cell phones

[corfriends]

Posted: 1/3/04 at 12:02am

i don't think i've ever been to a theater performance where they announce to shut off all cell phones and beepers, and someone's cell phone rings in the middle of the show. i heard a cell phone in the middle of wicked. i could have freaked out. is it really that difficult to turn your phone off for a couple of hours!? or God forbid, be without your phone for a little bit. i don't know what needs to be done to stop this, but something has to happen.

[son_of_a_gunn_25]

Posted: 1/3/04 at 12:07am

Well there is the ticket law in NYC. You're supposed to get a hundred dollar ticket I believe. Someone here probably knows more about it than me. I think if they mentioned the fact that if your cell phone goes off there is a 100 dollar fine along with telling them to turn it off would make a difference but maybe it's been tried already. Anyone?

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 1/3/04 at 12:10am

My mom is the type of person who would accidentally turn up her cell phone other then turn it down! That is why I always say "just leave it in the car!" or turn it off for her if she does bring it in. I am going to see RENT with her next weekend and will have to do this then.

[corfriends]

Posted: 1/3/04 at 12:13am

i think there is a law, but it certainly isn't enforced, so what's the point?

[bestofbroadway]

Posted: 1/3/04 at 12:13am

We've had this discussion thousands of times but actually went to see Cabaret and not only did a woman's phone ring but she answered it.

[corfriends]

Posted: 1/3/04 at 12:16am

whoops, sorry didn't realize this subject was already posted. but ew, answering your cell phone. i would have flipped out.

Posted: 1/3/04 at 12:25am

OK. I will admit to this eventhough it didn't happen in a theatre but there is a tie-in so bear with me.

I was dining in a NYC restaurant with a friend, a place where I'm known. Just two of us. Seated immediately next two us were two young women pushing some salad greens around plates. One of the two keeps talking on her cell. Call ends. Cell rings again. Talk some more. Her dinner friend just sits silently. After several more rings and several more conversations I asked her to please take her cell phone outside to make and recieive her calls. She doesn't and proceeds to take/make more calls. I ask again. She gets insulted and makes an extremely offensive remark. I took my glass of red wine and poured it over her head.

Honestly not a moment I was proud of my behaviour however I know she'll never use a cell phone in a restaurant again.

The restaurant bought her the two salads and glasses of sparkling water and asked her to leave. The waiters came and thanked me saying they wished the had been in a position to do that themselves.

To keep this totally on topic, one solution to eliminating cell phones in theatres might be to start allowing drinks and ice cubes in the seats. Some of us might find ourselves armed against those with cellphonitis, and other annoying pet peeves.

Yours for no cell phones in theatres unless you're a neurosurgeon with a critically ill patient (and in that case you've no business at the theatre)! Updated On: 1/3/04 at 12:25 AM

[JoizeyActor]

Posted: 1/3/04 at 12:30am

Wow, that is so awesome. Broadway Bulldog is my hero. People need more red wine on their heads, damnit. Especially the ones that drive, too.

[LadyGuenevere]

Posted: 1/3/04 at 12:31am

I was at Anna In the Tropics with my mother (bad idea already ), and before the show I kept asking her whether she had her cell phone, and I told her to turn it off.

She couldn't find it in her purse, so she said that she must have left it in the car. And so Act 1 started peacefully. In the middle of the act, I heard a ringing from the seat right next to me. I almost sank into my seat as I was whispering "Mom, is that your cell phone?" It turns out that her phone fell on the floor when she picked her purse up to look through it and she didn't notice.

I grabbed the phone and had to turn it off, she was just sitting there in shock.

Those were the longest 5 seconds in my life. I was so embarrassed.

~L Updated On: 1/3/04 at 12:31 AM

[ktswaz]

Posted: 1/3/04 at 12:35am

I'm a high school acquiantances with Justin Bohon so I was excited to see him live in Oklahoma!. But sure enough not only did most of the other patron's look like they were street walkers, but a darn cell phone went off at the most unappropiate time. I about went crazy. Today there is no respect for what these actors do day in and day out.

[son_of_a_gunn_25]

Posted: 1/3/04 at 12:39am

i still like my idea of the machine that will destroy cellphones if they become activated by a call even before the ring can sound

[Sumofallthings]

Posted: 1/3/04 at 12:40am

Amen ktswaz, but the most we respectees of the actors can do is make the others ones feel as bad about themselves as possible. Black tie anyone?

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 1/3/04 at 3:06am

Well isn't wine served at the theatre's bar?

[ozboy]

Posted: 1/3/04 at 3:51am

I once saw a stand up comedian who had an announcement just before the show saying something like "Cell phone users, please be aware that this theatre is equipped with a phone-jammer. If your phone rings, someone will come out and jam it up your..."

