Sweeney Todd yesterday...cell phones and Patti LuPone- Page 2

[Gypsy2]

Posted: 4/13/06 at 11:27am

Ouch! That seems almost PAINFUL to happen at Sweeney, of all places. That's such an intense show, physically, acting-wise and emotionally, for everone on that stage, for most, if not all, of the show. Stupid phones - I can imagine it being hard to get back into the show. Ouch... Good for Patti.

[Calvin]

Posted: 4/13/06 at 11:27am

Tasteless? Good Lord. The moment was already broken the second the phone started to ring. A STFU from Patti might actually make that clod think the next time he/she can't take two seconds to hit a button as to not ruin the show for 300+ other people. I'll bet you if you polled the audience, 90 percent or more would have said, "Way to go."
Updated On: 4/13/06 at 11:27 AM

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 4/13/06 at 11:28am

If it were a "mistake," the person would have immediately reacted and turned off their phone.

This person let it ring 4-5 times and ignored it until Patti said something. And then the same phone went off again. That's not a mistake, that's blatant disregard for everyone else in the theater.

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 4/13/06 at 11:29am

Yes i understand people are stupid and don't turn there cell phones off but you have no right as a person to cut someone down for a mistake they made and degrade them as a human. ( Yes i do consider ordering someone around degrading)

What?! Good lord, it's not asking that much to have people turn off their cell phones so that they don't completely ruin a night of theatre with distractions, both for the sake of the other audience members who are paying a lot of money to be there and the performers who pour their hearts into the show on stage. There is an announcement made at the beginning of every performance to turn off cell phones, and the people who don't listen to it deserve whatever comes to them. Publicly embarass them, if that's what it takes. I don't blame Patti for calling the person out--unfortunately, they probably aren't as embarassed as they should be. Updated On: 4/13/06 at 11:29 AM

[Gypsy2]

Posted: 4/13/06 at 11:29am

It's not a mistake. It's a dummy.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 4/13/06 at 11:34am

And since you brought up how "degrading" it must have been for the anonymous audience member, how about how degrading it was for the actors onstage to have their performance completely interrupted twice by a cell phone?

Posted: 4/13/06 at 11:34am

In this particular production, the actors didn't break character at all, since they are playing two characters. One is Mrs. Lovett, another is the mental patient. Therefore, since mental patients are probably not the most skilled actors, they would easily be swayed to break character at the sound of the phone. So, in a sense, Patti only broke one character. Sounds hilarious.

[GYPSY1527]

Posted: 4/13/06 at 11:37am

Thats actually a great comment. During the insane assulym part, I noticed for the first time how crazy Patti acts. She was trying to give people in the front row a pack of lifesavers. She was like "la la la? la la???" It was insane to say the least!

[Gypsy2]

Posted: 4/13/06 at 11:40am

She was offering it to people in the front row now? When I went, she was just running around stage, giving it to imaginary people, and then to Manoel (who's busy being his own kind of crazy downstage).

[GYPSY1527]

Posted: 4/13/06 at 11:43am

It was freaken awesome. I was like, "if she offers, I'm taking". I kid I kid. At one point, she offered it to a violin on a chair. I was ready to burst out laughing.

[Gypsy2]

Posted: 4/13/06 at 11:45am

Yeah, Patti-crazy is fun. la la la la? la la! But I think the scariest person in that scene is Donna. I was siting front row with a friend and she's being all kinds of terrifying with those huge rusty scissors, and she comes riiight up to us, then bends over us and yea... scary. ^_^

[Garland Grrrl]

Posted: 4/13/06 at 11:45am

honey, if merman were alive, she'd come down off the stage and drag the offender into the street. those were the days.

[ThePinballWizard]

Posted: 4/13/06 at 11:46am

I think Patti is perfectly justified in what she did along with everyone in the cast. That is unbelieveably rude and whoever had the cell phone should be shot. I would love to see Patti pull an Ethel Merman and escort the bastard out onto the street.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 4/13/06 at 11:48am

When the current revival of CHICAGO was new, a cellphone went off and Ann Reinking stopped the show and said, "Go ahead, take the call. We'll wait"

Laurence Fishburn, in A LION IN WINTER, told a cellphone user to "Shut that ****Ing thing off"

[guitargeek0624]

Posted: 4/13/06 at 11:49am

Offering Lifesavers? I don't remember that when I saw Sweeney in February...maybe I missed something.

IMO, good for Patti! I have yet to experience something like that in a theatre, but I absolutely can't stand when cell phones go off in movie theaters and restaurants. The other day, I was out to lunch with my family, and my dad's cell phone goes off. I grab it from him and turn it off, and he starts freaking out because "it could have been an important call from the office!"

