Patti LuPone not only one to stop a show and have audience member ejected

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 9/3/09 at 7:53pm

Some months ago there was a report of Patti Lupone stopping in the middle of Rose's Turn to berate an audience member for taking flash pictures.

Just found this old interview clip where Ethel Merman herself tells of stopping a performance of ANNIE GET YOUR GUN to take care of some obnoxious patrons.... (go in to about 2:15 for her story.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTVeEiwvyZU&feature=channel

Updated On: 9/3/09 at 07:53 PM

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 9/3/09 at 7:57pm

Don't mess with the Merm

There is no truth to the rumor that she is LuPone's Mother although that would explain a lot.

[BroadwayBelle2]

Posted: 9/3/09 at 8:02pm

Wow! Great interview!

[SNAFU]

Posted: 9/3/09 at 8:04pm

Katharine Hepburn was also known to stop a performance or two to berate an audience member. I remember once she stopped a show because someone in the first row put his feet upon the edge of the stage.

Updated On: 9/3/09 at 08:04 PM

[winston89]

Posted: 9/3/09 at 8:22pm

Immature divas. The whole lot of them.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 9/3/09 at 11:18pm

Winston I don't think that is true at all. Actors on stage work hard and deserve some respect. Moreover, fellow audience members do not appreciate the distractions. But Merman is right to wonder where the ushers were and why the house manager didn't handle this.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 9/3/09 at 11:49pm

Elaine Stritch also tells a story about Ethel Merman stopping mid song during Call Me Madam and throwing some guy out on the street.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 9/3/09 at 11:55pm

Is it just me or did Mary not get to talk much? Ethel seemed to totally dominate that conversation.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 9/3/09 at 11:56pm

If you watch part two Ethel discusses how people don't dress nicely when they go to the theatre. Love her.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 9/4/09 at 12:02am

I think it is the way this piece was edited and when she does talk Mary tends to ramble. Ethel gets right to the point. Part 3 is the best.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 9/4/09 at 12:12am

There were, also, parts missing. There seemed to be a major jump in topic from part two to part three. I feel like we missed something. Also, just based on the little I know of them both Ethel just seems like the one who would dominate any conversation.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 9/4/09 at 12:18am

Well also Merman did a lot of TV Talk shows in the 70's - Johnny Carson, Merve Griffin, Mike Douglas. Mary didn't. She was quieter and more reserved. When her husband was alive he took care of everything for her including getting her to the theatre. In her autobiography she tells a story of how one day she had to go by herself got in a cab and told the driver to take her to The Sound of Muisc., He didn't know what theatre it was in or where it was and neither did Mary! She had to get out and find another cab driver who know what theatre to take her to!

[HITcards]

Posted: 9/4/09 at 1:59am

I love how also a lot of what they say is so poignant to the recent talk of many of the West Side Story missing performances. You just didn't do that then.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 9/4/09 at 2:25am

Ethel had a dominate personality as does LuPone. We forgive them, or at least I do, because their talent was/is so immense.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 9/4/09 at 8:49am

I love (and I don't remember which part it's in) when Gene asks Ethel what she'll call her book. And her response "Merman, what else?"

[sondhead]

Posted: 9/4/09 at 8:56am

Updated On: 11/12/09 at 08:56 AM

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 9/5/09 at 2:14am

What a stupid comment Sondhead. Their pay has nothing to do with it. If a performer is up there doing a great job why should a couple of boozing slops be allowed to ruin it for everyone. Merman was absolutely right to stop the performance when she did. If you were a real actor you might understand that.

[winston89]

Posted: 9/5/09 at 12:45pm

frontrowcentre2, Let me just take a moment to explain my comment. What I am saying is is that I feel by any Broadway performer blowing up and yelling at someone in the audience is an act of unprofessionalism. I have done many shows in different styles of theatre from black box, to a huge college auditorium. Hell, I was even with a theatre program that rented out the space that Second Stage uses for their uptown theatre and have done three shows there. And, I can't tell you how many times in each setting there was someone chewing on a bag of chips or taking pictures or something that is clearly distracting. Now, keep in mind, I am not a professional actor. Nor am I going to be. Acting is something that is and will always be a hobby of mine.

Every time I have performed I can't count the number of times that there were things going on that distracted the hell out of me. But, of course I wouldn't yell at someone from the stage mid performance and ruin the show for the rest of the people who have no clue what is going on.

And, I am of the mindset that just because an usher isn't doing their job doesn't mean that the person on stage should stop doing theirs. I don't know who had said it but it was said by someone who is an usher who posts on here awhile back. That the job of an usher is hard due to the fact that they have to stop a situation without making it noticeable to everyone else around them.

But, with all that being said, I am not one to stop performing for any reason. The only distraction that I can think of that will have me step out of character is if the damn theatre is on fire. Other then that, It is my job as an actor, paid or not, to perform the role in the show that I am in. I understand that there are going to be distractions.

The reason why I called them immature is because there are two options that any performer has in that situation. They can either take the high road and understand that while there is someone doing something that is distracting, they are not going to focus on it and continue with the show as if nothing is going on. Or the other option is to yell and scream. I think I made it clear what path I would take. No matter if the audience is paying or not, I do believe that they are taking time out of their night or their afternoon and spending it in the theatre. Something that no one is forcing them to do at all. And, I feel that as an actor I owe it to them to go on and give them 110 per cent each and every time no matter what the situation may be.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 9/5/09 at 6:09pm

>>>"If you watch part two Ethel discusses how people don't dress nicely when they go to the theatre. Love her."<<<

When I interviewed Mitzi Gaynor, she told me that Merman was very particular about dressing properly. She was meticulous about what she wore. Mitzi related a story that Merman wouldn't go out with the girls one night because she didn't have the right gloves to wear.

[boombaboy]

Posted: 9/5/09 at 6:21pm

God bless Ethel and Kate and Patti and every other star who has, in Merman's words, been so distracted by audience misbehavior that they have had to stop the show. Then Merman wonders, where were the ushers? Out in a bar getting drunk, she says. Well, sad to say, except at the Public Theater, that's where they still are.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 9/5/09 at 7:24pm

I'm confused now. Didn't Winston once laud his friends who worked at the St James for not doing their jobs because Patti wasn't "nice" to them. So if they aren't doing their jobs and the performers can't do anything about the situation then what's left?

[winston89]

Posted: 9/5/09 at 7:29pm

Eris, it wasn't that they weren't doing their jobs. They were. It was that Patti being the the overly crazy person that she is demanded that the ushers go above and beyond and there were some days where they did and there were some days where they were unprofessional and didn't.