Theatre legend Patti LuPone has issued a response regarding the recent run-in with a Las Vegas audience member who was texting during the show. The action forced LuPone to stop the show and calmly reprimand the texter.
LuPone has taken issue with the blog entry New York Times ArtsBeat columnist Dave Itzkoff posted regarding the incident, and the actress has fired off an email response. The email, posted here, reads:
Dear Dave Itzkoff,
Your story about my stopping my concert in Las Vegas on the New York Times ArtsBeat blog was forwarded to me.
I found the tone of your report very snide and feel compelled to write you to ask - what do expect me, or any performer for that matter, to do?
Do we allow our rights to be violated (photography, filming and audio taping of performances is illegal) or tolerate rudeness by members of the audience who feel they have the right to sit in a dark theater, texting or checking their e-mail while the light from their screens distract both performers and the audience alike? Or, should I stand up for my rights as a performer as well as the audiences I perform for?
And do you think I'm alone in this? Ask any performer on Broadway right now about their level of frustration with this issue. Ask the actor in "Hair" who recently grabbed a camera out of an audience member's hand and threw it across the stage. Or ask the two Queens in "Mary Stuart" (Harriet Walter and Janet McTeer) how they react to it.
I find it telling that my story elicited 47 comments from your readers while a few other stories on the blog elicited a handful, with many getting 0 comments. It certainly touched a chord with people, almost all of whom sounded like audience members, who share in my frustration with what threatens to become standard behavior if no one speaks out and takes action against it.
This has been going on in my career for 30 years since I starred in "Evita," and, you're surprised I stop shows now?
Sincerely,
Patti LuPone
The incident described took place June 21, while Patti LuPone was performing her brand-new show, Gypsy In My Soul, at the Orleans Showroom in Las Vegas. While introducing the iconic "Don't Cry For Me, Argentina" LuPone noticed an audience member texting on his cell phone. Steve Friess of VegasHappensHere.com was at the show, and Tweeted (@thestrippodcast) immediately after the event.
Friess reports that LuPone kept her cool and even told the audience member, "I'm not going to yell at you, I don't think." Then she proceeded to kindly berate him -- she was sweet but terse -- and say she was on "a campaign" because such behavior is distracting and insulting to performers.
"The thing is, the people who text, they don't seem to understand that we can see you," LuPone stated.
As described by the Las Vegas Sun's Joe Brown, the Tony Award winner "stalked the stage and went on a bit further about the rudeness to herself and to the rest of the audience, threatening the offender that she'd have him or her tossed out if it happened again. The crowd applauded with loud approval, and the bond between performer and audience seemed even stronger as LuPone picked up the "Evita" number again from the beginning, working through a bravura suite of songs from "Anything Goes," "Oliver!" and her recent revival of "Gypsy."
Brown adds, "When she returned for her encore, LuPone winked at the event and her reputation as the Terminator of poorly-behaved audience members. While she sang "The Way You Look Tonight," she was snapping photos -- with a flash! -- using a disposable camera. The crowd waved and cheered and posed."
Tony Award winner Patt LuPone's new one-woman show, The Gypsy In My Soul, has announced several additional performances dates nationwide. The show debuted June 20 and 21 at The Orleans Showroom in Las Vegas.
In The Gypsy In My Soul, under the musical direction of Joe Thalken, LuPone will perform songs that have long been associated with her four-decade Broadway career, as well as some of her personal pop favorites. "I Get A Kick Out Of You" from Anything Goes, "As Long As He Needs Me" from Oliver! and "Some People" from Gypsy are some of the well-known show stoppers the two time Tony Award-winner will perform. In between musical numbers, LuPone will engage the audience as she shares backstage stories and personal reflections from her illustrious career.
