Posted: 4/8/26 at 7:19pm
I agree with here.. lock all phones away
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DW4Q8Uiok3k/?igsh=MTdlcmF4ZG9wNzNqeQ==
Posted: 4/8/26 at 7:45pm
I agree with her also. And there have been times that not only have I had to stand to see the curtain call but also have to look around phones held up to see it. JMO
Posted: 4/9/26 at 10:54am
I disagree. It's one thing to take pictures during a show, but I don't see what the issue of taking a photo during a curtain call is. Especially if we're going with the whole argument that people can't live in the moment anymore. Giving your undivided attention to a show for nearly three hours is surely enough to negate a little 2 second photo.
And, yes, yes, some people are over the top with it, on their phones *during* the show or holding their phones in other people's way. Those people need to shape up, but your average Joe is just trying to commemorate what is probably a rare occasion for them.
Posted: 4/9/26 at 11:15am
I witness the Manville glare with someone taking pics and video in the front row. You don’t want to mess with her
Posted: 4/9/26 at 11:48am
Lesley Manville is a tremendous actor, but this is an asinine take equivalent to saying “Kids these days!” Her irritation with the ubiquity of cell phones is the problem, not the number of people recording a curtain call. The vast majority of the audience is applauding without their phones up.
Sharing that you saw a show with friends or on social media is a vital marketing tool nowadays, like it or not. I’ve had friends tell me that they saw a particular show simply because I posted about it, something they wouldn’t have seen if I hadn’t. I’m hardly an influencer and only share with a small group, but it’s a ripple effect.
Tell you what turns me off of theatre though: stuffy snobs telling me that a theater is a sacred space where I must show reverence. It’s entertainment that I pay money for.
Posted: 4/9/26 at 12:29pm
This will always be a losing argument. People are addicted to their phones and would rather cut off an arm than give them up. Phones aren't going anywhere, no matter how much many of us huff and puff.
Anyway, I’ve been to a fair number of shows and it doesn’t feel like curtain call photos are out of control. A few folks snap shots, but the vast majority are clapping. And I’ve never witnessed anyone filming during a performance (thank God).
Posted: 4/9/26 at 12:58pm
jasmiinda said: "I disagree. It's one thing to take pictures during a show, but I don't see what the issue of taking a photo during a curtain call is. Especially if we're going with the whole argument that people can't live in the moment anymore. Giving your undivided attention to a show for nearly three hours is surely enough to negate a little 2 second photo.
And, yes, yes, some people are over the top with it, on their phones *during* the show or holding their phones in other people's way. Those people need to shape up, but your average Joe is just trying to commemorate what is probably a rare occasion for them."
I agree with you and have taken a quick picture of a curtain call on a couple of shows. I am not posting it anywhere and like you said it took a couple of seconds.
Posted: 4/9/26 at 1:02pm
ColorTheHours048 said: "Lesley Manville is a tremendous actor, but this is an asininetake equivalent to saying “Kids these days!” Her irritation with the ubiquity of cell phones is the problem, not the number of people recording a curtain call. The vast majority of the audience is applauding without their phones up.
Sharing that you saw a show with friends or on social media is a vital marketing tool nowadays, like it or not. I’ve had friends tell me that they saw a particular show simply because I posted about it, something they wouldn’t have seen if I hadn’t. I’m hardly an influencer and only share with a small group, but it’s a ripple effect.
Tell you what turns me off of theatre though: stuffy snobs telling me that a theater is a sacred space where I must show reverence. It’s entertainment that I pay money for."
Instead of being annoyed at some people recording a curtain call, I am more annoyed that every freaking show gets standing ovation whether or not show deserves one.
Posted: 4/9/26 at 1:23pm
ColorTheHours048 said:
"Sharing that you saw a show with friends or on social media is a vital marketing tool nowadays, like it or not. I’ve had friends tell me that they saw a particular show simply because I posted about it, something they wouldn’t have seen if I hadn’t. I’m hardly an influencer and only share with a small group, but it’s a ripple effect."
