Cell phone hell at Shows for Days; Ms. LuPone remains silent — Page 5

"How would she react if a chorus member during a production number she was in suddenly broke character and chastised an audition member? Or, if during a scene that she was in, one of the lesser characters started glaring at someone who was making too much noise with a candy wrapper and finally grabs the candy wrapper? The person would probably be fired.......she might HAVE that person fired."

To be honest, I actually think she'd applaud said ensemble member. Patti didn't do it because she's the lead and she wanted headlines, she did it because she was sick and tired of it, as stated in her interview. Of course, her carrying the show helps the leverage of her doing it, and it wasn't even a high level of interruption. Her character is a community theatre diva. That's EXACTLY what I think of when I envision that archetype. I think enough is enough. The ringing of cell phones she ignored, but someone texting? That's 100% warranted, in my opinion.

A little story I've always wanted to tell. I was playing Marachek in She Loves Me (see my profile picture). There's a scene where I pick up a music box to show to a customer. Normally as I lift the lid, the orchestra (or keyboard actually) plays a little music box tune. One performance, as I pick up the box, I hear the music box tune -- before I opened the lid, but clearly it was different. Seems someone in the third row had a cell phone that went off at that exact time -- and you guessed it, the phone had a music box ring! I think the whole audience realized what happened before I did. I turned to a "sales associate" on stage and did a loud stage whisper "I think this one is defective". Brought the house down.

Meanwhile as someone else asked -- how do all these people get phone service inside those theatres? I sometimes try to send a text before a show starts and rarely if ever can I get it to send until after the show when I get outside.

Good Morning America and the Today Show both had segments on the incident, and while GMA was firmly pro-Patti, the Today Show seemed more mixed and apprehensive.

Good Morning America video

Today Show video

Once again the Today show actually showed the footage of Patti going bonkers during Gypsy. Am I the only one who thinks it ironic that they rely on cell phone video documentation about a incident against cell phone picture taking?

"Meanwhile as someone else asked -- how do all these people get phone service inside those theatres? I sometimes try to send a text before a show starts and rarely if ever can I get it to send until after the show when I get outside.
"

A lot of theatres have terrible service (like New World Stages, where I rarely worry about anything getting through), but in my experience, most Broadway houses are like any other building as far as quality of reception.

New developments

I happen to think this story is adorable. She seems to be taking it in stride as only she could.

""To be honest, I actually think she'd applaud said ensemble member. Patti didn't do it because she's the lead and she wanted headlines, she did it because she was sick and tired of it, as stated in her interview"
She did it because she was sick and tired of it. Who isn't????????????
Everyone......all the actors on stage are sick and tired of it. All the people in the orchestra are sick and tired of it. And of course, the audience it sick and tired of it.
BUT, being sick and tired of it does not in my mind give license to take it upon yourself to mess with the creatives work or to break character or to do something that the majority of the rest of the cast would not get away with ( yes she stayed in character in this instance, thanks for the correction I suppose).
If an ensemble member in, let's say Les Miserables, let's say one of the lovely ladies..........decided to take it upon herself to call out an audience member for something that was distracting her because she was sick and tired of it.....be it texting, or chatting with a friend.....would the audience applaud this or think that this actress was not professional? Would not the stage manager say, "what the hell were you doing? "
So, now, every time a cast member (Patti or any one else) is "sick and tired" of something in the audience it is fine to admonish them. Then all the cast members in all the shows would be doing this all the time. In this scene, this actor would react to this guy in the audience for doing something. In the next scene a different actor who might be sick and tired of something someone else is doing would react to that person.
If there is an issue with an audience member, tell the stage manager who then calls front of house (if they already didn't notice) and let them deal with.
Yes, the issue needs to be addressed in a serious and thoughtful way......but not by those on stage during the who are supposedly trained well enough to not be distracted who are simply sick and tired of it.
"

Sorry, but that is life. Patti is the star of the show so yes she can get away with things a chorus member can't. People are paying to see her. Just like any other business, the person that is getting paid the most normally can get away with things other people can't. That's how the world works.

The fact is the moment is destroyed by the phone, not Patti snatching the phone. Actors are not trained to not be distracted. This entire argument is getting old. They are trained storytellers. Phones are a pain in the ass and I'm sick and tired of it too. Im very happy this story is getting attention.

