#1
Posted: 2/15/15 at 9:21am
So I'm at the theater yesterday enjoying a performance, when suddenly, in the middle of Act II, an usher comes racing down the aisle and positions herself next to someone a few rows in front of me. She was clearly signaling for the attention of someone in the middle of the row; what she was saying, I couldn't tell...but it was quite distracting.
When the curtain came down, I figured it out. During the curtain call -- before the actors had even taken their bows -- a theater-manager type positioned himself next to the usher and the aisle, glaring intently somewhere towards the middle of the row. When the curtain call ended and people started to file out, he made a bee-line for someone in the middle of the row, started communicating with her excitedly, and then stood by her, staring, as she showed him her phone. This went on for a good several minutes as I watched, rather bewildered.
Her crime? The source of this whole hullabaloo? Apparently, she had taken a picture, or pictures, during the performance. Once she was done apologizing profusely, this manager guy started shouting at others still lingering in the theater not to take any photographs -- even though the performance was over, the actors were off the stage, and the only thing to be seen was a curtain with a logo of the show.
Now look, I have been going to the theater all of my life, and have never taken a photograph during a performance (or afterwards, for that matter.) Never. And I find it distracting and annoying and in bad-taste when others do -- both for myself as an audience member, and, undoubtedly, for the actors on stage.
But let's get real.
This is 2015. Every single one of your (hopefully) 1,000+ patrons, every single night, is caring a high-definition camera in his/her pocket. Every one. And you're putting on a spectacle with lights and costumes and elaborate sets and, often, famous people parading on stage.
Do you honestly think you're going to prevent EVERY SINGLE patron from taking a picture? It's completely unrealistic.
Type the name of any (moderately successful) show that's been on Broadway in the past 10 years into Youtube. I guarantee that you'll find more than a few bootleg recordings of a scene or two online. It's just inevitable.
I'm all for announcements at the start of the show, and in Playbills, about how rude taking pictures is, how distracting, how inappropriate, unpleasant, illegal it is, etc. (The River handled this task particularly well in its recent run.) But beyond that, if someone doesn't care to heed the pleas...let it go. Sending ushers careening down the aisle in the middle of the performance only serves to distract everyone else. Having the theater manager stand over a culprit's shoulder, watching as she cycles through every picture on her phone as he checks and glares intently, is taking things a step too far. This is a place of entertainment, not high school. If people don't follow the rules...it is what it is. You can't police everyone and everything. You can only ask for decorum, and hope that people have the decency to comply. Invading their privacy, embarrassing them publicly...it's all taking things a step too far, and it left this audience member -- someone who is vehemently opposed to picture taking in the theater -- with a more negative impression of the theater than the fan. The punishment didn't fit the crime.
When the curtain came down, I figured it out. During the curtain call -- before the actors had even taken their bows -- a theater-manager type positioned himself next to the usher and the aisle, glaring intently somewhere towards the middle of the row. When the curtain call ended and people started to file out, he made a bee-line for someone in the middle of the row, started communicating with her excitedly, and then stood by her, staring, as she showed him her phone. This went on for a good several minutes as I watched, rather bewildered.
Her crime? The source of this whole hullabaloo? Apparently, she had taken a picture, or pictures, during the performance. Once she was done apologizing profusely, this manager guy started shouting at others still lingering in the theater not to take any photographs -- even though the performance was over, the actors were off the stage, and the only thing to be seen was a curtain with a logo of the show.
Now look, I have been going to the theater all of my life, and have never taken a photograph during a performance (or afterwards, for that matter.) Never. And I find it distracting and annoying and in bad-taste when others do -- both for myself as an audience member, and, undoubtedly, for the actors on stage.
But let's get real.
This is 2015. Every single one of your (hopefully) 1,000+ patrons, every single night, is caring a high-definition camera in his/her pocket. Every one. And you're putting on a spectacle with lights and costumes and elaborate sets and, often, famous people parading on stage.
Do you honestly think you're going to prevent EVERY SINGLE patron from taking a picture? It's completely unrealistic.
Type the name of any (moderately successful) show that's been on Broadway in the past 10 years into Youtube. I guarantee that you'll find more than a few bootleg recordings of a scene or two online. It's just inevitable.
I'm all for announcements at the start of the show, and in Playbills, about how rude taking pictures is, how distracting, how inappropriate, unpleasant, illegal it is, etc. (The River handled this task particularly well in its recent run.) But beyond that, if someone doesn't care to heed the pleas...let it go. Sending ushers careening down the aisle in the middle of the performance only serves to distract everyone else. Having the theater manager stand over a culprit's shoulder, watching as she cycles through every picture on her phone as he checks and glares intently, is taking things a step too far. This is a place of entertainment, not high school. If people don't follow the rules...it is what it is. You can't police everyone and everything. You can only ask for decorum, and hope that people have the decency to comply. Invading their privacy, embarrassing them publicly...it's all taking things a step too far, and it left this audience member -- someone who is vehemently opposed to picture taking in the theater -- with a more negative impression of the theater than the fan. The punishment didn't fit the crime.
Updated On: 2/15/15 at 09:21 AM