Yup. Look how e.g. Chess lowers its rather large neon sign to stage floor level during the bows so it's in every curtain call video. And if you watch those videos, the persons filming them are not clapping but they often shout which is arguably more important these days. The actors get the shouting and the show gets the promo.
Updated On: 4/9/26 at 01:23 PM
Posted: 4/9/26 at 2:16pm
Maybe Leslie should join other performers and petition to get the Brits and the greedy af ATG from pushing so much alcohol consumption at the theatre. It’s kind of trashy some people can’t live without a drink for 2 hours. This, more than anything else, contributes to the rise in obnoxious audience behavior.
Updated On: 4/9/26 at 02:16 PM
Posted: 4/9/26 at 2:32pm
I always shared that I saw a show, but it was a pic with the marquee behind me or a Pre-show Playbill pic. After that, my phone gets turned off and sometimes doesn't get turned back on until I am exiting the theater. And alcohol or no alcohol, people are going to grab their phones at curtain call.
I have taken curtain call pics at one show in the hundreds that I have seen. That was at King Kong. And they encouraged it from what I remember. The most I see of any pictures I have taken outside of a theater or of my Playbills is the slideshow screensaver on my TV when it comes on. Very few times have I scrolled through pics to show someone any of those pics. I don't need that pic of the curtain call when I know I will most likely see professional pics on theater websites taken by their professional photographers. That's good enough for me. But that's me and JMO.
Posted: 4/9/26 at 5:26pm
Not a fan. She’s beautiful, she’s elegant, she’s a solid actor but I find her lacking in humor and wit and, yes, a captivating personal style.
Posted: 4/9/26 at 5:40pm
Mary_Poppins said: "ColorTheHours048 said:
"Sharing that you saw a show with friends or on social media is a vital marketing tool nowadays, like it or not. I’ve had friends tell me that they saw a particular show simply because I posted about it, something they wouldn’t have seen if I hadn’t. I’m hardly an influencer and only share with a small group, but it’s a ripple effect."
Yup. Look how e.g. Chess lowers its rather large neon sign to stage floor level during the bows so it's in every curtain call video. And if you watch those videos, the persons filming them are not clapping but they often shout which is arguably more important these days. The actors get the shouting and the show gets the promo."
I also think its a generational thing. The younger performers love to post curtain call video on IG stories in particular and understudies love it as a record of when they get to go on.
Posted: 4/11/26 at 12:25pm
I applaud her for taking a stand and after reading through the comments below...one of which claims her argument is something like 'kids these days'...doesn't give me hope that theater decorum will return in the near future. As someone who has been seeing Broadways shows for decades, i can say that the decline began when producers started to allow food in the theater since apparently not having something to eat for 2-3 hours is beyond us as a civilization anymore.
Last night I saw BIGFOOT and although I can appreciate that this absurd musical sets itself up for a certain amount of audience baiting (I don't mean that in a negative context, just the structure of the script seems designed to illicit verbal response), I can say that I the young people all around me took that as an opportunity to perform themselves and to hell with the paying audience. They spoke at full volume during the entire show, danced as if they were in a nightclub, lauged loudly at jokes before the punchlines, and did that stupid snapping thing (my personal annoyance) what seemed like hundreds of times. Three is a difference in enjoying yourself and making yourself the center of attention at the detriment of fellow audience members.
It was gross, disrespectful, and deeply selfish behavior that felt like a middle finger to the rest of the audience. This is why I rarely see musicals anymore. The show on the boards is less important than the 1 man show happening every 2-3 seats in the auditorium,.
Chalk me uo as someone who says 'these kids today' if you like, but I am not ashamed to admit I think audiences not so many years ago knew far better how to behave in a theater as engaged, espectful and not totally self-absorbed human beings.
