Do 2019 Audiences Know They Aren't Suppose To Film The Show?

I went back today to watch Waitress (tour) due to my unpleasant experience Tuesday night with poor audience behavior which included filming the show. At today's show, during the last six minutes, the woman in front of me took out her device and started filming the show. She was looking through a viewfinder to film, so at least I was not destracted by a light. She continued to film until finally an usher came up to her at the beginning of the curtain call and said something to her. She put away her device and said to the usher "I didn't know". I responded, "Girl, you knew". I begin to think when leaving, maybe she didn't know. I knew at this show specifically they said nothing about taking pictures and filming. They just mentioned turning off phones. If I remember correctly, there used to be a specific announcement about copyright and distractions for the cast. However, the last many shows I have seen, I have not heard this announcement. I know it is probably mentioned in the Playbill, but most wouldn't read it. So my question is...do 2019 audience members know they aren't suppose to film or take pictures of the show? I will mention that this same person left her device on, so it lit up in her lap many times during the show. So she definitely knew she was suppose to turn off her phone. But did not think that applied to her.

haterobics said: "There isn't much excuse at Waitress, since Sara even sings about turning off cell phones in the pre-show song, which I would imagine they also play on tour. Couldn't find it online, but here is the girl from the show doing a version:

"

You would think people would know it's not allowed/illegal but far too many do not know. While plenty of pre-show announcements don't explicitly say "recording of any kind is strictly prohibited", I've found that even with the ones that do, I've seen people whip out their phones to take photos or film a short clip. So at this point, I can't really give people the benefit of the doubt. People either have no listening comprehension or they think it doesn't apply to them/they're being inconspicuous when in reality they're bothering everyone around them.

ArtMan said: "The question is... do people know not to film the show because the preshow announcement does not mention it? In their minds, my phone isn't ringing. I'm just filming the show."





Well, if it were off as instructed, you couldn't do that, though?

I go to a lot of shows where they only specify no photos or video recording, which seems to open the door for audio recording, but you can reasonably assume they aren't cool with that, either? heh

I agree with qolbinau. I don't really go to concerts but the first one I went to was Mariah Carey's Christmas concert at the Beacon theatre back in 2014 and I'll admit I was shocked that so many people were recording it via their cell phones but my friend told me it's quite common in concerts (silly me for being ignorant.)

This is probably why a lot of younger folks going to Broadway for the first time thought it was ok to film. In addition, for high school productions of plays/musicals, I've seen parents record it and have no issues.

I'll admit after seeing how high the prices go for sold out concerts nowadays, I'm ok just saving my money and 'watching' the concert from youtube or instagram live.

haterobics said: "ArtMan said: "The question is... do people know not to film the show because the preshow announcement does not mention it? In their minds, my phone isn't ringing. I'm just filming the show."


Well, if it were off as instructed, you couldn't do that, though?

I go to a lot of shows where they only specify no photos or video recording, which seems to open the door for audio recording, but you can reasonably assume they aren't cool with that, either? heh"

Artman specified in the first message that she pulled out a device and started filming through a viewfinder, not her phone. But her phone was also on.



That is annoying, although recently I’ve been more bothered by theater “hummers”, I saw 2 shows in a row where the person next to me or behind me would literally go “hmm” or “hum”, no joke, at every line that was uttered on stage.

People know they're not supposed to record--they just don't care. I think it's kind of hard to ignore the multiple announcements telling people not to record shows. There are announcements made by ushers, inserts in the playbills, clever announcements made pre-show (Waitress, Hamilton and Mean Girls are three examples I can think of off the top of my head). The thing is, when people find out an understudy will be on, they immediately try to figure out a way to find someone they know who will be at that performance so they can get "content". It's frustrating, and rude, but unfortunately I don't think it's going to be changing any time soon.



I'm so sorry you had that experience at Waitress!

Wick3 said: "Broadway Joe said: "Most people know, the problem is the people who are doing it just don't care if they aren't supposed to do it and do it anyway."

Very true. I remember for Dear Evan Hansen back in 2017 an usher literally asked the patron to delete the photo/video in front of her. I don't think most ushers actually do that nowadays (they just flash the light on you and that's it.)"

I definitely remember seeing ushers flash lights to patrons who have been filming or taking photos, but I rarely see them asking the patron to delete the recordings....does that happen a lot?

LizzieCurry said: "I think part of the problem is that there ARE a number of people who legitimately DON'T know they're not supposed to record. The show is a part of their vacation, just like when they went to the Empire State Building and Katz's Diner and took video there. It's not always the instagram/twitter stans recording for engagement."

Not only that, but with many shows not making announcements, and theaters allowing pictures before the show, why would anyone think they couldn't? Small print ion the program? Most people only glance at the program.

Concerts used to be very different. The best example is Axl Rose diving into the crowd to confiscate a camera, and ending the show because of it... although, he was always a bit on edge when performing live: