People taking pictures at Evita??

[BroadwayBrat]

Hello,

Friday night I saw Evita from the second row. Before the show started, many young women were taking lots of pictures of each other and the curtain. I kept waiting for the ushers to stop them, but they did not. It was not really bothering me, I was just surprised that no one told them to stop. Flashes and all.

During the curtain call, same thing......tons of pictures. Again, it did not bother me ( I took a quick one with my iPhone) but no one did anything.

I was wondering if the policy at the theater is to not stop people taking pictures for some reason? I have never seen anything like it before. There is no way the ushers did not notice. Thoughts??

[Mr Roxy]

During the curtain calls for recent Hugh Jackman show a woman was taking pictures at the very end. An usher who studied with the SS threatened to detain the woman and call the cops on her unless she deleted the photos in his presence.Her husband was telling the guy to chill out and almost belted him for his gestapo like tactics. It could have been done differently had the usher used a little tact as the woman was trying to cooperate but not quickly enough for Herman Goehring.

[Playbilly]

As the public sees it, all they have to do is sit people in their seats and enforce rules. The last part gives them excitement, so some may get over zealous.

Just my hypothesis. I could be wrong.

Seems some shows the ushers let folks snap pix (Hair), some not.

[BroadwayBrat]

When I saw the Color Purple, the ushers were being polite, but firm....NO PICTURES IN THE THEATER!

People were taking pictures of each other sitting together and they were promptly stopped. Yikes!!

[TheatreDiva90016]

Mr. Roxy,

That is EXACTLY what the ushers should do, stand there until the illegal photos are removed from the camera. I remember the days of actually pulling the film out of the camera.

It's ILLEAGAL to take pictures. Period.

So to equate a person who was doing their job to a Nazi is uncalled for.

[ChenoKahn]

What I got from Roxy's post was the lady was cooperating but the usher didn't think she was being quick enough so he was being very rude to her. Though that is just my interpretation.

[jv92]

What I got from Mr. Roxy's story is that the usher was an overzealous nut. Make them delete the photos, tell them to stop, whatever. Detain someone and call the police? It wasn't like she was threatening someone's life, or something serious.

I'm not for pictures in the theater, and I DO NOT GET why people find it necessary to take pictures of each other in their seats before the show, but that Jackman usher sounds like one of the many nut-job ushers out there.

[TheatreDiva90016]

It's illegal.

Why shouldn't he call the cops if she didn't erase them?

How illegal does something have to be before the cops are called?

[GlindatheGood22]

I don't know about taking pictures, but the Evita audience was the worst I've ever been part of. Mostly comprised of middle-aged women who chatted amongst themselves every time Ricky Martin wasn't singing.

[My Oh My]

What is up with people being so sensitive on this site lately? Rape, Nazis, and every other sentence in every post. Can't anyone see that the Nazi reference is hyperbole? Enough with the Up-In-Arms at the drop of a hat, or I'll begin telling my pork rind stories again! XD

[qolbinau]

Personally I draw a line between legality and morality (indeed, it is currently illegal to marry members of the same sex in most US states)...is the bigger issue here that it is 'illegal' or that it is 1. annoying to the other audience members 2. annoying to the actors 3. possibly infringing copyright or whatever. I think it's the reasons behind it that are more important...so yes, I do think we should distinguish between 'illegal' acts when considering whether the 'cops are called'. If an audience murders another audience member then the police necessarily should be called. If someone won't delete their pictures then I don't think the police should necessarily be called. The reason I don't take pictures is not because it is 'illegal'.

[BroadwayBrat]

The night I was there, the audience was fine...except for the picture thing.

[morosco]

Why shouldn't he call the cops if she didn't erase them?
How illegal does something have to be before the cops are called?

Out of curiosity how often do the ushers call the police when this happens? And when they do does the cop arrest the person who took the picture? Or just write a citation? Or does the usher (or the stage manager or company manager or someone) have to press charges or what? Do these cases ever wind up in court like traffic court for parking tickets? Or is everything just an idle threat and nothing serious ever happens?

[jv92]

If the woman jumped onstage brandishing a knife at Hugh Jackman, then you call the cops. If she was a dumb tourist trying to take a picture, you just inform her that's not allowed and ask her to delete them please.

[TheatreDiva90016]

And she didn't want to delete them. And then her husband got involved. I'm sure the usher felt threatened.

So, the next step is to call the authorities.

Ususally they will then delete the pictures at that point. I've never seen it get to the point where the cops actually showed up.

But I have, on many occasions, yanked the film out of someone's camera because they act like the rules don't apply to them.

[HBP]

TheatreDiva - be honest: Are you an usher(/Nazi) sympathizer? (;

[Jordan Catalano]

I HATE people who take pictures in the theater. It's distracting and they should be ejected. That said, I have no problem with people filming in the theater, as long as it's kept hidden so that nobody knows what you're doing. Hell, if you can take pictures and nobody knows what you're doing, I say go for it. It's the thing where you annoy people who've paid a LOT of money to be there that chaps my ass.

[TheatreDiva90016]

^^^

Thank you.

[My Oh My]

"...chaps my ass."

I haven't laughed that hard in a while, haha.

[blaxx]

I didn't know the Latinos could afford cameras.

[SNAFU]

A story,,,, when Naked Boys Singing was still on 7TH Ave during an evening performance a light went out stage left. It blew with a mighty flash! The ushers and stage management thought it was a woman in a Bridal Party in the first two rows. They rushed her. When asked all the rather drunken Bridal Party pointed to one woman. They stopped the show and demanded the woman produce the camera. They told her if she didn't they would call the cops. She was near tears! The drunken revelers continued to point fingers. After a 10 minute lag, the lighting guy came to the rescue and informed everyone that it was just a blown bulb. Well, wait should this have been posted in another thread?
Anyway the practice does seem to be universal.

[TheatreDiva90016]

And that's why gay bars won't host bridal parties...

Oh, wait...

[Mr Roxy]

He was not threatened.He was over the top from the beginning. She was trying to cooperate and her husband was telling him to calm down and she would delete them. He told the husband to shut up.Everyone else around him thought this guy wasxa nut job. The pictures were being taken at curtaincalls with no flash.

[Jordan Catalano]

Blaxx, I...I....love you.

[broadwaydevil]

Two weeks ago at Peter and the Starcatcher someone kept taking pictures as the show was starting and an usher told them to stop in front of me. Someone sitting in front of them turned around and snapped a picture of the photographer and said he'd put it on his blog.

It was funny but kind of annoying and only created chaos for the very overwhelmed usher who was trying to get all the cameras to be put away and everyone to be silenced.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Were you there, Roxy?

If not, please provide a link.