LuPone Issues Response To Showstopping Vegas 'Texting' Incident- Page 2

[dramamama611]

Posted: 6/23/09 at 12:28pm

While attending Sondheim's evening up here in Boston, a young couple in front of me BOTH had their phones out texting the ENTIRE time. Why? If you didn't want to be there...why did you come????

At Shrek...a man across the aisle from me had his cell phone out the entire act, which I might not have cared about had I been "involved with the show. However, I found it entirely distracting. At intermission, I asked an usher to remedy the situation. I saw her walk IMMEDIATELY over to the man (with children--what a lovely role model.) The phone didn't appear once during Act II.

And while I agree its a horrid problem, may I say it is also NOT just a problem at the theater. At movies, at dinner, at WORK, in classes, in rehearsals, while with friends.....we have bought into the idea that we are the most important thing and all else is secondary. I have a cell phone. I use it. but when I am with friends or family, or at the theater, I promptly turn it off.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 6/23/09 at 12:36pm

Yes it does happen all the time, but how many other artists stop the show and start having a go at them?
Most artists are pro enough to just get on with it, people do things all the time in any jobs that many dont like, but most dont have a diva strop about it. Its part of live theatre and concerts im afraid thanks to the advance in technology, if she cant handle it then she should not do it.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 6/23/09 at 12:40pm

"Do we allow our rights to be violated (photography, filming and audio taping of performances is illegal)...)"

Really, Patti? REALLY??? See, as someone who knows Miss Patti likes her bootlegs that document her career as much as the next performer, I found every word she said after reading that one sentence to be utter crap.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 6/23/09 at 12:51pm

That's a fair point, Jordan. I wonder how many people who rail against illegal recording on this board actually own bootlegs?

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 6/23/09 at 12:53pm

Wishing, I agree with you. If it's true (and not made up in the crazed imagination of an actress who hasn't learned the lines I'd like to hear), I wonder if that Hair actor could get in trouble for destruction of property.

It's not that I don't think LuPone has a point. I just think she doesn't know how to make it.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 6/23/09 at 12:59pm

That's true, Phyllis. Though I wonder if, say, Maggie Smith lifting an eyebrow at the offender would be the deterrent that fear of LuPone might be.

The fact is that this is a relatively new phenomenon, and society is having to work it out. Yes, there've always been boors and clods at the theater (anywhere in public, for that matter), but the ways that @ssholes can disturb others has grown exponentially. Now in addition to whispers and cellophane, there's texting, Tweeting, video, audio, and still recording . . .

It's all part of the way many people nowadays think they're not only entitled but obligated to a) stay connected 24/7 and b) document and broadcast every moment of their lives.

In other words, it ain't just Patti's problem.

[sgv123]

Posted: 6/23/09 at 1:01pm

"One night, actor Will Swenson, who plays a hippie named Berger, took a device from a person in the front row and threw it across the stage. "I just couldn't believe the gall of this woman who was videotaping me in my face," he says. A crew member deleted the video and returned the camera phone to its owner at intermission, he says."

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 6/23/09 at 1:01pm

Indeed, I think it's the venue's problem. Whether it's pushing through a way to block signals or making people check phones at the door or - AND this IS feasible - having the ushers be more conscientious, making them be on the lookout for this sort of things and IMMEDIATELY removing the offenders, leaving it up to the devices of the performers (especially those performers who seem to get off on becoming unhinged) just ruins it for everyone. And makes the performers look like idiots.

[nealb1]

Posted: 6/23/09 at 1:05pm

Go, Patti! I'm seeing her tomorrow night and Saturday night, here in LA with Mandy P at The Ahmanson Theatre. I'm sure she'll mention it.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 6/23/09 at 1:06pm

Well said, Phyllis. I agree.

[fbueller]

Posted: 6/23/09 at 1:09pm

"But this guy wasn't doing any of those ridiculously disruptive things. He was texting. Yes, texting is annoying, but she's acting like the guy was doing a lot, lot worse."

So very well said. The audience member's texting caused such minimal distraction in this case. Patti's reaction was entirely inappropriate in this occasion. She should have been reprimanded on the spot!

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 6/23/09 at 1:12pm

I agree, Phyll. In the meanwhile, we get vigilantes like Patti. And I'm fine with that till someone else steps up.

Honestly, I'd prefer she not stop "Gypsy" to deal with it. But in a concert setting? I'd have no problem.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 6/23/09 at 1:15pm

If any of you guys have worked in pro theatre on a large stage in a large theatre you will know that everynight you can see small lights pop on for a few seconds from people phones, but its NOT annoying, it doesnt throw your performance and its really not a big deal.
Its the same with Camera flashes, i have had them almost every night, especially when its the young teens shows, people like her go on like it will blind the performer or cause them to fall of the bloody stage, the truth is that i hardly notice them, especially with all the lights on stage.

Mobile Phones and Cameras etc are now part of the live theatre experience, not a positive part but also not negative to the point where you stop the show. If she had any class at all she would just get on with the show instead of stopping it and having a go at the people who are paying her wages.

