Cell Phone Nightmare: Laura Benanti Stops the Show

At today's matinee of "She Loves Me" a cell phone went off center orchestra during a very tender passage of "Will He Like Me?" After the first ring, Ms. Benanti kept singing but spoke an aside of "Hello." There were two more horrible rings and she stopped the song and looked directly at the person and calmly said "I'll wait." The orchestra completely stopped. Another ring, and she said "We'll all wait." A few more painful seconds, and they finally they got their phone off. She looked up at the conductor and she picked up exactly where she left off, and finished the song thrillingly and the audience cheered. I think she did exactly the right thing. Enough of this ****. People need to turn off their phones. She was clearly angry, but she was very professional and calm about it. She wasn't going to have some idiot ruin our experience, so I say Bravo Ms. Benanti.

What was clear was how demoralizing this was to her. She was singing her face off, beautifully, and this was just so gross and disrespectful. I was actually surprised she didn't get angrier. She was almost eerily calm, which made it even more brutal on the idiot. It also sent a clear message; I saw several people around me check/recheck their phones during the applause.

BroadwayBen said: "What was clear was how demoralizing this was to her. She was singing her face off, beautifully, and this was just so gross and disrespectful. I was actually surprised she didn't get angrier. She was almost eerily calm, which made it even more brutal on the idiot. It also sent a clear message; I saw several people around me check/recheck their phones during the applause.



"

Eerily calm is a perfect way to describe her response.

Updated On: 6/17/17 at 12:53 AM

It does seem to be more commonplace to hear about actors doing this though. Which is interesting.

For me it would totally pull me out of the moment. I'd almost rather have the phone continue to be the momentary distraction (until someone in the vicinity of the numbskull tells them to turn it off….if they're not already in the process of doing it themselves) rather than turn the phone distraction into an even more major distraction by having the actors on the stage comment on it. Unless it's ad-libbed in somehow to keep the show going.

It must be irritating as hell for the actors though, I'm sure.

And had it happened when I saw it, I would have been ticked as an audience member. Especially during that number! I love that song and seeing her rendition of it was fantastic.

I was at the Metropolitan Opera last night and the problem wasn't ringing phones but rather photographs being taken. I wasn't aware of any pictures being shot during the performance but before the show and during the two intermissions flashes were going off repeatedly. The others did nothing about it and it became quite annoying.

Sorry, folks. I understand the frustration (both as a performer and an audience member), but I wouldn't go so far as to say that it was handled professionally. Stopping the show because you're annoyed is just as distracting, if not more so.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but in the next scene, the phone in the shop rings, so my brother thought it was a set malfunction.



She stopped for the third ring according to the OP. Calling her our for lack of professionalism seems a bit of a stretch, no? I'm not in the theatre industry, but just my thoughts on professionalism from my profession (medicine). Relying on ushers to ask people to turn off their phones has not been truly effective anecdotally.



Maybe we should arm the ushers with laser pointers like in China?



http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/15/arts/international/a-new-weapon-for-battling-cellphones-in-theaters-laser-beams.html

The landscape has changed since your definition of "professionalism" was originally established. It's difficult for me to imagine Ethel Merman not doing something similar had someone brought a ringing cell phone into a matinee performance of Call Me Madam.

Yeah, the unprofessional comments don't really make sense. Patti has used much harsher tactics than Laura, and she was highly praised for her last incident of taking the texter's phone.

Granted this is an apocryphal story, but Ethel Merman wasn't known to tolerate interruptions either. At a performance of Call Me Madam, apparently there was a drunk man in the front orchestra causing a disruption, and she stopped the show to get him thrown out. Personally, I don't mind when actors do this- it seems like it's the only thing that is drawing attention to how irritating it is, so I'm glad there are actors who are willing to address it.

Harmonium said: "There's a certain percentage of people who outright refuse to turn off the phone- we all know they're out there, they are the same people who refuse to turn them off in movie theaters, on airplanes and in other places where phone use is restricted/prohibited. There's a certain percentage of people who don't know how turn off the phone ringer. They just don't- and it doesn't make them any less responsible but they're out there ringers-on whether you like it or not."



I do not accept this excuse any longer. It is 2016, cellular telephones have been a part of daily life for most of the population of the US for decades now. Learn how to turn your phones off people, it's not that hard.

Sorry, I have to correct myself. The feds have a problem with that solution.

We remind and warn consumers that it is a violation of federal law to use a cell jammer or similar devices that intentionally block, jam, or interfere with authorized radio communications such as cell phones, police radar, GPS, and Wi-Fi.

https://www.fcc.gov/general/jamming-cell-phones-and-gps-equipment-against-law

There may be legal ways to block cell phone reception, but I wouldn't hold out much hope.