Is something going on with the ushers at Shrek?- Page 5

[Winston3]

Posted: 1/18/09 at 4:49pm

I didn't mean that the ushers didn't know what would happen in terms of static via the cell phones being on. I was just trying to say ( maybe I did a bad job saying it) that the impression that they tend to give off has more to do with them being concerned that phones will be used as a way to infringe copyright then anything else.

[je veux te voir2]

Posted: 1/18/09 at 5:18pm

why are we stll talking about this? who cares about phones being on vibrate/silent/screaming mode...

I, for one, always keep it on vibrate ever since my aunt died when I was seeing Wicked, and missed about 20 calls and didn't get to say bye to her.

I don't know why all the old people care about keeping your phone on vibrate...get over it.

as for phones ACTUALLY being on and having to listen to someone's Rihanna ringtone, I absolutely hate that.

[Marianne2]

Posted: 1/18/09 at 5:54pm

The point is, even on vibrate, it can still interfere with equipment. Just because you can't hear it, doesn't mean that it won't affect anything.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 1/18/09 at 6:19pm

Je veux te voir seems to think it has something to do with old people.

[je veux te voir2]

Posted: 1/18/09 at 6:28pm

yup. because only old people care about we young troublemakers keeping our phones on vibrate.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 1/18/09 at 6:35pm

You bring admirable clarity to the issue, jvtv2.

By "old people" I presume you mean the folks running the show whose equipment is interfered with by the young peoples' cell phones beeing on vibrate, correct?

[Mamie]

Posted: 1/18/09 at 7:15pm

This young'n probably had to do his homework and go to bed early.

[COOOOLkid]

Posted: 1/18/09 at 7:27pm

I, for one, always keep it on vibrate ever since my aunt died when I was seeing Wicked, and missed about 20 calls and didn't get to say bye to her.


So you would have answered it during the show if you knew you were getting a call? That situation was undeniably unfortunate, but... really?

[Winston3]

Posted: 1/18/09 at 7:50pm

I think that the the thing is that a vast majority of people out there don't know that the phones can cause static to come across the headsets used backstage. Like I said, even I didn't know about it and have since turned my phone to off when I go to the theatre. But, I think that most people think that ushers don't want them to have their cell phones out due to the fact that they can take pictures and record etc. While that is true most people don't listen or care.I think that even if they made the issue of static coming from the phones more known that there would be people who still wouldn't care and still wouldn't turn them off.

It isn't much to ask to turn it off. Hell, on a given day no one calls me anyways so it isn't like it is that much of a hardship for me to turn it off for a couple of hours in a time span when no one would be calling me anyways.

[Marianne2]

Posted: 1/18/09 at 8:40pm

I didn't know that being 24 and understanding the concept of cell phones interfering with equipment makes me old. You learn something new every day.

Actually, it's not just theater I've had to turn my cell phone off either. I've done a little television, and it's the same policy. I have no idea if my professor was kidding about this or not though. He said that sometimes the headsets could have a connection with truck drivers on their radios, if they were close enough.

[Byron Abens]

Posted: 1/18/09 at 8:41pm

To clarify, I have never had static on my headsets from an audience member's cell phone. The phone has to be pretty close to the headset to cause this. If we hear cell phone static, and yes, it is very recognizable, then we all start asking each other who has their phone in their pocket on the same side as their belt pack.

NOW, where the phones can cause issues is with wireless controls, such as any wireless dimmers or wireless automation that may be being used. Very odd things can set such stuff off. The PSM on the Cheetah tour of Lion King once told me how they had some issues at one point with Pride Rock, which is controlled by a wireless controller/motor, where it would start getting signals at exactly five minutes to the end of the show. They finally tracked it down to the new, cheap, microwave that the makeup department had bought. It was unshielded and when they would start to heat towels for makeup removal post-show it would send signals to Pride Rock that messed it up.

I also remember hearing that the original hydraulics used for the London Sunset Blvd had to be replaced with older models because the police radios out on the street would trigger them.

[Winston3]

Posted: 1/18/09 at 10:40pm

I have a few computers in my house and only one that is directly connected to the cable modem. To fix that problem we got ourselves an in home wi fi network for our laptops and other computers that other memebers of my family have. I have put down (or my brothers have or someone) a cell phone by accident near the network router and I have heard the same static that the people here are talking about. But, that is only when the phone is directly next to the router. Not when I am at my living room where the router is or even in the same room as it.

That being said, how much of a risk does a cell phone in the audience have of getting in the way with the headseats backstage?

[thtrbear]

Posted: 1/19/09 at 7:37am

Vibrating fones: when I saw Sly Fox w/Dreyfuss (ok that was bad enough by itself) I was in the mezz and a guy right behind me had his cell in his pocket on vibrate. Several times in act 1 it would go bzzzz! bzzzz! and he'd let it keep ringing- right at my ear height. (Poor me!) I moved up for act 2, it probably kept ringing all night.

question about wrappers- do all these people walk around all day unwrapping wrappers, twisting the wrapper in their hand for half an hour absent-mindedly, and sucking on mints non-stop? I wonder if it's a dubious treat people look forward to and save for their theater trips. Maybe it's like candy for people over 50.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 1/19/09 at 11:23am

'"That being said, how much of a risk does a cell phone in the audience have of getting in the way with the headseats backstage?"