I'm actually really glad. I want casual and non-theatregoers to think about this!

"Why, in all these years, hasn’t a deterrent been found? Say, for instance, the issuance of a warning at the top of the performance that anyone who brandishes their phone after the lights go down will be ejected? Refund the price of the ticket to these thoughtless boors, if that’s the worry. At the point at which actors no longer feel they can do their jobs, management is required to step up."

That's a great quote, and at this point it is absolutely necessary to do something about it. Like, actually take some action. If your phone is out, you get ejected. No refund. It's as simple as that. As time goes on, people who cannot LIVE without their phones, which is sad addiction of sorts, will stop even attempting to go to the theater. It's a win for all.

I agree with the sentiment here. Enough with the polite "please turn off all cell phones, etc."

When I was working at NWS, Naked Boys Singing made an announcement that if someone takes a picture, the performance will immediately stop. And it did.

You can't make empty threats. I agree with the warning that the phone owner will be ejected from the theater, and DO IT!!!! Sheesh. Why are theaters not doing this?

"
That's a great quote, and at this point it is absolutely necessary to do something about it. Like, actually take some action. If your phone is out, you get ejected. No refund. It's as simple as that. As time goes on, people who cannot LIVE without their phones, which is sad addiction of sorts, will stop even attempting to go to the theater. It's a win for all. "

My vote is for no refunds. The warning should be written everywhere and announced as a contractual agreement upon entering the premises. It should be projected in giant letters on a blank curtain in theaters before shows so people can't freaking miss it. Perhaps both optional and forced check-ins too: anyone who wants to do it (a minority of folks, no doubt) can check a phone with their coat at the front. Anyone caught using during the show not including intermission can be forced to check it in. (I don't know if that would really work under contract law, but it would be nice.)

Fining repeat offenders would be nice, but I suppose ejecting them before the end of a show and sans refund would be good enough.

As for people not knowing how to turn their phones off, switching to airplane mode is the absolute minimum and typically more obvious in terms of procedure.

It's not like the theater industry had any idea smartphones would become so embedded into the culture at this point in time, and people who keep saying the actors are unprofessional when reacting are probably talking about a long-ago era when that type of distraction didn't yet exist. Still, public shaming can work against a lot of the more egregious offenders who are too self-centered to otherwise notice how their behavior is seen by others. At the very least, piss them off enough so they won't come back.

Is there a more positive way to go about shepherding public manners in this regard? I don't think so. In general you'd want to go with a positive and proactive approach with children in order to mold them into good citizens without unnecessary trauma, but we're talking about adults here.

"The Alamo Drafthouse chain, based here in Austin, had this policy on cellphones (subsequently Madge has been banned from these theatres). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1L3eeC2lJZs"

This is great! "We do not tolerate people that talk or text in the theater. In fact, before every film, we have several warnings on screen to prevent such happenings. Occasionally, someone doesn't follow the rules, and we do, in fact, kick their asses out of our theater."

Actors talk about the incident

I cannot even believe Kara Lindsay's story about Wicked. And I love the reaction from the woman who Patti snatched the cell phone from. Great article!

Updated On: 7/10/15 at 02:46 PM

I will say that if people are ejected for cell phone use which it may come to that, some of them will not go quietly into the night. There was a huge backlash just from ushers shining flashlights on offenders that were in the middle of rows. The usher or security person would have to climb through the rows and get the person and it probably would take at least 2 people to do it depending on the weight and mobility of the offender. This procedure probably would stop the show from time to time. Perhaps something could be installed in the seat, like electric shock therapy, where the offender is given a jolt when not following protocol.

It is hard to ban people from the theatre unless they are subscribers which has been done just because they are so difficult. You could keep a list through credit card names but people could purchase tickets in many other ways.

From what I know the Front of The House is doing about everything they can without creating even more of a scene. Between flyers and announcements and running up and down the isles and yelling at people when alerted of a problem I don't think they have it in their power to do much more. So this ejection theory (I would say with refunds in the beginning) seems like the best idea.

It is interesting on this board that very few people have talked about camera usage which is actually more of a problem than cellphones. I wonder why that is?