Solution to Cell Phones on Bway- Page 3

[HogansHero]

Posted: 6/15/19 at 12:17pm

yes there will always be people who will stop going to the theatre because of this, but they are a meaningless minority, and yes, there will always be people who will invest in spy cams in shirt buttons, but they are a meaningless minority too. What the future holds, no one knows, but for now there is a means of dealing with this if one is willing to absorb the various costs. And once again, we are not talking about old people who do not know how to turn their phone off. Those people are also unlikely to know how to record Dave Chappelle making some inappropriate comments he does not want there to be evidence of that's not hearsay.

[SweetLips22]

Posted: 6/15/19 at 3:53pm

ArtMan said: " I have been in lines, where the security system picks it up and the person is told to put it in their car."

'I came by train. Can you hold the start till I get back to the station and throw my phone into a passing carriage!!

None of these ideas will control this problem. Communication technology is advancing so quickly and the promoting of such is adding to the dilemma. Everything 'new' is a must have and that extra thing that is now attached to the end of your arm will soon be implanted so that will be the end of those little bags.

I saw 8 out of 9 people yesterday sitting glued to their phones, the 9th just had earplugs so his phone was in his pocket--not a book anywhere.

You will never fix this problem by taking the toy away from the child--enter the Brave New World.

Good Luck.

 

[SmoothLover]

Posted: 6/15/19 at 4:59pm

If theatres implement the Zip lock bag system or something similar it will not be the ushers doing it. It will be a separate company all together. When they did this a City Center which had a full house (2400) things went rather smoothly and quickly.

[SugarButterBroadway]

Posted: 6/15/19 at 7:07pm

It’s quite ironic that I just saw the thread. I saw the matinee of Mockingbird today, and during the conviction (no spoilers), the most dramatic part of the play someone’s phone started loudly ringing. This moment in the show was so emotional, people were sobbing, and someone’s phone filled up the ENTIRE theatre. Took me out of the moment. Just turn off your phones!

[Sho-Tunes-R-Us]

Posted: 6/16/19 at 3:56am

SmoothLover said: "If theatres implement the Zip lock bag system or something similar it will not be the ushers doing it. It will be a separate company all together. When they did this a City Center which had a full house (2400) things went rather smoothly and quickly."

The "zip lok" solution worked wonderfully well at last year's Ellen DeGeneres concert in San Francisco's Davies Symphony Hall - and that is a large venue too.  I cannot wait for it to be implemented at all major theatres.  It is not a hassle AT ALL.  

I arrest my case.

[Broadway Joe]

Posted: 6/16/19 at 8:39am

SweetLips22 said: "
I saw 8 out of 9 people yesterday sitting glued to their phones, the 9th just had earplugs so his phone was in his pocket--not a book anywhere."

A lot of people read books on their phone now. Why carry around a heavy book when it fits right on your phone that you already have on you? 

Updated On: 6/16/19 at 08:39 AM

[Pose2]

Posted: 6/16/19 at 7:55pm

The phone slides into pouch and it snaps shut. Super quick. On exit, an usher uses a gun that unsnaps it and you just drop the pouch into a large bin as you exit. Both parts takes 3-4 seconds and you’re moving as you are doing them. Showing your ticket to usher and them deciphering where your seat location is takes longer.

Thank you, it takes barely anytime at all. When people begin to understand that, and they will be in possession of their phone the entire time (oh the horror of not having it for a few hours!), they will be in more and more Broadway houses. People are done with their very expensive experience being ruined by inconsiderate idiots.  

[SmoothLover]

Posted: 6/17/19 at 4:42am

Pose2 said: "The phone slides into pouch and it snaps shut. Super quick. On exit, an usher uses a gun that unsnaps it and you just drop the pouch into a large bin as you exit. Both parts takes 3-4 seconds and you’re moving as you are doing them. Showing your ticket to usher and them deciphering where your seat location is takes longer.

Thank you, it takes barely anytime at all. When people begin to understand that, and they will be in possession of their phone the entire time (oh the horror of not having it for a few hours!), they will be in more and more Broadway houses. People are done with their very expensive experience being ruined by inconsiderate idiots."

 

Again it is a separate company or security detail doing the zip lock procedure. It is not the ushers. The ushers are floor directing, handing out programs, managing complaints, getting folks in and out of the bathrooms and taking people to their seats. Just because someone is helping you in some way at the theatre it does not mean they are an usher.

 

[magictodo123]

Posted: 6/17/19 at 8:47am

While I love this idea...is there anything stopping those inconsiderate audience members from turning their phones on to record the show in an audio way before putting their phones in the pouches? They don't respect the "no audio or visual recording of any kind" rule now, why would they respect it even with the pouches?

There will always be people who think they are entitled to either bootlegs or audio recording of a show. They are rude, and disrespectful, and inconsiderate, and I wish there was a way to stop it, but there's no way to turn off anything that would prevent this without interfering somehow with aspects of the performance (I wish you could turn off the WiFi, but that is one example of how something could interfere with the show). There will always be people who feel entitled to bootlegs, audio recordings of a show, etc.

I do not see this stopping any time soon. But I was already made fun of on a different social media platform for my opinions on bootlegs, etc., so I'm going to end this here. I just wish people RESPECTED the performers!!!  

[Islander_fan]

Posted: 6/17/19 at 11:05am

SmoothLover said: "Pose2 said: "The phone slides into pouch and it snaps shut. Super quick. On exit, an usher uses a gun that unsnaps it and you just drop the pouch into a large bin as you exit. Both parts takes 3-4 seconds and you’re moving as you are doing them. Showing your ticket to usher and them deciphering where your seat location is takes longer.