Posted: 4/11/26 at 12:37pm
Sleeper2 said: "Maybe Leslie should join other performers and petition to get the Brits and the greedy af ATGfrom pushing so much alcohol consumption at the theatre. It’s kind of trashy some people can’t live without a drink for 2 hours. This, more than anything else, contributes to the rise in obnoxious audience behavior."
second this
Posted: 4/11/26 at 7:34pm
I saw LLD on Tuesday. They had a sign on your way in and the ushers showed signs pre act 1 and pre act 2 telling us no photos
I sat in the circle slips (super underrated seats and if u ever go to the Lyttelton on a budget and have an athletic neck go sit there) so I could see the stalls from above and several people took pics during the CC albeit subtly.
who cares. Shirley it’s better to give people, that desperately want to show the world they were there, a moment to have that moment? If they keep their phone in their pocket the rest of the time (which genuinely they did during LLD) then who cares(Les does)?
Posted: 4/11/26 at 7:43pm
I don't care what anyone does in the audience if it doesn't ruin someone else's experience. Recently, I've been at two shows where VERY tall men have decided they needed a booster seat in the front rows of the orchestra. Like, let's maybe start there and not worry about someone taking photo when the show is over.
Posted: 4/11/26 at 9:03pm
pagereynolds said: "I don't care what anyone does in the audience if it doesn't ruin someone else's experience."
My feelings exactly -- taking photos or videos, talking, or audibly eating/drinking during the show is unacceptable and I have no problem respectfully addressing those situations when they arise because I know not everyone was raised in the theater.
If the entire audience was filming the curtain call and the actors were taking their bows in silence, we could revisit Leslie's concerns because it's important that the actors and crew feel appreciated; until we reach that level (or anything near it), it comes across as a bit precious on her part.
Posted: 4/11/26 at 11:31pm
Towards the end of the run the ushers were 100 percent asking the audience to NOT film the curtain call upon being seated and a final time just before the show began. It was pretty obvious she had made that request.
Posted: 4/12/26 at 8:31am
Attended the Giant matinee yesterday. Maybe four people recorded the CC. Just not a big deal. I can get worked up pretty quickly about audience behavior, but this ain’t worth it.
Posted: 4/12/26 at 8:33am
uncageg said: "I agree with her also. And there have been times that not only have I had to stand to see the curtain call but also have to look around phones held up to see it. JMO"
Considering 90% of the audience is probably standing for the curtain call, I would think you would need to stand to see it even if they were not recording it.
Posted: 4/12/26 at 11:19am
CoffeeBreak said: "Towards the end of the run the ushers were 100 percent asking the audience to NOT film the curtain call upon being seated and a final time just before the show began. It was pretty obvious she had made that request. "
I do think there’s a difference between taking curtain call videos for yourself/social media and being asked multiple times by ushers specially not to do so and feeling like “well, it’s fine if I do it anyway.” Following simple, respectful directions is not that difficult.
Posted: 4/12/26 at 1:12pm
TheQuibbler said: "CoffeeBreak said: "Towards the end of the run the ushers were 100 percent asking the audience to NOT film the curtain call upon being seated and a final time just before the show began. It was pretty obvious she had made that request. "
I do think there’s a difference between taking curtain call videos for yourself/social media and being asked multiple times by ushers specially not to do so and feeling like “well, it’s fine if I do it anyway.” Following simple, respectful directions is not that difficult."
Years ago, I saw YouTube clip of the curtain call when "Waitress" closed on Broadway. The cast members were taking their individual bows, and the last one was Katharine McPhee who was playing "Jenna". Before taking her bow, she ran over and grabbed Stephanie Torn to take the final bow with her. This was done to give her special recognition for all she had done for the show "Waitress". This was very cool thing to do and glad somebody recorded it or I would not have been able to enjoy that moment. In addition, clip included speeches given by the producer/writers of the show. My point is people sharing these moments when show is over is for enjoyment not profit.
