Cell Phone Nightmare: Laura Benanti Stops the Show

[BroadwayBen]

Posted: 4/30/16 at 11:57pm

At today's matinee of "She Loves Me" a cell phone went off center orchestra during a very tender passage of "Will He Like Me?"   After the first ring, Ms. Benanti kept singing but spoke an aside of "Hello."  There were two more horrible rings and she stopped the song and looked directly at the person and calmly said "I'll wait."    The orchestra completely stopped.  Another ring, and she said "We'll all wait."   A few more painful seconds, and they finally they got their phone off.    She looked up at the conductor and she picked up exactly where she left off, and finished the song thrillingly and the audience cheered.    I think she did exactly the right thing.  Enough of this ****.  People need to turn off their phones.  She was clearly angry, but she was very professional and calm about it.  She wasn't going to have some idiot ruin our experience, so I say Bravo Ms. Benanti.  

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 5/1/16 at 12:09am

To those who do not listen to the instructions before the show, may I make a suggestion. Either silence it before it starts or if you cannot figure out how to use it do not carry one.

She is lucky it was not Lupone up there or she would have been carried out in a body bag.

Updated On: 5/1/16 at 12:09 AM

[BroadwayBen]

Posted: 5/1/16 at 12:21am

What was clear was how demoralizing this was to her.   She was singing her face off, beautifully, and this was just so gross and disrespectful.   I was actually surprised she didn't get angrier.  She was almost eerily calm, which made it even more brutal on the idiot.   It also sent a clear message; I saw several people around me check/recheck their phones during the applause. 

[C4b2a3b]

Posted: 5/1/16 at 12:21am

I was in the front mezzanine at the matinee today (4/30). Interesting to know that there were multiple rings. The only ring my brother and I heard was the one for which Laura stopped. I agree that her response was very calm. Still, the whole thing was awkward enough that I (perhaps obviously) would have still preferred that the offender would have taken care of his/her phone appropriately prior to the show starting.  What are some people thinking during the preshow announcement to silence phones? I know.... dead horse. 

Nonetheless, what a wonderful afternoon at the theatre! 

 

 

Updated On: 5/1/16 at 12:21 AM

[C4b2a3b]

Posted: 5/1/16 at 12:22am

BroadwayBen said: "What was clear was how demoralizing this was to her.   She was singing her face off, beautifully, and this was just so gross and disrespectful.   I was actually surprised she didn't get angrier.  She was almost eerily calm, which made it even more brutal on the idiot.   It also sent a clear message; I saw several people around me check/recheck their phones during the applause. 

 

"

Eerily calm is a perfect way to describe her response. 

[Tom5]

Posted: 5/1/16 at 12:41am

As I mentioned before many people - older ones mostly - simply do not know how to power off their cell phones. It usually means holding down the power button continuously for 3 or 4 seconds ,not just  pushing it down once. Maybe someone should be giving lessons in the lobby.

[Harmonium]

Posted: 5/1/16 at 12:53am

Updated On: 6/17/17 at 12:53 AM

[KJisgroovy]

Posted: 5/1/16 at 1:02am

I've seen professional actors continue a show during a tremendous audience distraction and I've seen professional actors stop the show and then restart when the distraction was resolved. I've almost universally preferred it when the actor stopped the show so the distraction could be dealt with. It's the difference between salvaging the moment and not. She's a living actress giving a performance, she's not a hologram. 

[theatreguy12]

Posted: 5/1/16 at 1:03am

It does seem to be more commonplace to hear about actors doing this though.  Which is interesting.

For me it would totally pull me out of the moment.  I'd almost rather have the phone continue to be the momentary distraction (until someone in the vicinity of the numbskull tells them to turn it off….if they're not already in the process of doing it themselves) rather than turn the phone distraction into an even more major distraction by having the actors on the stage comment on it.  Unless it's ad-libbed in somehow to keep the show going.

It must be irritating as hell for the actors though, I'm sure.

And had it happened when I saw it, I would have been ticked as an audience member.  Especially during that number!  I love that song and seeing her rendition of it was fantastic. 

[aaaaaa15]

Posted: 5/1/16 at 1:04am

A person in this thread was in the mezzanine and heard it so I'm guessing everyone in the theatre could hear it. And it actually does combat the issue. I'm willing to bet the person who owned that phone as well as everyone else in that audience is gonna double check their phones are off whenever they're in a theatre from now on.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 5/1/16 at 1:10am

I was at the Metropolitan Opera last night and the problem wasn't ringing phones but rather photographs being taken. I wasn't aware of any pictures being shot during the performance but before the show and during the two intermissions flashes were going off repeatedly. The others did nothing about it and it became quite annoying.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 5/1/16 at 1:11am

Not only that, people who were at this performance will remember that moment and do the same. Maybe the offender will tell their friends of their mistake and everyone will be a little wiser.