Thank you, it takes barely anytime at all. When people begin to understand that, and they will be in possession of their phone the entire time (oh the horror of not having it for a few hours!), they will be in more and more Broadway houses. People are done with their very expensive experience being ruined by inconsiderate idiots."



Again it is a separate company or security detail doing the zip lock procedure. It is not the ushers. The ushers are floor directing, handing out programs, managing complaints, getting folks in and out of the bathrooms and taking people to their seats. Just because someone is helping you in some way at the theatre it does not mean they are an usher.
 

You're right, it would be a separate company taking care of this. Just to give you an example, the inferred hearing devices are also done by a separate company (Show Trans) that the owners (Shubert, Nederlander etc) contract out. If they start using those pouches, it would be the same thing. 

However, there are a couple of things to keep in mind. Do the companies want to pay for the extra cost? They would have to broker a deal with Youndr the same way the do for the headsets. And, I don't know how much the owners pay for Show Trans's service. But, they believe it to be a vital thing so I think for them it's worth every penny. The pouches, not so much.  So, that it something to factor into this whole discussion. 

Also, one thing that is important to point out is, yes, technically dealing with this won't be on the ushers, just like the headsets. But, there are so many people who don't know the difference between the person dealing with the headsets and ushers. While we all know that there is a different, a casual theatregoer doesn't. I cannot tell you the number of times people have come up to me with issues involving any of the hearing assisted devices and some of them even get annoyed that they have to leave the mezzanine to go back downstairs to take care of the issue and angry that I don't know the info to solve their issue. 

And, there's one final thing to mention. As a way of saving money, Show Trans is slowly phasing out the usage of their devices that show captions during the show. Instead, they created an app for your phone that does the exact same thing. Usher's are generally told what seat that person is in so if they see a phone out, they know it's for hearing assistance and to just let it be, verses someone who has their phone out to, say, check a text or something. 

ETA, i'll be honest, while I am not sure either way about the pouch system, I do feel that it's fine to talk about it in theory. But, for various reason not sure that it would work in practicality.

Updated On: 6/17/19 at 11:05 AM

[HogansHero]

Posted: 6/17/19 at 11:20am

The key to this is in your second paragraph: they won't pay unless the artists demand it. How do we know this? What evidence is there that theatre owners spend money to make audiences more comfortable? Seat quality and spacing? Nope. Restrooms? Nope. Avoiding cattle herding? Nope. Why would they pay to avoid noise? The one thing they know is that ticket sales are not affected meaningfully by comfort issues. 

[Broadway Joe]

Posted: 6/17/19 at 11:43am

HogansHero said: "The key to this is in your second paragraph: they won't pay unless the artistsdemand it. How do we know this? What evidence is there that theatre owners spend money to make audiences more comfortable? Seat quality and spacing? Nope. Restrooms? Nope. Avoiding cattle herding? Nope. Why would they pay to avoid noise? The one thing they know is that ticket sales are not affected meaningfully by comfort issues."

Absolutely great point, like you said it's not like theatre goers are staying home because of this and if they are it's an extreme minority so there is no reason for them to do this. It would have to be on the producers of the shows to pay for it if they really wanted and all those fees would come back to us eventually with even higher ticket prices. 

[SomethingPeculiar]

Posted: 6/17/19 at 11:45am

The only way this would happen for a scripted play/musical is if someone like Hugh Jackman, Bette Midler, or Lin-Manuel Miranda had it in their contract. A lesser artist or producer would have no sway in making this happen (unless they're personally covering all the expenses). Especially because the theatre owners have invested in the GalaPro app that offers translations and subtitles via cell phone, and that's available to any patron. And producers/theatre owners (the ones who would make these decisions) want to be able to use their phone until the lights dim.

The biggest on-site headache:  it would increase intermission times and delay curtains, which can lead into overtime for a show like My Fair Lady. Most comedy shows don't have an intermission. In theatre, you'd have people exiting the auditorium, unlocking their phone, using it until the last minute, and then get bottleneck 2.0 at the door.

Updated On: 6/17/19 at 11:45 AM

[Impossible2]

Posted: 6/17/19 at 12:20pm

It is very simple really, if someone takes their phone out during a performance and their screen lights up and annoys someone or if it rings, they get removed from the theatre and have the choice to have their phone removed or leave the premises. Enforce it properly and people will stop doing it. 

They also HAVE to make better announcements and stop this mamba pamby 'please turn it off' tripe. Let it be known that phones in a theatre are not acceptable and anyone who doesn't want to adhere to those rules doesn't go.

They certainly won't be missed.

As for their removal being a 'distraction' to the audience, THEY are creating the distraction so get rid of them before they do it again. They thrive on the fact that 'people don't want to say anything'. Get them out, they don't deserve to be there.

When I saw Company there was an American woman (who else) who kept checking her messages etc and the entire mezzanine started yelling at her until she was shamed (but only after it happening at least 5 times) into stopping. She then got screamed at intermission. She just did not care and shrugged it off. She should've been removed.

Updated On: 6/17/19 at 12:20 PM

[zainmax]

Posted: 6/17/19 at 5:49pm

I feel like it's more of an issue with social norms. Not that it's more acceptable in movie theaters or concerts, but people don't have class anymore when it comes to the theater.

Better enforcement by ushers would help. Other than during the seating phase, do the ushers really do anything? Occasionally, I'll see them butt in when someone's recording something, but they're usually very hands off during the performance.

[JRH182]

Posted: 6/19/19 at 12:48pm

Well, I guess we will see how this plays out in a smaller house. According to the FAQ freestyle love supreme is going to be using YONDR pouches when it plays at the Booth. Obviously not a typical show, but it will be interesting to see how it works in the space with the smaller lobby.