Phones at the Theater- A Guest Post by Lucky

[Lucky]

Violence ensued if you believe this article from today's NY Post! What is it with people and their phones? cannot they let go for two hours while the rest of us enjoy a show? Last week I had to shush a very well-dressed couple who would not stop talking. It worked, until the guy started getting texts. He would light his phone up in the dark theater, read the message, contemplate it for awhile...then pass it on to his wife for the very same ritual. All the time the phone stayed lit. This must have happened three times before intermission. That's when they moved a seat away from me...thank them!

I was still left with the old lady behind me who was sure she was in her living room where she could chat loudly about all she was seeing. Yes, I hushed her at intermission and was surprised to see her actually shut up for the second half. C'mon! I paid some $100 to be there, to see a show, not listen to her.

So, back to today's article in the Post. We see it happen from time to time where a performer interrupts the show due to a ringing cell phone. And I'll admit the culprit was once me, with a new cell that did not shut up like the old one did. But going forward, we gotta do better, both in the theater and the movies, or else we will lose the communal experinece of enjoying something together.

Today's Post:

Theater cell smash

• By NATALIE O’NEILL
• Last Updated: 6:19 AM, May 17, 2013
• Posted: 2:21 AM, May 17, 2013

Silence your cellphones — or else!

A theater critic got so fed up with an audience member’s mid-show texting, he smashed her cellphone — prompting her to smack him at a hot new Manhattan play, sources said.

Columnist Kevin Williamson, 40, says he became a manners “vigilante” after he and ushers asked the woman several times to turn off the gadget at “Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812” in the Meatpacking District.

“To the theatergoing public of New York — nay, the world — I say: “You’re welcome,’ ” he wrote on the blog The Corner yesterday.

Security booted Williamson from the $175 play after he threw the phone — which repeatedly beeped and glowed — against a wall at the pop-up venue on Wednesday.

But Williamson said he considers it a form of activism. “I did it to make a statement — but also I was just annoyed,” Williamson told The Post. “I go to the theater every week, and I’m used to bad behavior. But this was over the top.

“These are people who are not smart enough to sit through a two-hour play.”

Williamson, who writes for the National Review, claims he first politely asked the woman to stop using the phone during a press showing of the play. He told her it was distracting.

“So don’t look,” she responded, according to Williamson. He then reminded her of the show’s “no-cellphones policy,” which staffers announced prior to the play, he said.

Ushers even asked the woman to turn off the gadget at intermission, according to Howard Kagan, the play’s producer.

“We went in and warned her,” he said. “We tried to address the problem without making a scene.”

But she continued to text and to chat loudly with friends, Williamson said.

That’s when he snapped — snatching the phone and tossing it toward an exit.

It hit a curtain and fell to the floor, which damaged the phone, Williamson said.

The woman smacked him then ran out — but the play didn’t stop.

The dinner-theater-style play opens tonight in a tent-like structure at West 13th and Washington Street.

The play is based on a section of the book “War and Peace” and features an electro-pop opera.

The woman has not filed a police report, but she threatened to, Williamson said. Producers declined to give her name.

[RA1]

This is why the local theater has patrons walk through a metal detector so there won't be a gun fight during any production.

Obviously people are just too absorbed with themselves to consider others nearby. The local movie theaters flash a notice to turn off all cell phones before the main feature but it only works for those who are caring and aware of others without being told.

Silly.

Best regards,

RA1

[Guest lurkerspeaks]

What has happened to manners and respect in today's society? It is those same adult theater goers who have raised the "wild youth".

[Guest hitoallusa]

Maybe the show was not so good either? It's annoying and wonder why they went there in the first place??? Going to a theater in old days were

a rare and special event in the past... Nowadays, it's not special anymore.

[RA1]

All you need is money which seems to have supplanted courtesy and intelligence.

Best regards,

RA1

[AdamSmith]

Self-policing is alas a dead concept today.

So. My idea is to bring back that gadget from the '50s (cf. 'The Tingler,' Vincent Price) whereby theatre seats were wired to deliver a mild electric shock.

Only, now, rig it so not only a cellphone-using miscreant gets zapped, but ALSO his adjacent seat mates. One zap and they would all clobber him. Problem solved!

[Lucky]

Ah, so now we have hito saying that it is okay to misbehave as much as you want at the theater as long as you don't like the show. Never mind the 1000 people there who do and paid the big bucks to see it. The show was Pippin, btw, one of the most popular shows out now.

[Guest lurkerspeaks]

Maybe the show was not so good either? It's annoying and wonder why they went there in the first place??? Going to a theater in old days were

a rare and special event in the past... Nowadays, it's not special anymore.

It shouldn't matter if the show was good or not. If you don't like it, either sit there quietly until it is over, or get your ass up and leave. Don't ruin it for all those people who also paid good money and DO enjoy it.

[wayout]

I wonder if it is possible to have a relatively inexpensive device installed in theaters that will block all cell phone reception.

Unfortunate if we have to resort to that type of thing but maybe it is best to fight technology with technology.

The problem is a symptom of the underlying disease....people losing common sense, courtesy and decency with regards to dealing with others.

[RA1]

There is such a device and I have also wondered if it could not be used in these kinds of situations. Last I heard it was illegal in the US but so is disrupting an audience.

Best regards,

RA1

[Guest hitoallusa]

I didn't mean it that way and I'm not saying I condone that kind of behavior. I would love to see Pippin... I once had a cute kid laughing hard and aloud in the theater. He was simply enjoy the show. He was so cute and wished I had a kid liked that... Sometimes my eyes wander to cute couples holding hands and their cute conversations.. I don't mind some noise and even conversations actually...

Ah, so now we have hito saying that it is okay to misbehave as much as you want at the theater as long as you don't like the show. Never mind the 1000 people there who do and paid the big bucks to see it. The show was Pippin, btw, one of the most popular shows out now.

[TotallyOz]

Nothing makes me angrier than a cell phone in the theater or the movie house. I got there to get away from the world and be engulfed into what I am watching. With my ADHD, it is hard not to notice all those noises and lights. I have gotten into more than one argument about this inside the movie house. I have not experienced this in a play and I think I might just be even more pissed after getting dressed up and spending more money. There is a certain level of respect that should be expected. That said, the manager should have kicked her ass out at intermission.

[Guest hitoallusa]

Well at least it isn't like this..

[wayout]

That is a hilarious video clip hi, lol. Never saw the movie but if the rest is like that maybe I should check it out.

[Guest hitoallusa]

Glad you enjoyed it...