Solution to Cell Phones on Bway — Page 3

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.

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 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.

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 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.

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

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.