Shes a silly Diva end of story and she needs to grow up

[nealb1]

Posted: 6/23/09 at 1:16pm

What gives anyone the right to text, take pics, or talk on a cell phone during a show, concert, play, etc.

What was so important that he had to text about it in the middle of the show? Was someone dying......was there a major medical emergency.....an earthquake?

How hard would it have been for the guy to simply turn his phone off? Everyone else did. What made him so special? It was very disrespectful on his part. That was very self-centered on his part.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 6/23/09 at 1:17pm

"That's a fair point, Jordan. I wonder how many people who rail against illegal recording on this board actually own bootlegs? "

I'd think it's a fair guess to say ALL OF THEM.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 6/23/09 at 1:17pm

Well, I'm actually more concerned with my being annoyed than the performers. Maybe I'm a diva too (end of story), but I still think it reeks of bad manners, and there is simply no excuse for it. I own all those devices, too, and I've never felt compelled to make use of them in a theater.

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 6/23/09 at 1:19pm

All Hail to Patti! She puts people in their places, because obviously theatre management are too chicken to do so. For those who have artistic computer skills, picture Patti LuPone at the end of a boardroom table telling the boardmembers/audience: "Don't F with me fellas!" I'd love to see a graphic like that. from RC in Austin, Texas... in Chicago (June 26-29)... seeing "La Cage" at Theatre Building Chicago.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 6/23/09 at 1:25pm

Reginald i agree that its rude, but all im saying is that she did not need to make a drama out of it, it happens every night in every theatre...yet it always seems to be Diva Lupone who makes a big deal out of it.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 6/23/09 at 1:31pm

"It's almost more irritating than a phone going off because the phone going off thing is purely accidental and it depends on someone else calling you..."

I wouldn't always call a phone ringing "purely accidental," as they always tell you prior to the performance to silence your cell phones!

[rwlevin]

Posted: 6/23/09 at 1:44pm

"But this guy wasn't doing any of those ridiculously disruptive things. He was texting. Yes, texting is annoying, but she's acting like the guy was doing a lot, lot worse."

So very well said. The audience member's texting caused such minimal distraction in this case. Patti's reaction was entirely inappropriate in this occasion. She should have been reprimanded on the spot!

But it is disruptive. It's disruptive to me as an audience member sitting next to the person. With my Phoebe story, the light kept going on and off, on and off and the little clack clack clacking really annoyed me. The show was absolutely amazing but it could have been just that bit more without the little light flickering next to me.

And I don't know but where was the audience member that Patti reprimanded sitting? If he was in the first few rows, she'd very easily be able to see and get annoyed by him. Heck, I remember in high school, my friend was the lead in Once on this Island and I saw the show in the front row. The next day she yelled at me because I wasn't smiling during the show and she thought I hated it. (it's a sad show show, dammit, of course I wasn't smiling) It's the same thing with the Hair camera guy. The dude had some major nerve videotaping in the first row. Of course he was going to get caught. But that makes me think the guy didn't realize he couldn't tape because who would be that foolish. Will is up in the first row's bidness during the first 10 minutes of the show.

Spring Awakening gave people that sat on the stage lockers to store their valuables,including electronics, during the performance. Unfortunately, lockers for around a thousand people is not very feasible.

Personally, I don't understand why people would text and use their phone during a show. You pay a crap load of money for those tickets and then don't pay attention because you want to know what your best friend's sister twittering from her fiance's cousin's family reunion? Wait for the severely edited, big name cast movie to come out on HBO. Chances are you'll see more of the play that way and you'll have nobody to annoy.

[ljay889]

Posted: 6/23/09 at 1:46pm

" The audience member's texting caused such minimal distraction in this case"


I stopped reading right there.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 6/23/09 at 1:48pm

Its true, it will have been a minimal distraction, try working in pro theatre and see for yourself, you hardly notice and if you do you just carry on.

Maybe they were texting their friends saying "wow im bored"

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 6/23/09 at 1:49pm

rwlevin, I think I read that he was sitting in the second or third row, but I could be remembering incorrectly.

[ljay889]

Posted: 6/23/09 at 1:49pm

Try being in an audience where people are texting next to you or in front of you. I cannot concentrate when that happens.

[logan0215]

Posted: 6/23/09 at 1:49pm

"it happens every night in every theatre"

But that is a standard that should not be tolerated. Just because it happens every night in every theater does not mean it SHOULD happen every night in every theater.

Regardless of the effect it has on the performer, the flash of light from an opening of a cell phone not only illuminates the person but casts light on the person behind them and anyone beyond them that looks over their head to the stage.

I was seeing the Woman in White a few years back in the 5th row and a girl in the 2nd consistently whipped her phone out in the otherwise pitch black audience. Each time, the presence of the new light in the audience drew my eye away from the stage therefore disrupting the entire act until my friend stealthily stepped down the aisle next to her and told her to put the goddamn thing away.

This entire thing boils down the need for instant gratification in our culture. We live in a world where someone can get MAD at you for "missing their call." 15 years ago, if I missed your call, it was because I wasn't home!!! People feel they should not only be constantly connected but also perpetually accessible at all times. With the advent of facebook and Twitter, that accessibility has now segued into a constant need to stream their consciousness for everyone to view.