Digital Life: Put down the phone during a live show
Paste BN columnist Steven Petrow offers advice about digital etiquette.
Q: What’s your take on what diva Patti LuPone did last week. I’m referring specifically to her taking a theater-patron’s phone during a performance of her comedy Shows for Days. I mean, she just took it out of this woman’s hands.
– Appalled in Astoria
A: As I’ve done numerous times before, I’d have gotten out of my seat and given Patti LuPone a standing ovation. Why do people think it’s okay to text or check email or tweet during a live performance? It’s not: It’s disruptive to your fellow theater patrons, not to mention professionals like LuPone (and Hugh Jackman and Kevin Spacey and who have faced similar disruptions recently).
For those who missed this episode of star-takes-phone-from-audience member, let me fill you in. Last week during a matinee performance of the comedy Shows for Days, LuPone, who plays an actual theater diva, says that cellphones went off four times, twice from the same patron, creating what she called “a cacophony of noise.” Alas, despite daily warnings before the curtain goes up, patrons regularly continue to flout theater etiquette.
That same evening, LuPone says a woman in the second row of the audience kept texting and texting during the show. “She was so uninterested,” LuPone told the New York Times. “She [even] showed her husband what she was texting.” Then, after intermission, LuPone saw the patron texting again. As she was exiting the stage, the Grammy and Tony award-winning actress shook hands with the woman and then snatched the phone right out of her hands. (By the way, it was returned after the performance.)
LuPone later said in a statement to Playbill that she’s over the minority of “rude, self-absorbed and inconsiderate audience members who are controlled by their phones.” The star added: “They cannot put them down. When a phone goes off or when a LED screen can be seen in the dark it ruins the experience for everyone else – the majority of the audience at that performance and the actors on stage.”
What to do? Some have suggested that patrons be required to “check-in” their phones before taking their seats – as has been done at numerous weddings to prevent disruptions. I’d hate to see it come to that, which means patrons need to heed warnings to turn off their devices; ushers need to be on their toes to silently confront rule-breakers; and the rest of us need to marshal the full force of disapproval when those next to us lighten the theater darkness with their screens. If you’re worried about a call from the babysitter or a co-worker, step outside -- or stay at home.
If not, LuPone may get her way: Rule breakers will be escorted out of the theater. No refunds allowed. Brava, Patti!
Agree or disagree with my advice? Let me know in the comments section.
Submit your question to Steven at stevenpetrow@earthlink.net. You can also follow Steven on Twitter: @StevenPetrow. Or like him on Facebook at facebook.com/stevenpetrow.