Police state tactics over taking pictures in the theater — Page 3

"But what the hell is up with the kneejerk personal attacks?"

Isn't that one of those "curses" you said above made you clutch your pearls and wish for the days of yesteryear?

Cut the offenders thumbs off and leave them marinating in a bowl in the theater lobby.
Maybe then people will get the message...

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People taking pictures with their phones, even without flash, is incredibly annoying and distracting. The screens are very bright and noticeable (and also these morons inevitably are the sort of people who have the sound on). I get that to an extent if the person is in the middle of a wide orchestra section and they take one picture and put their phone away, it's even worse when the usher demands that the picture taker delete the picture in the middle of the show, but that's probably the only situation I would be annoyed with an usher getting involved.

Seperite, what exactly did the usher and the manager do that was "a huge production during the show"? Before the show was over, you were distracted by the usher trying to attract attention for what, 10 seconds? Maybe 30 seconds at the absolute most? And then the manager came down at curtain call and did what exactly that hurt your experience? Stood there and glared at someone?

I understand you think they were heavy-handed as they confronted the culprit. I don't think they were, but I understand that you feel differently. But that confrontation didn't happen until after the show was over. They didn't "make a huge production during the show," as you put it.

Is it really that hard for you to not to turn off your phone when you're in the theatre and not take pictures? It's like saying you can't avoid taking a dump in the middle of your table at a restaurant or peeing on a casket at a funeral. Just don't do it. What they did is against the rules, and they are a jerk for breaking them. Shame on you for being a member of AEA for so long and defending such disrespect for the theatre. Rule breakers shouldn't act like spoiled little blotches when someone calls them out for being ignorant buttholes.

Updated On: 2/16/15 at 09:58 PM

Pmensky and Rocky Road --

Given your apparent lack of basic reading comprehension skills, it's a wonder you are capable of understanding the subtext of any theatrical production.

For the last time, I am NOT the person who took the pictures! If you want to know who the person (apparently) is, go to Kristen Chenoweth's Twitter page, where she outed (and lauded) the patron who took a picture during the show, and re-tweeted it. I have no connection to or relationship with that person.

As I have written over and over again, I never have, and I never would, take photographs in a theater -- during, before or after the show. I find the habit irritating and annoying. Only immature and selfish people with no decency, and no regard for the welfare of others engage in that kind of anti-social behavior.

The same sort of social malcontents and sorry souls who feel all high and mighty hiding behind their computer screens and hurling undue invective at others, calling them "bitches," "buttholes" and wishing that they were shot.

If theaters are going to address this problem, there are three potential solutions I can think of. One: make everyone "check" their phone in at the door. Is that a nuisance? Sure. But if picture taking is such a serious problem, then it's warranted. You cannot walk into any federal courthouse in this country -- as a juror, a litigant, a tourist, or anyone else -- with a phone on you. Every phone is checked in, and recovered on your way out. It's a hassle, but necessary in this day and age if you want to prevent picture taking.

The second option is to revoke the patron's ticket and escort them out of the theater...at intermission. Disruptions during a show are disrespectful to the other patrons.

The third option is to jot down the name and photograph of offenders, share the information with other theaters, and bar entry in the future. Every theater has security cameras, so it's easy to get a picture of a patron who engages in bad behavior. Virtually all tickets are paid for by credit card, so it's easy to get the name of an offender, or someone in his/her party. Although it might not be possible to get the name of the actual offender, anyone who knew that the person who bought them tickets might be barred

Finally, a simple "no photography" announcement and insert in the Playbill might help, too. Yes, we seasoned theatergoers consider that to be self-evident. But Broadway attracts an enormous number of tourists -- and natives -- who are not regular theater-goers, and thus not necessarily savvy about the rules. While common sense would tell you that taking a picture with a flash would not be permitted, it may not be as obvious that flash-less photography is similarly proscribed. We live in a culture in which people take pictures of anything and everywhere all the time -- including at pop/rock concerts and sporting events, where picture taking is not prohibited. An obfuscated sign in the lobby advising people that the policy at a Broadway theater is not sufficient...an announcement prior to the show (which many, but not all, shows do) would go a long way towards preventing mistakes by well-meaning, but misinformed, patrons.

Any of these tactics would be effective, I believe, in putting an end to picture-taking in the theater. Excitedly running up and down the aisles and furiously trying to get a patron's attention mid-show is both less effective and more injurious to others' experiences.

"The second option is to revoke the patron's ticket and escort them out of the theater...at intermission. Disruptions during a show are disrespectful to the other patrons. "

This would be the only true effective way of stopping it. Of course, you would have to make announcement about this policy and would be good idea to put it in writing also.

Here's the thing-as an usher it's not always easy to see who is taking a picture or a video in the theater. The reason you see some people being talked to (and I take issue with the use of the term "harassed") and others not, it's because they are the ones who got caught. We stop the ones we can, but we can't stop them all.

In my experience, a lot of ushers try to deal with it as unobtrusively as possible, but yes there are some ushers that do this better than others.

On another note, I go to a lot of theater too and I find it incredibly distracting when people are taking pictures, texting, videoing, etc. around me. I'm happy when the usher or manager come to talk to them.

"Whose rights were violated????"

Exactly. In order to delete the illegal images, the memory card must be searched.

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"The second option is to revoke the patron's ticket and escort them out of the theater...at intermission. Disruptions during a show are disrespectful to the other patrons. "

Not every show/play has an intermission. Taking pictures is disrespectful to the art of theatre. And have a good time searching the auditorium, lobby, and bathrooms for the perpetrator. If you even remember who it was.

"The third option is to jot down the name and photograph of offenders, share the information with other theaters, and bar entry in the future. Every theater has security cameras, so it's easy to get a picture of a patron who engages in bad behavior. Virtually all tickets are paid for by credit card, so it's easy to get the name of an offender, or someone in his/her party. Although it might not be possible to get the name of the actual offender, anyone who knew that the person who bought them tickets might be barred "

Oh yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Go through that entire litany of assignments instead of simply making little old you uncomfortable for a few seconds. Get a grip!



"Finally, a simple "no photography" announcement and insert in the Playbill might help, too."

You are much more naive and ignorant than I originally thought. You - a
seasoned theater goer don't know that there are three warnings about photography - a sign in the lobby, an announcement before the show , AND a warning inside every playbill, not as an insert, but as a permanent part of the information.

NONE OF IT WORKS. NOTHING WORKS. PEOPLE ARE GOING TO DO WHAT THEY WANT TO DO.

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Updated On: 2/16/15 at 11:56 AM

Why don't they formally record productions and sell them to the public after a decent interval, such as five years?

How wonderful to see Gertrude Lawrence in The King and I, or Julie Andrews in My Fair Lady.

Anyone with a DVR could make him or her self a copy of that superb South Pacific revival when it aired live on PBS.

I suppose that there are intellectual property problems.