I'm sure you can figure the rest out.

[Greekmusicalfan]

Posted: 1/3/04 at 5:17am

I am sure some of you have heard the Ancient theatre of Herod's under the Acropolis here in Athens. Every summer, lots of inportant ancient and contemporary plays and concerts are being held in this unique venue. Well, this theater has a cellphone blocking device, where NO cellphone is active once inside the theater, no matter if you have it on. All cellphones show the no signal sign !! It is heaven, trust me ! Is it that difficult for Broadway theatres to get such a mechanism ??? I am sure they can afford it and it will solve the problem once and for all !!

Take care

Posted: 1/3/04 at 8:37am

Anything that simple can be too difficult for theatre owners and the League to enact.

Bulldog

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 1/3/04 at 8:44am

To Mr Bulldog

Well done. What was the vine's vintage ? Was it French ? Inquiring minds want to know . Regarding blocking of cell phones, the league is probably worried about a lawsuit . Guaranteed those little scamps at the ACLU would start aawsuit saying it is an infringement of free speech. If not, some joker would start a lawsuit saying he or she was blocked from receiving a call that would have made them money in the stock market or their 150 year old aunt in Idaho died & wanted to speak to the party before she croaked.

Updated On: 1/3/04 at 08:44 AM

Posted: 1/3/04 at 8:54am

Rox, it was French St. Emilion and it was damned perturbing to have wasted a glass from the bottle on that young woman's head.

Still it was worth the price to finish my dinner without her constant phone conversation immediately behind my ear.

Bulldog

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 1/3/04 at 9:02am

My wife knows the wine well. She works for a liquor distributor. Well done. I wonder if it had any effect & if the offending party was taught a lesson or if she still does it. What did people do before cell phones ? They are a convenience but you sacrifice your privacy . I use mine ( on a pay as you go basis & not a contract) sparingly. I do not live or die by it. For those who love it, why not have caskets shaped like cell phones. They can than go to their reward buried in one. Imagine they die & they are in a place where everyone has a cell phone except them

Posted: 1/3/04 at 9:07am

Totally off the topic of cell phones in theatres...but that's a great idea Rox.

p.s. I have a cell too, but never, never use it while dining--crude, rude, discourteous to your guests and to other patrons in the restaurant, and to the restaurant management itself.

But back to the topic, cells in theatres...Wait! My phone's ringing...

[JakeB]

Posted: 1/3/04 at 9:38am

Wow BroadwayBulldog, that's hilarious! What did the woman do? Did she totally freak out and scream at you? Lol. I'm never dining in the same restaurant as you....(!)

[dry2olives]

Posted: 1/3/04 at 10:24am

Bulldog, I think I'm missing something. People talk in restaurants, right? Why did it matter to you that her conversation was on a phone? If she was talking loudly I could understand your being disturbed, but that's no different from someone talking loudly without a phone.

[Hello Gorgeous]

Posted: 1/3/04 at 10:53am

When I went to see Wicked last week, I could've sworn they made the cel phone/pager announcement....

[StarUsher]

Posted: 1/3/04 at 11:09am

Cell Phones, GRRR! I own one myself but for heavens sake make sure it's off when you see a show! The only thing possibly more annoying than having it disturb a performance is, as an usher, try to figure out which person in a 200+ seat theater had the ringing phone in the middle of a performance so I could get them to turn it off or leave! Just to share while we were on this topic, my first year at my job I was ushering for a one man show and the actor stopped the show and asked to have the phone to tell the person on the other end that the owner of the phone was busy, I thought that was pretty clever. Denis O'Hare made a comment asking if it was his (He was a bussinessman) when a phone went off during Take Me Out. He was terrible about breaking the fourth wall when people caused trouble in the house.

[Becky]

Posted: 1/3/04 at 3:42pm

When I saw Sexaholics, a phone rang and Jon yelled from the stage "Who's phone rang? C'mon, whose is it?? Rude mother f***ers, this isn't a movie. I talk back!" Cracked me up.

Rosie O'Donnell has mentioned several times that when she was performing her song in GREASE, someone in the front of the orchestra answered their phone -- saying they were in the middle of GREASE and that Rosie couldn't sing for noth'in. Of course they were talking loud enough for Rosie to hear - which is beyond rude. Also, after a performance of The Goat, Bill Pullman came out of the stage door apologizing over and over for the cell phone distractions. He was *not* happy, and neither was the audience -- obvious by the chorus of sighs throughout the crowd every time one went off.

I'm actually jealous of the initial poster 'corfriends' because of the fact that they had never been to a show where the announcement was made and a cell phone when off. I am amazed now if I make it through *any* theater performance without a cell phone going off. It's a rare occasion these days. Updated On: 1/3/04 at 03:42 PM