Cell phone hell at Shows for Days; Ms. LuPone remains silent
Cell phone hell at Shows for Days; Ms. LuPone remains silent
Auggie27
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/13/03
#1Cell phone hell at Shows for Days; Ms. LuPone remains silent
Posted: 7/8/15 at 7:39pm
The second act of the "Shows for Days" matinee today was besieged with cell phone ringing, first one long unanswered call that threatened to ring for the rest of the performance, and then two or more which resulted in someone leaping up and answering in the semi-opened door. At the same time, a hearing aid apparently went haywire, and buzzed into the ether for the remainder.
We all hear phones in many places -- trains, movies, outside our windows. Cell phone rudeness is far from rare. Yet this was the most egregious example of how these phones can ruin a play that I've ever encountered. It peaked during the quietest moments of the production, when revelations surfaced and allegiances shifted dramatically.
Likely the still unanswered question here: Ms. LuPone. Infamous for schooling audiences in theater etiquette, today entirely justified for more than schooling. She paused once, but otherwise ignored the ringing. She clearly made a decision to reward the rest of us with a complete performance, uninterrupted at least from the stage.
#2Cell phone hell at Shows for Days; Ms. LuPone remains silent
Posted: 7/8/15 at 7:44pm
Fascinating story. I'm so sorry the show was almost ruined for you, but I hope you still got the "meat" of the more tense moments. A small theory of mine- is it just me, or did the whole cell phone/camera in the theatres crusade mostly fly under the radar until that fateful night at Gypsy? I feel like that was the shot heard 'round the world in this war. So to speak.
How was the show, otherwise? It looks pretty good.
#3Cell phone hell at Shows for Days; Ms. LuPone remains silent
Posted: 7/8/15 at 7:58pm
I love her. I can't imagine what she said about those people after the show, though! Can't wait to see this in two weeks and am HOPING that people turn their stupid phones off!
Auggie27
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/13/03
#4Cell phone hell at Shows for Days; Ms. LuPone remains silent
Posted: 7/8/15 at 8:13pm
The first act is (reviews be damned) mostly quite a lot of fun, LuPone in full command, never overcooking, even when the script invites her to. She keeps a lid on the camp potential, even in a badly directed scene in the frontseat of a car. The second act is harder to warm to for many reasons, the play piles on a lot of plot, some gay blackmail stuff that is hard to invest in (and parse), and some predictable melodrama.
But if you are a LuPone follower, it's an unmissable event this summer. Was it written for her? It seems to have been. Fans and detractors: She is absolutely at the top of her game, and you can't take your eyes off of her, waiting for her to brain an idiot with a cell phone or merely playing the hell out of the script that's never as good as she is. I wanted to love Michael Urie, whose warm connection to the audience at the top is winning. But the play doesn't give him much to do until very late, and then it's not all that compelling, despite his charm and effortless ease with the narrative.
#5Cell phone hell at Shows for Days; Ms. LuPone remains silent
Posted: 7/8/15 at 9:37pm
Anyone who doesn't turn off their cell phone at the start of a play is a rude piece of ****. I lament what Broadway has become. Sad sad sad.
#6Cell Phone Hell at Shows for Days
Posted: 7/8/15 at 9:39pm
Or at least turn the volume all the way down if you don't want to turn it off, Jesus Christ.
Tom5
Broadway Star Joined: 9/23/11
#7Cell Phone Hell at Shows for Days
Posted: 7/8/15 at 9:50pm
Many older folk simply don't know how to turn their cell phones off. It's not as easy as it looks. You usually have to hold a certain (usually undefined) button down for an extended period of time and they just push it down briefly and think their phone is off. There's also time alarms on watches with four side buttons and maybe a hundred of combinations to use them. (I leave mine home; I don't think you can disable an hourly beep) And removing a battery can require a surgeon's skill. I have no answer to this and I think Ms LuPone may have become resigned to it as well.
#8Cell Phone Hell at Shows for Days
Posted: 7/8/15 at 9:52pm
Look, I know technology can be intimidating, but do they just not ask when they buy one/obtain one from one of their kids?
#9Cell Phone Hell at Shows for Days
Posted: 7/8/15 at 9:55pm
"Many older folk simply don't know how to turn their cell phones off."
Really people? You can't read the manual that comes with every single phone sold to find out how to turn it off?
Tom5
Broadway Star Joined: 9/23/11
#10Cell Phone Hell at Shows for Days
Posted: 7/8/15 at 9:57pm
I showed my Mom a hundred times and she either forgets or won't hold it down long enough. She panics! Good news: She doesn't go to the theater.
neonlightsxo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/29/08
#11Cell Phone Hell at Shows for Days
Posted: 7/8/15 at 9:57pm
Who even gets service in that theater????
#12Cell Phone Hell at Shows for Days
Posted: 7/8/15 at 10:06pm
"But if you are a LuPone follower, it's an unmissable event this summer. Was it written for her? It seems to have been. Fans and detractors: She is absolutely at the top of her game, and you can't take your eyes off of her, waiting for her to brain an idiot with a cell phone or merely playing the hell out of the script that's never as good as she is."
