The dog whistle of phones in theater article

[uncageg]

Posted: 10/2/19 at 11:40pm

I am speechless....

https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/theater/the-dog-whistle-of-phones-in-theater-or-why-audience-behavior-is-always-the-wrong-conversation?fbclid=IwAR2pyL96sY45U8K5dNN0X-YykfJT0324VrHLcpmdQlfv57KK6AX6cVmw9Qw

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 10/2/19 at 11:54pm

uncageg said: "I am speechless....

https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/theater/the-dog-whistle-of-phones-in-theater-or-why-audience-behavior-is-always-the-wrong-conversation?fbclid=IwAR2pyL96sY45U8K5dNN0X-YykfJT0324VrHLcpmdQlfv57KK6AX6cVmw9Qw"

Bill Maher recently did a whole riff on white liberals always being the most sensitive and quick to shreik racism! at every turn.

 

This column is simply bonkers. It is hard for me to believe this writer even seriously believes what she is writing here. It *is* usually older white people's phones that have bugged me in theaters, but more often than not, I can't even tell the age/gender/race/size of the perpetrator because we are in a dark theater and all i can see if the glare of some obnoxious tool's cell phone.

[LightsOut90]

Posted: 10/3/19 at 12:13am

fun fact, regardless of your skin color, either stay off your dang phones or stay home

[uncageg]

Posted: 10/3/19 at 12:19am

What gets me is that this doesn't just apply to the theater.

I watch people at checkouts take a call and hold up a line while at the register. or start returning texts. Just this week I saw a bus driver on her phone while transporting what looked like a half full bus load of people. This isn't about new theater,  It seems to be about finding an excuse not to have to be off of your device for 90 minutes or more.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 10/3/19 at 12:23am

My biggest issue with people using phones at the theatre is this:

– You take out your phone in the theatre to reply to a text
– You see a Facebook notification
– You tap the notification
– A video with volume starts playing, and now you've disrupted your fellow patrons and the actors onstage with both the brightness of your phone and the noise playing from it. (Alternate scenario, your phone rings and you have the audacity to answer the call during the performance.)

And also this:

– You take out your phone in the theatre to send a text
– You see something you like onstage
– You take a photo and the flash goes off, and now you've violated Equity rules, alarmed the actors, and disrupted people in the audience with the glow of your phone/brightness of the flash. And especially when a show is in previews or early in its run, it is NEVER the audience's prerogative to choose what content from the show is shared into the world via social media; producers and marketers work hard to monitor narratives, especially for pieces with sensitive subject matter.

 

The smaller the venue and the higher the incline of the seats (stadium seating/mezz), the more disruptive it is. I'm less concerned about young people doing this; they've all figured out how to subtly text in class and cheat on tests. It's the "older" generation that concerns me.

Updated On: 10/3/19 at 12:23 AM

[uncageg]

Posted: 10/3/19 at 12:31am

Well, wonder what she thinks about this?

 

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/THE-WRONG-MAN-Star-Joshua-Henry-Confiscates-Phone-Mid-Performance-20191001?utm_campaign=sniply&fbclid=IwAR2aGE_6TOedH3OpRbHqqzVcZjJKrdDQ7F_hHkyJhW9PbKEKta4pnZlj7eM

[ModernMillie3]

Posted: 10/3/19 at 4:07am

God, I love Joshua so hard. He did not disrupt the performance for others, and since it's illegal to have your phone out in a theater in NYC, they never had to give that loser his phone back. HA. 

[dramamama611]

Posted: 10/3/19 at 5:43am

^well, thats not true.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 10/3/19 at 9:01am

Let’s also remember that this isn’t Harris’s only “hot take” — he sided with Faye Dunaway, he supported the WEST SIDE revival when the casting was announced, etc.

[yankeefan7]

Posted: 10/3/19 at 9:26am

Well, wonder what she thinks about this?

 

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/THE-WRONG-MAN-Star-Joshua-Henry-Confiscates-Phone-Mid-Performance-20191001?utm_campaign=sniply&fbclid=IwAR2aGE_6TOedH3OpRbHqqzVcZjJKrdDQ7F_hHkyJhW9PbKEKta4pnZlj7eM

Personally, I love it !! Maybe something dramatic like a performer actually taking the phone away will make people get it thru their thick skull to wait until intermission to use their phone.