[starcatchers]

Posted: 5/1/16 at 1:14am

Sorry, folks. I understand the frustration (both as a performer and an audience member), but I wouldn't go so far as to say that it was handled professionally. Stopping the show because you're annoyed is just as distracting, if not more so. 

[¿Macavity?]

Posted: 5/1/16 at 1:17am

Wow, that must have been terrifying to be called out in the middle of a song! Apparently very effective though. Good then, that must have sent out a lesson to everyone in the audience.

[C4b2a3b]

Posted: 5/1/16 at 1:17am

Correct me if I'm wrong, but in the next scene, the phone in the shop rings, so my brother thought it was a set malfunction.

 

She stopped for the third ring according to the OP. Calling her our for lack of professionalism seems a bit of a stretch, no? I'm not in the theatre industry, but just my thoughts on professionalism from my profession (medicine). Relying on ushers to ask people to turn off their phones has not been truly effective anecdotally.

 

Maybe we should arm the ushers with laser pointers like in China? 

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/15/arts/international/a-new-weapon-for-battling-cellphones-in-theaters-laser-beams.html

[Harmonium]

Posted: 5/1/16 at 1:21am

Updated On: 6/17/17 at 01:21 AM

[KJisgroovy]

Posted: 5/1/16 at 1:24am

The landscape has changed since your definition of "professionalism" was originally established. It's difficult for me to imagine Ethel Merman not doing something similar had someone brought a ringing cell phone into a matinee performance of Call Me Madam. 

[KJisgroovy]

Posted: 5/1/16 at 1:32am

Brian Dennehy, Patti LuPone, Richard Griffiths, Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy, and Kevin Spacey have all done it... Not a "true professional" among them! 

[ljay889]

Posted: 5/1/16 at 1:36am

Yeah, the unprofessional comments don't really make sense. Patti has used much harsher tactics than Laura, and she was highly praised for her last incident of taking the texter's phone. 

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 5/1/16 at 1:44am

As an audience member, if a phone is ringing the moment is already ruined, I don't care if the performer stops it cold. Why not call them out for being an ass?

I would have preferred her to start the song over, however.

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 5/1/16 at 1:44am

Granted this is an apocryphal story, but Ethel Merman wasn't known to tolerate interruptions either. At a performance of Call Me Madam, apparently there was a drunk man in the front orchestra causing a disruption, and she stopped the show to get him thrown out. Personally, I don't mind when actors do this- it seems like it's the only thing that is drawing attention to how irritating it is, so I'm glad there are actors who are willing to address it. 

[ClumsyDude15]

Posted: 5/1/16 at 1:48am

I've seen both sides of the gambit - I watched John Gallagher Jr during a very tender moment in American Idiot tell someone to stop texting because the light was shining very brightly in his face and I had the misfortune of watching the company of Book of Mormon attempt to continue a performance while the drunk people in the second row wooed and acted very inappropriately. 

 

I can see both sides of the issue, like - Laura (after her number) could have reported the issue to stage  management and had front of house deal with it from there. However, I absolutely agree if it's getting to a point like it seemed it did, I don't fault her for finally putting an end to it - especially mid number. 

Updated On: 5/1/16 at 01:48 AM

[gypsy101]

Posted: 5/1/16 at 1:54am

Harmonium said: "There's a certain percentage of people who outright refuse to turn off the phone- we all know they're out there, they are the same people who refuse to turn them off in movie theaters, on airplanes and in other places where phone use is restricted/prohibited. There's a certain percentage of people who don't know how turn off the phone ringer.  They just don't- and it doesn't make them any less responsible but they're out there ringers-on whether you like it or not."

 

I do not accept this excuse any longer. It is 2016, cellular telephones have been a part of daily life for most of the population of the US for decades now. Learn how to turn your phones off people, it's not that hard.

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 5/1/16 at 4:16am

In a theater with a thousand people in it, there will always be some who don't turn off or silence their phones. It might even be you, if you are distracted by your children, or are very upset about something, or race in to get to your seat on time.

I like the idea of blocking the cellphones. If Western Civilization got by without mobile phones for a hundred years, and got by without any telephones for hundreds of years before that, people can get by without their mobile phones for two and a half hours.

 

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 5/1/16 at 4:29am

Sorry, I have to correct myself. The feds have a problem with that solution.

We remind and warn consumers that it is a violation of federal law to use a cell jammer or similar devices that intentionally block, jam, or interfere with authorized radio communications such as cell phones, police radar, GPS, and Wi-Fi.

https://www.fcc.gov/general/jamming-cell-phones-and-gps-equipment-against-law

There may be legal ways to block cell phone reception, but I wouldn't hold out much hope.