during within the FIRST act of the play. It's not like he went on a rampage when it happened only once. He did it after the annoyance happened MORE than once. Therefore I would agree that his actions in re-announcing the cell phone law was warranted as the play was already ruined by the audience on the other side of the fourth wall - not only was he warning the people that had the cell phones go off, but he was also warning the rest of the audience so that it wouldn't happen again. As an audience member it's one thing to be brought out of a moment once because of a cell phone, but THREE times is way too many times during the 1 or so hours of the first act.

Anyway, I'm sure back in the old days of Broadway there were other things to ruin the moment in theatres... BUGLES or something....

[cpnchicago]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 10:32am

I have been to a show where the show was stopped because of a cell phone ringing. It was a locally produced show with Equity actors and it was the second time a phone had gone off. This time, it was in the middle of a serious song, and it took my attention completely away from the song. I couldn't concentrate on the singer and could only fume at the person whose phone was ringing, ringing, ringing. So I was very glad when the musical director abruptly stopped playing the piano, turned and looked in the direction of the ring and said, "I CANNOT continue until that phone has stopped." He restarted the song from the beginning and I was so glad that I was able to fully concentrate on the singer and the words. I have absolutely no problem with actors stopping a show and restarting from where the interruption was. I have a huge problem with people who don't listen to the message at the beginning and turn their phones to vibrate or off completely.

[tabbynyc]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 12:19pm

That would be a good idea, MaronaDavies, except no one picks up a phone at the theaters anymore. Anyway, there is no reason you need a cell phone at the theater for a 2 1/2 hour show. Years ago when no one had cell phones, the theaters were still full. A friend of mine thought she turned off her phone, but didn't hold it or push it hard enough & it went off during the 1st act. The worse part was she couldn't find it in the bottom of her handbag, so it kept ringing. Very embarrassing & quite annoying to everyone. Accidents can happen, but not if you leave cell phones home!

[JRTO]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 12:26pm

shame, all of you who applaud this ridiculous behaviour by an 'actor'. if he was in character and in the scene, then the cell phone really wouldn't have bothered him. horrible actor, i say. and i would demand my money back as a patron for he would have ruined the whole show for me, not the stupid cell phone.

this is a situation the FOH staff should have delt with, not an ACTOR.
Updated On: 6/1/06 at 12:26 PM

[Kalimba]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 2:23pm

As many times as I read this thread yesterday, I kept confusing it with Jersey Boys and couldn't figure out who Griffiths was! It wasn't until I saw a similar thread on ATC that it all clicked.

I consider myself lucky that I haven't experienced a cell phone ringing during the number of shows that I have seen.

[DG]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 2:38pm

I don't know whether what Mr. Griffiths did was right, wrong or indifferent.

But I DO know I would have applauded his action loudly.

[folkyboy]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 2:41pm

i personally would love to stand near you when you ask the theatre for your money back. i wanna hear what they say

*snicker*

[allofmylife]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 3:05pm

Personally, I think Mr. Griffiths should have stopped the show, gone down into the audience, found a nun, dragged her up onstage and slapped her. Just once. And then said "Let that serve as a warning."

You'd be able to hear the crickets chirping in Connecticut.

[quintia]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 3:08pm

Good for Mr. Griffiths! During The Crucible a few years ago, Liam Neeson was speaking in Act I when a cell phone went off (the ringtone was the Mexican Hat Dance). That just ruined the moment.

[Magdalene]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 3:19pm

I like the announcement at Spamalot---"Feel free to let your cell phones ring---however, do remember that there are heavily armed knights on stage"

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 3:29pm

"shame, all of you who applaud this ridiculous behaviour by an 'actor'. if he was in character and in the scene, then the cell phone really wouldn't have bothered him. horrible actor, i say."

It sounds as if you're saying that audience reaction shouldn't affect the actor's performance. By that reasoning, when the audience laughs or applauds, the actor shouldn't hold till the reaction subsides a bit but should just keep going, as the character would in real life. "Who cares if the audience hears the next line? They're not really there. I'm in character in this other place, not at the theatre. My character doesn't hear the audience. I'm so in the moment in this other place that I don't even hear them."

It seems pretty clear that in this case most of the audience had already been taken so out of the moment that Griffiths stopping the scene was not going to break their belief in the reality any more than it had already been broken. His starting over gave them a chance to see the scene uninterrupted.

"this is a situation the FOH staff should have delt with, not an ACTOR."

Ideally, yes. But when the FOH staff fails to do anything, someone has to.
Updated On: 6/1/06 at 03:29 PM

[SorryGrateful]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 3:36pm

I adore Richard Griffiths, especially after this incident.

ETA: "I hope his heart doctor isn't in a theatre when he has his attack. sounds like a real Type A persoanlity, at that size-- a real ticking bomb."


BroadwayFan3, I hope you're kidding. That is such an awful, insensitive thing to say. And completely inappropriate to this discussion.

Updated On: 6/1/06 at 03:36 PM

[sondwisenheimer]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 3:57pm

I would normally agree with those who say that there is no justification for an actor to intentionally break character in the middle of a scene, however, the word-of-mouth an incident like this can produce can be especially useful in making future theatregoers especially conscious of the issue.

Just look at how many responses it's generating here. This is truly "passing the parcel."

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 4:04pm

BroadwayFan3, I hope you're kidding. That is such an awful, insensitive thing to say. And completely inappropriate to this discussion.

They've been confusing him with Uncle Vernon too much, maybe...

[SorryGrateful]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 4:10pm

Maybe so, Lizzie.

That's just so offensively ridiculous.

[allofmylife]

Posted: 6/2/06 at 3:28am

One nun, I tell ya. Slap one nun and the whole problem is solved.

One nun.

[SweetQintheLights]

Posted: 6/2/06 at 3:34am

"i personally would love to stand near you when you ask the theatre for your money back. i wanna hear what they say "

Thank you, I needed that laugh!

I would also have loved to be there.

[Anakela]

Posted: 6/2/06 at 10:02am

wow- based on today's Page Six blurb about this, the cell phone ringers sounded like a bunch of real winners:

RICHARD Griffiths finally had enough when the first act of the Wednesday matinee of "The History Boys" was interrupted for a fourth time by a ringing cellphone. "I cannot tolerate this anymore. I cannot compete with electronic devices," he told the audience. "You were asked nicely to turn off your phones. You were told it was against the law. I'm going to walk off and start the scene again. If this happens again, I will end the show." A witness said all four phones were in the same row and apparently in the same family. "At intermission, a manager ran down the aisle to throw them out," we're told. No rings were heard in the second act.

eta link, it's nice to link when you quote stuff. :)
Link Updated On: 6/2/06 at 10:02 AM

[SorryGrateful]

Posted: 6/2/06 at 10:17am

What a--holes. Get some freaking manners, people.

And, again, I love you, Richard Griffiths!

[allofmylife]

Posted: 6/2/06 at 11:52am

And he didn't even have to slap a nun. Amazing.

Posted: 6/2/06 at 6:58pm

Bravo Mr.Griffiths!