I don't think that anyone is coming off as entitled about an actor yelling from the stage at one audience member who is doing the wrong thing. Now, for the record, I haven't been at a performance where this has happend. But, the reason why I am saying that it is unprofessional is that if I were paying to see a show and this did occur, I was paying to see the show, not to have an actor spoil it for me by yelling at one audience member. It's kinda like that old saying, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of a few. In other words, there are more people who paid to see a performer in a show that don't know that the filming is happening then people that do.
I feel it's unprofessional as it breaks the fourth wall and ruins the scene- why coulden't he have just alerted the stage manager or someone else backstage to alert the staff of the theatre to deal with it?
I congratulate Broderick and actors that do this, obnoxious audience members like this should be told and made to feel guilty. It's not unprofessional at all.
It's bad luck if your in the audience and its ruined the natural flow of the production, but for me, having some idiot with camera on would have done that. It's live, it would be the same if light didn't work, or the set stalled, its just unlucky if you we're attending that show but for a few seconds breaking the fourth wall it shouldn't ruin your evening too much surely and stop idiots filming not ruining theatre by posting that video around so people don't come and experience the show in its natural glory.
This should be retitled Lupone pulls a Broderick. He's been doing thus for ages - and I don't have a problem with it. If the front of house staff isn't able to do their job discretely, then someone has to do it blatantly.
I also don't get this "Oh, I'm such a fragile flower of an audience that it totally ruins the experience for me when an actor breaks the 4th wall for a moment to address something that is distracting him" and, btw, is ILLEGAL.
Some of those responses are ridiculous. "Actors need to be more appreciate of audiences"? So that means actors should just let someone seated in the front row continue doing something they've been explicitly told not to do, which is also illegal?
To me, there's no difference between a teacher who interrupts a lecture to admonish a student for texting & an actor stopping a performance. Broderick was within his rights.
Why couldn't Broderick tell someone to nab the guy when he's next offstage? I'd ask for my money back if an actor did that. And I'd get up in a quiet moment.
When I saw Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, three cellphones went off during the show, INCLUDING the very last scene. Both Tracy Letts and Amy Morton were visibly annoyed about it during the curtain call, and I wish one of them had said something (about any of the phones). Theater patrons need to realize that they're out among other members of society and can't just do whatever they feel like doing.
Right. And once that's happened, I'm already taken out of the moment, so the actors might just as well address it. I imagine that would be more of a deterrent than a quiet reprimand by an usher at the next opportunity.
(Of course, I can understand why folks would feel the opposite.)
Right. And once that's happened, I'm already taken out of the moment, so the actors might just as well address it. I imagine that would be more of a deterrent than a quiet reprimand by an usher at the next opportunity.
There's never a good moment for a cell phone, but that last one was so poorly timed that I could have cried. It broke the moment for me, and I kind of wanted Amy Morton to break from the scene and tell that person that they had ruined the momentum of the play for so many people.
(but then of course she would've been deemed unprofessional for not going forth)
Though I'd prefer that an actor handle the problem otherwise, such as notifying theater staff while he or she is offstage, I can't fault Broderick or anyone else. And irrespective of how or if an actor addresses the problem, let's not lose focus on the fact that the problem lies with the moron using his or her phone. Once the actor has been distracted, we've all already suffered, no matter how or if the situation is addressed.
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joined:9/20/08
Posted: 2/20/13 at 09:54pm