So, yesterday I posted about the CLUELESS audience member who tried to plug his phone into the a fake outlet during a performance of Hand To God, and in a piece posted today Jonathan Groff called Madonna a bitch for texting during a performance of Hamilton… but last night, Tony winner and theater grande dame Patti LuPone took the matter of texting into her own hands. During Act II of Shows for Days at Lincoln Center Theater she snatched a cellphone from a texting-addicted theatergoer during the performance. LuPone issued this statement about the incident:
“We work hard on stage to create a world that is being totally destroyed by a few, rude, self-absorbed and inconsiderate audience members who are controlled by their phones. 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. I am so defeated by this issue that I seriously question whether I want to work on stage anymore. Now I’m putting battle gear on over my costume to marshall the audience as well as perform.”
A spokesman emphasized that Lincoln Center Theater’s cellphone policy is that audience members should…
“turn off their electronic devices before the performance begins. The theater staffs diligently enforce that policy as best they can.”
In the end, the cellphone was returned to the offending texter after the show. I really wish you had crushed it under your heel and slapped them instead! Patti, you are THE BOSS! (via Gothamist)