[Islander_fan]

Posted: 10/3/19 at 10:23am

Henry was very wrong to do what he did or a few good reasons. First off, I am well aware that there are some people who A think that a performer doing this will send  a message, and B will automatically blame the cell phone user for the kind of action Henry did. And also some may say the ushers weren't doing their job. But, there are some very important things one has to realize from a working FOH standpoint. 

First off, from the second he grabbed the person's phone, any damage or issue will be Henry's fault since the phone, no matter how he got it was not his to begin with and if there was damage, like I said it would be on the part of Henry not the guy using the phone. Hell, if someone has mobil tickets on their phone, when they come up to me I am not allowed to touch their phone for the same reason. Say I'm working a Shubert house, the onus of the issue would be on me rather than them since they  handed me their phones. 

Also, (and this mostly applies to Broadway) different production staff has their own rules about how to stop cell phone use. Yes, for the most part if an usher sees someone with a phone out, we go and stop them. But, that isn't aways the case. Take Beetlejuice for an example. We aren't allowed to run down the aisle to stop phone usage of any kind. The production doesn't want us running up and downtime aisle during the show. Also, they tell us when late seating can happen too. Seeing that that's what they want, then that's what we do. It doesn't fall on deaf ears but we can't do much about it. I just used Beetlejuice as an example that first came to mind not the same for all shows we still have follow the production's request. So, it would be wrong to say that ushers are't doing their job etc. 

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 10/3/19 at 10:34am

The article itself wanders too much, but I get what she's saying (for part of it). The problem is that when you're bombarding newbies with rules, it can be overwhelming and make them not want to engage in theatre at all. We all have people in our lives who find Broadway to be a fancy thing — not necessarily because of prices — and maybe not for them because they won't fit in. (We've all been to unfamiliar environments where we're afraid we'll do something wrong or strange and be immediately made to feel unwelcome.) And if these newbies do show up, right up front they're being told what NOT to do first, of course it's not going to make the best impression. The problem is laying out the rules AND being welcoming.

[djoko84]

Posted: 10/3/19 at 12:47pm

It may have been the dumbest article I have ever read. I would never take any of that theatre critic's reviews seriously. This article is just the tip of the iceberg for just how out of touch most theatre critics are.

Updated On: 10/3/19 at 12:47 PM

[Pippin]

Posted: 10/3/19 at 12:52pm

Yeah, but even in the movie theaters now, announcements come on the screen beforehand that say if you are causing a distraction, you will be removed from the theater. Every young person goes to the movies. They know they aren’t supposed to be on their phones. Feigning ignorance won’t work here.

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 10/3/19 at 1:26pm

I'm sorry, but if keeping your phone away and generally not causing a ruckus so the people around you can appreciate the show is too much for "newbie audiences" to handle, then I don't want them in the audience around me. It's basic rules, they've certainly heard of them before, it's not f*ckin' brain surgery to attend the theatre. 

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 10/3/19 at 1:45pm

Pippin, have you ever seen this happen? I haven't... which is why 90% of my movie theater experiences are now at Alamo Drafthouse.

[Pashacar]

Posted: 10/3/19 at 2:24pm

Islander_fan said: "Take Beetlejuice for an example. We aren't allowed to run down the aisle to stop phone usage of any kind. The production doesn't want us running up and downtime aisle during the show. Also, they tell us when late seating can happen too.Seeing that that's what they want, then that's what we do. It doesn't fall on deaf ears but we can't do much about it. I just used Beetlejuice as an example that first came to mind not the same for all shows we still have follow the production's request. So, it would be wrong to say that ushers are't doing their job etc."

This explains why the idiots a few rows in front of me were taking photos at full brightness over their heads for the whole performance with no intervention.

What a surprise that the dumbest show on Broadway would have the dumbest FOH policies as well.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 10/3/19 at 2:34pm

Wait, the production doesn't want its ushers going up and down the aisles during the show to stop phones so they're basically leaving it to Alex Brightman to tweet a twice-weekly chastisement? JFC.

[ModernMillie3]

Posted: 10/3/19 at 3:29pm

First off, from the second he grabbed the person's phone, any damage or issue will be Henry's fault since the phone, no matter how he got it was not his to begin with and if there was damage, like I said it would be on the part of Henry not the guy using the phone. 
 