Winston, what difference does it make? Just turn the damn phone off, no matter whether your mom says it's legal or not. Do it because it's simple common courtesy, isn't that sufficient? Leave the ushers alone who are made crabby by people trying to circumvent their job. Don't you have a doorman to fire someplace?

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 1/19/09 at 11:38am

I don't know why all the old people care about keeping your phone on vibrate...get over it.

The reason you don't know is because you're young. You'll understand when you grow up.

[gypsy4]

Posted: 1/19/09 at 11:44am

I guess the ushers should start carrying megaphones.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 1/19/09 at 12:22pm

Or stun guns.

[Winston3]

Posted: 1/19/09 at 12:31pm

ghostlight2, I will admit that the habit of me not turning my phone completely to off was started with me going to the theatre one time and just flat out forgetting to turn my phone off. As I said earlier the odds of someone calling me during a show or just in general for that matter are close to zero. I can understand if the phone was next to, let's say someone's keys how it can be loud and bothersome to the people around you. I have (as I said earlier in the thread) been to the theatre a couple of times since I read that the cell phones could cause statics in the headsets of the people working backstage. Which is something that I never knew before to be honest with you. And, because of that I turned it off.

It was mentioned that cell phones have to be pretty close to cause static. I was asking how often a cell phone in the audience is the cause for hearing static if the poster who mentioned that said that the first place they check when they hear static is the people around them. To see if they have had left their phone on in their pocket by mistake.

In no way was I asking that to justify putting a cell phone on vibrate or anything of that nature. I honestly don't see the connection at all.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 1/19/09 at 1:25pm

I'm sorry, but this really cannot be argued. Cell phones should either not be brought or turned off once someone enters the theatre. If someone does not wish to comply, then they shouldn't go to the theatre. There are laws. There are announcements. Any excuses or justifications, other than a language barrier for international tourists, are simply admissions of guilt from those who refuse to comply. It's nothing personal, it is simply your individual choice to comply or not to comply. It has nothing to do with age, occupation, race, sex, religion, sexual orientation, familial devotion or one's record of theatrical attendance. If you choose not to comply, then be prepared for the consequences, which includes complaints from those who choose to comply.

Updated On: 1/19/09 at 01:25 PM

[shpants]

Posted: 1/19/09 at 1:40pm

I am completely with Mister Matt and the like on this one.

There is literally NO reason why anyone's phone should go off in a theatre, ever. Nor should it be on vibrate. If there is a situation that cannot wait for the 2ish hours you are there, then I'm sorry, but maybe you should not have gone to the theatre in the first place. There are always family emergencies and stuff like that, and they are always unfortunately timed and always crappy. But to leave a phone on in the off chance that something might happen is not fair to the others who will inevitably hear the text messages and such that go along with leaving your phone on.

The part that always gets me is during the Pre show announcement, where people are warned to turn off their phones, etc and unwrap candy, and they always laugh, as if to say, "Haha obviously." And yet, they do it anyways.

I am extremely anti-cellphone-in-theatre. Maybe I should consider changing my profession to usher....I think I would be good.

[Winston3]

Posted: 1/19/09 at 2:05pm

I never once said that what I was doing was right. I did, however, say that it was a bad habit I got myself into which snowballed from me just flat out forgetting one time. I never justified what I was doing as the right thing to do.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 1/19/09 at 2:12pm

My post was not directed at any one specific person. Only those who consciously choose not to turn off their cell phones in the theatre.

[walkedthroughmany]

Posted: 1/19/09 at 4:33pm

"The ushers at Shrek are tame compared to some of the ushers at the Music Hall in Portsmouth, NH. If we're going to talk about rudeness, that is. I went to see Andrew Bird and a couple had come in late. They were in the row ahead of me, and I could see the woman turning off her phone. I guess the usher didn't see it because she proceeded to badger the woman. We're not talking a stern yet polite, "M'am, please turn off your phone." No, this was full out harrassment, every minute or so she would be over by her, saying "Turn off your phone!" It was one of the few occurrances where a fellow patron wasn'the one bothering me at a show or a concert."

Every minute or so the usher had to tell her to turn off her phone? Obviously the phone must have been out and about for more than a minute...it doesn't take that long to turn off a phone. And this couple arrived late. I have no sympathy. The Music Hall has relatively gentle ushers.

[TheCharleston]

Posted: 1/19/09 at 4:37pm

"As I said earlier the odds of someone calling me during a show or just in general for that matter are close to zero"

Awww! I will be your friend, Winston. Would you like a phone call every day?

"it was a bad habit I got myself into which snowballed from me just flat out forgetting one time."

time to break your NASTY habit. now. please. thank you.

[Winston3]

Posted: 1/19/09 at 5:10pm

No, my NASTY habit as you put it would be smoking. Not having my cell phone on when at the theatre.