Police state tactics over taking pictures in the theater — Page 6

The bottom line is that people need to learn how to follow rules and laws. Yes, productions want butts in the seats but that should not give patrons free reign to possible disrupt a performance or annoy people sitting near them. And whether I am comped in, paid discount or full price, I don't want to be distracted while watching a show.

Unfortunately I feel that picture taking before, at intermission and after is kind of like a "gateway drug" to taking them during the show. But I get the social media thing. I witnessed an argument between an usher and a patron who evidentally took a lot of pictures during a show and he was saying that taking pictures was the reason he came and that someone should have told him. Well, we were told twice upon entering the theater.

People have just gotten too entitled and don't like to be told what to do. And not only have I seen picture taking but also people climbing over seats and feet up on the seats in front of them. I would never have been allowed to do any of those things as I was taught not to.

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This is our new culture.

[Begin Rant]

http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2014/07/viral_craigslist_post_on_smartphones_in_restaurants_is_tech_ruining_the.html


An article about service times bloated at restaurants and was found to be linked to our phone use (skip down if you don't care):

--26 out of 45 customers spend an average of 3 minutes taking photos of the food.

--14 out of 45 customers take pictures of each other with the food in front of them or as they are eating the food. This takes on average another 4 minutes as they must review and sometimes retake the photo.

--9 out of 45 customers sent their food back to reheat. Obviously if they didn’t pause to do whatever on their phone the food wouldn’t have gotten cold.

--27 out of 45 customers asked their waiter to take a group photo. 14 of those requested the waiter retake the photo.



WE. WANT. TO. TAKE. PICTURES. OF. EVERYTHING.
We NEED to facebook, tweet, instagram, snapchat, or whatever else we're doing these days to all of our "friends." It's an epidemic that will likely never go away.

So, even though people are told when they buy their tickets, at the door, as they walk in, as they're escorted to their seats, and before the show - they sit down and have 10 minutes before the show starts, so what do they do? What they always do. They take a picture because they're so excited they just HAVE TO SHARE IT WITH EVERYONE!

These front of house employees (I work in the biz, I can attest) struggle with this all the time. It's always a fight, and the people taking the pictures are more often combative and rude than not (usually because they're tourists feeling terribly entitled). I really never believe anyone misses the 5-8 times they were told in the last 5 minutes that they shouldn't be taking pictures, ergo I never believe the "Oh, I didn't realize" routine.

How can we fix it? Call these people out yourself (if you're comfortable with confrontation). I say, "Hey, you know you aren't supposed to take pictures in the theatre? It's technically a Felony." Most people hate confrontation, especially in public settings from their peers. If you get push back, just disengage. If you're near an usher who happens to see you do it, you'll probably make a friend (and possibly a seat upgrade). Front of house is a tough gig. Ultimately everyone should just learn to put away their phones and enjoy the show.

[End Rant]

This is how I personally would handle these events.

I see someone taking a picture, before the show starts. I say to them "you're not allowed to take pictures." I say it in an informative way. Not combative, not sweet and welcoming.

If I saw someone taking photos during the show, I got as close to them as possible and say the same thing, adding "we'll have to delete the pictures after the show." None ever started anything with me.

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At the intermission of POTO, on Broadway and on earlier tours, picture-taking of the the chandelier rising after the crash is perfectly ok. Ditto on the current tour before the show.

Before the show, I asked permission to take pictures of the orchestra members arriving in the pit. One said, "I guess so," so I shot away. I think someone complained to security.

POTO ushers are careful to warn people not to shoot DURING the show.

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Ushers are a joke. Some people take their minimum wage job way to seriously. Give me a playbill and show me to my seat. If i want to take a picture of curtain then I will. I'm spending over $100 on a ticket, ill take a picture if i damn well please. Some of you will probably say im trolling, but you're probably over 45 lol. Obviously taking pictues during the show is disruptive, but the only people who do that are foreign people who don't speak english. Some people these days are way too sensitive. A picture is a ****ing picture, cry about it haha.

Certainly no entitlement in your beliefs there, are there, BOM? And no, it's not only foreigners (regardless of their language) that take photos at live theater.

BTW...just how many people can you insult in one post? You must be a joy.

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Many of the recent posts have focused on the propriety of ushers' enforcement acts against the offender. But to me, that's of secondary importance. Attending a theatrical production is a privilege. If you don't know how to behave in the theater, the privilege of attendance can and should be revoked. Brazenly break the rules, and the ushers can and should show you the door.

But what about the 'rights' of non-offenders? Why is it that all the FOH people who've commented on the thread don't seem to be bothered by how their enforcement tactics disturb paying customers who have not broken any rules? Shining your flashlight in the eyes of a picture-taker may well be an appropriate response to someone breaking rules in a vacuum, but when there are other rule-following people sitting around him/her, and you disturb their experience, why is that OK? The approach seems wholly machiavellian -- if the rules have been broken, we can take whatever steps are necessary to squash the problem, regardless of who else it affects. Others be damned. Why aren't you as hellbent and zealous about ensuring that rule-followers get to enjoy the benefits of the experience they paid for, as you are about ensuring that rule-breakers get punished?

oy

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Updated On: 2/21/15 at 09:03 AM

Actually Seperite, my first commment on this thread addressed the other patrons:

"As for the hard and fast vs soft approach-when it's during the show, you try to respond as quickly and quietly as possible in order not to bother other patrons." Of course, we are concerned with the other patron's experience.

As an usher who also goes to a lot of theatre when not working, I understand not wanting to be disrupted during a show. I also am very distracted by people taking pictures in the theatre, and I appreciate someone putting a stop to it. I also feel it would be much more disruptive to try to kick the person out of the theatre. Most of the time I've seen that happen, they refuse to listen to the usher, so the usher has to get the manager. Then when they refuse to listen to the manager, then security needs to be brought in to deal with the person. It's much more disruptive to try to kick someone out, then to just try to get them to stop taking a picture.

Indytallguy --

Anecdotal evidence to support your points:

At the River, they actually had one of the understudies come out on stage prior to each performance and given an impassioned and direct plea to people to turn off their phones. She even went through a ritual, described by someone on this board as kindergarten-ish, where she asked everyone to take out their phones and, on the count of three, turn them off. She then started pointing at random people in the audience and asking directly "is your phone off? Is your phone off?"

The effect, at the two performances I attended, was exactly zero incidents of people taking out their phones or otherwise disturbing the performance. Another poster here described the River audience as the quietest and best behaved he'd ever seen. Yes, yes, causation vs. correlation, anecdotal or circumstantial evidence, etc. I know. But still. The direct and impassioned approach SEEMED to firmly implant an idea in people's heads, and that may be all that's needed.

If I was a criminal, I would just put a high tech lens in my jacket lapel and record the whole show. No one would be bothered, no one would know. This is 2015 and this thread is indeed moot.

Indy, times have changed. People feel much more entitled than they ever have. I don't have to read any books, practical experience shows us that there are people who will do whatever the hell they want to no matter how they're told not to. They think that the rules are there for someone else, not them. How many people do not clean up after their dogs $hit, for example.

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Here it is from Playbill
ASK PLAYBILL.COM: Why Can't I Take Photos in a Broadway Theatre?