Completely untrue. He can destroy the phone or never give it back. Why? Because it's illegal to use your phone during a performance in a NYC theater house. Just like that moron who decided to wave a Trump 2020 sign after Frozen, doubtful this person ever got his phone back. Good on Joshua for reinforcing the law. 
 

Updated On: 10/3/19 at 03:29 PM

[Pose2]

Posted: 10/3/19 at 3:31pm

dramamama611 said: "^well, thats not true."

How long have you been here? And you have never read this article posted roughly 2000 times on the website? I find that real hard to believe. 

http://www.playbill.com/article/cell-phones-banned-in-new-york-city-theatres-com-111547

[keen on kean]

Posted: 10/3/19 at 7:03pm

everythingtaboo said: "I'm sorry, but if keeping your phone away and generally not causing a ruckus so the people around you can appreciate the show is too much for "newbie audiences" to handle, then I don't want them in the audience around me. It's basic rules, they've certainly heard of them before, it's not f*ckin' brain surgery to attend the theatre."

Absolutely.

[kaykordeath]

Posted: 10/3/19 at 7:20pm

ModernMillie3 said: "
First off, from the second he grabbed the person's phone, any damage or issue will be Henry's fault since the phone, no matter how he got it was not his to begin with and if there was damage, like I said it would be on the part of Henry not the guy using the phone.


Completely untrue. He can destroy the phone or never give it back. Why? Because it's illegal to use your phone during a performance in a NYC theater house. Just like that moron who decided to wave a Trump 2020 sign after Frozen, doubtful this person ever got his phone back. Good on Joshua for reinforcing the law.
"

 

Destroying the phone had nothing at all to do work legal enforcement.

Even if he was an officer of the law, that doesn't waive responsibility of the property.

[seahag2]

Posted: 10/3/19 at 8:12pm

eh, don't have much to say about the article itself because I don't really understand what its thesis is..... but have a cellphone story to share: I was at a performance of Oklahoma! where multiple phones went off from different spots in the venue. Since the lighting in that production is also on the audience, I was able to see that every notification sound came from an older audience member. One woman in the first row's phone went off TWICE - the second time occurred during an intense Jud scene and he yelled 'TURN THAT THING OFF' or something to that effect and then went on with there rest of his lines/blocking. We could all see she was visibly shaken but it was effective and I thought Vaill went about it in an appropriate manner. Although I do think younger people have a normalized phone/screen addiction, in a theatre setting I've found that they're less likely causing phone-induced distractions. Leave that to the older patrons who don't know how to adjust brightness, turn on airplane mode, or silence their ringers

[ModernMillie3]

Posted: 10/3/19 at 8:20pm

No phones went off at Oklahoma for me, I liked the message the beginning about respect for the cast, I think that resonated. I'm glad that horrible woman was shaken and I hope more and more actors start taking phones or yelling at people in the audience. I can't even believe how many don't understand that it's disrespectful to the people working their ass off on stage.

As soon as they announce your phone will be confiscated during a performance (and returned after), I think the number of phones out will drop substantially.  Yondr and this is the future. 

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 10/3/19 at 10:09pm

LizzieCurry said: "The article itself wanders too much, but I get what she's saying (for part of it). The problem is that when you're bombarding newbies with rules, it can be overwhelming and make them not want to engage in theatre at all. We all have people in our lives who find Broadway to be a fancy thing — not necessarily because of prices — and maybe not for them because they won't fit in. (We've all been to unfamiliar environments where we're afraid we'll do something wrong or strange and be immediately made to feel unwelcome.) And if these newbies do show up, right up front they're being told what NOT to do first, of course it's not going to make the best impression. The problem is laying out the rules AND being welcoming."

but she didnt write that article. she made it implicitly about race, killing the conversation you rightly suggest should be had. not sure we can/should ignore her thesis-- wanting cell phones off during a play = a dog whistle to racists-- to her credit. she should be ashamed. 

re: josh henry. good for him. humiliating people too selfish to make sure their phones are off, including physically snatching their toys away from them-- im all down for it. but the people here suggesting that if i break a theater rule, josh henry can steal/break/destroy my phone- the law dont work like that. i am SURE the phone was returned to the theatergoer after the performance.