I'm very much a LuPone fan, and while I never quite thought she could do no wrong, it's always a joy seeing her onstage. However, after seeing her in The Rose Tattoo in April, I was convinced she simply relearned how to act, because it felt like a whole new level for her. I'm so looking forward to seeing her in this, even though I know the script won't serve her nearly as well as The Rose Tattoo did.
#13Cell Phone Hell at Shows for Days
Posted: 7/8/15 at 10:10pm
I too have always had a soft spot for her, and I'm glad to see her doing...shall we say..."lesser diva" roles that may not be as glamorous as Eva Peron or Mama Rose but better demonstrate nuanced aspects of her performing.
I remember a paper I wrote about seeing the Gypsy revival for 10th grade music class, and I vividly remember my final sentence: "The show gave me 'a real good time' and reminded me of my own dreams to succeed in theatre someday. After all if Patti LuPone can do it, why can't I?"
Auggie27
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/13/03
#14Cell Phone Hell at Shows for Days
Posted: 7/8/15 at 10:29pm
The two previous posters here will appreciate the work LuPone is offering this wisp of a play. She finds much, offers everything. On a muggy July day, in front of an indifferent audience, she was weeping and giving unstintingly of herself, moment by moment. It was duly noted, all the more because the environment was so inhospitable, even art-threatening.
jimmycurry01
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/28/05
#15Cell Phone Hell at Shows for Days
Posted: 7/8/15 at 10:37pm
""Many older folk simply don't know how to turn their cell phones off."
Really people? You can't read the manual that comes with every single phone sold to find out how to turn it off?"
Honestly, my current phone did not come with a manual in the box. There was a quick start guide, and a url for a pdf manual. There are a lot of folks out there who don't know what a url is or how to download a pdf, let alone how to open it once it has been downloaded. I am not surprised that there are people who don't know how to turn off a cell phone.
#16Cell Phone Hell at Shows for Days
Posted: 7/8/15 at 10:42pm
HAHAHA
https://twitter.com/heytravistravis/status/618971586998222848
https://twitter.com/HeyCatu/status/618970585712996352
#17Cell Phone Hell at Shows for Days
Posted: 7/8/15 at 10:49pm
^ OMG. Guess she had enough after the matinee.
#18Cell Phone Hell at Shows for Days
Posted: 7/8/15 at 10:58pm
Whoa my gosh...that's just...wowza! Can't wait till more details of that emerge. Ten bucks says she was in-character when she did it.
#19Cell Phone Hell at Shows for Days
Posted: 7/8/15 at 11:02pm
I have a hard time turning it off so i find the easiest way it to turn on airplane mode the that cuts out any signal.
#20Cell Phone Hell at Shows for Days
Posted: 7/8/15 at 11:16pm
The Newhouse has a huge subscriber base as does MTC. So matinees are usually full of seniors who are cell phone compromised. And many of them a reliant upon hearing devices. So these problems tend to arise more at matinees. Patti is probably just used to it. I do think if she saw someone younger texting, gaming or watching Utube (which some of them do) she might be tempted to throw a bucket of water in their face.
But it is a new world. The Shuberts advertise Wi Fi in every seat. Eventually there will be a screen behind the performances where people can post hashtags and pictures that relate to the play.
I do appreciate Patti not stopping the show for I do think that the show must go on. I pay too much money to watch someone stop the show to comment on a phone ringing.
#21Cell Phone Hell at Shows for Days
Posted: 7/8/15 at 11:38pm
This just gets better. https://twitter.com/CatsPolitics/status/618985296970018816
MCfan2
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/29/06
#22Cell Phone Hell at Shows for Days
Posted: 7/8/15 at 11:48pm
It's all over Twitter. And everyone seems to be on her side.
SmoothLover: I was at a college production of "Edwin Drood" last fall where cell phones were used in a number of ways throughout the show, very effectively. (We used them to vote for the murderer and so forth, and we were also asked to tweet stuff, text stuff, etc.) Granted, that's a particularly interactive show, but I can imagine other shows finding ways to use them as well. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, I guess!
#23Cell Phone Hell at Shows for Days
Posted: 7/9/15 at 2:59am
I am 26 years old. My Phone, multiple times, has remained on after I thought I had switched it off. That one of the reasons why I keep it on vibrate 98% of the time. Don't wave your hands and say "oh, those old fogies". I am incised by cellphones in the theatre as much as anyone. That's why I like a "remember to turn your phones back off" after the intermission. But I'm kinda anal like that.
#24Cell Phone Hell at Shows for Days
Posted: 7/9/15 at 3:36am
Now I do love that she snatched the phone while leaving on her last line! I imagine it got a huge laugh. I hope she held onto it until the patron crawled back and whimpered for it at the stage door.
It is so funny how reliant people have become on cell phones. Someone once said to "what did you do before cell phones, how did you survive?" After making a joke about Morris Code I was like we got along just fine. We had more reverence for the theatre and would have never dreamed of using a phone while watching show.
On a side note and this is no excuse; but manuals that come with electronic devices now days are incredibly hard for older folks to read. The fonts are so small one needs Mr. Magoo glasses to read them. Some folks can probably barely read the fonts on their phones. I think some older folks are also afraid to really learn how their phone works because they think they might break it.....
#25Cell Phone Hell at Shows for Days
Posted: 7/9/15 at 3:47am
Glad she waited for her exit this time around!
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