The Playgoer: Cell Phone Announcements: Too Subtle?

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Monday, October 19, 2009

Cell Phone Announcements: Too Subtle?

One could devote a whole blog to funny stories posted on All That Chat, of course, but in light of increased cell-phone consciousness these days I could not resist this one, from chatter "rainbow carnage":

My new favourite switch-off-your-phone announcement

It was at Terror 2009 at the Southwark Playhouse in London. As the lights went down, a phone rang. A man in the audience answered and proceeded to have a conversation. An usher pulled him from his seat onto the stage and pretended to beat the shit out of him before throwing him out of the theatre. The audience loved it. Not a single phone went off for the rest of the show.
I must say--I think that whole Hugh Jackman viral video may be for the good. At two Broadway shows now I have heard audience members talking about it as they--yes--turn off their phones! As in: "I don't want that to happen to me..."

Has the ringing stopped? No. But maybe the painful visual of that episode was what was needed to make the abstract a painfully embarrassing reality for folks. (You don't want Wolverine mad at you, do you?)

So while I agree with 99 Seats that the secret filming of a Broadway performance also constitutes an offense--maybe there's a greater good here that justifies the means? Let's hope. For God's sake, man, let's hope.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Sadly, the only thing I thought about upon seeing the Jackman clip was how boring of a play that looks to be. I'm guessing that with those accents (not so good, says former Chitown resident), Wolvo yelling at audience was the best part of the night.

The Guru said...

people need to learn to put their phones on silent.