*sigh*

[Gypsy2]

Posted: 4/13/06 at 11:49am

I'd throw something at them. Maybe a heavy, easily-replacable prop. I'd just want to nail them in the face.

[Bruce Memblagh!]

Posted: 4/13/06 at 11:50am

"Yes i understand people are stupid and don't turn there cell phones off but you have no right as a person to cut someone down for a mistake they made and degrade them as a human. ( Yes i do consider ordering someone around degrading). She is not paying to teach manners. She is played to perform a role in a show"

And you come from which planet? No mistake at all Ignoring for a moment the fact that it went off more than once, the audience WAS told to turn them off. How on earth could someone be so selfish and "up" themselves to think that did not apply to them. If they felt degraded then good - I hope they feel severely traumatised by it and seek conselling. No excuse whatsoever. Simple. As long as they don't do it again.

[Kevinoes]

Posted: 4/13/06 at 11:53am

Good for Patti. It's annoying enough to have to sit through an announcement, telling you to turn everything off. But when you don't, that's just irritating and ignorant.

Last season, when I ushered "Journey's End" at Shaw Festival, a cell phone went off. I was supposed to find the source and tell the person to either turn it off or take the call outside. Now if anyone has been to NOTL, the Court House Theatre is a small 300 seat thrust stage. Finding a cell phone in the middle of that crowd was awful and the show in particular is quiet and intense from start to finish. The phone kept ringing and ringing and ringing until the two actors on stage, Patrick Galligan and Evan Buliung (now Aragorn in LOTR) just stopped and stared at each other, waiting for the cell to turn off...and it didn't. Finally, the woman ran out with her cell phone. It was the longest 3 minutes of my life.

So, again. Good for you Patti.

Posted: 4/13/06 at 11:58am

If you saw LuPone in CAN-CAN or CANDIDE, you'll know that Patti is the character she plays nowadays so it's not a stretch to imagine her being out of character If Seeney had castrated the first offender, the 2nd cell wouldn't have rung ;-0

[Cenoern]

Posted: 4/13/06 at 12:00pm

That person should've been dragged out of the theater and banned from the show. Cell phones ringing during a performance is simply unacceptable.

[SorryGrateful]

Posted: 4/13/06 at 12:02pm

WickedGeek, get a clue. Good lord.

People not turning off their phones disgusts me more than I can express in words. If I were an usher, I would drag that person out into the street and beat them with a heavy duty flashlight.

Not only is it rude to the performers, but it's rude for the other people who come to see the show. When I have come to New York, it's normally for only a short period of time as I can't afford to stay longer and it's specifically to see that show. To have some jackass ruin my special trip to the theatre because they're lazy or stupid is unacceptable.

[tthomas76]

Posted: 4/13/06 at 12:03pm

I find this very hilarious and go patti! I myself as an audience member and performer think it was wonderful what she did. It's very distracting as an actor to be in the middle of dialogue or a song and have a freakin' cell phone go off... As an audience member going to a Broadway show I don't pay $80.00 to 100.00 or more to hear someone's cell phone go off! ;-( That just how I feel about it...

[xM3L24x]

Posted: 4/13/06 at 12:09pm

It's just so rude when people don't turn off their phones. Is it so inconvenient to not talk to someone on the phone for 2 hours? Unfortunately, last time I went to a show the person I was with phone went off during the show. It was a mistake, since during intermission she used her phone and forgot to turn it back off, but it couldn't have rang for more then 3 seconds until she turned it off mortified.

[Kevinoes]

Posted: 4/13/06 at 12:09pm

I do kind of see where the argument is, though. When an actress turns to an audience, obviously irritated, and scolds the audience in a general fashion, it can make the audience uncomfortable. Yes, one person is to blame, but the whole audience got crap for it.

[Brennan88]

Posted: 4/13/06 at 12:10pm

It pains me to admit this, but then confesson is good for the soul: I once accidentally caused one of these horrifying moments in the theatre. I was at that strange off broadway production of "Streetcar" a few years back--the one where Blanche takes her bath in full view of the audience. Very intense show.

Anyway, I had a pager in my pocket for my job and it was set to vibrate, as it always was. Unfortunately, the battery was about to go dead, and this particular pager sends out a loud warning to let you know the battery is dying. I was in the second row of a not very big theatre. People were looking around in disgust, and rightfully so. I dug my hand into my pocket and tried to pop the battery out as fast as I could, all the while craning my neck around looking in mock horror for the perpetrator. What else could I do? But I learned my lesson--I wont even bring one with me anymore.
Updated On: 4/13/06 at 12:10 PM