In Her Own Words: Patti LuPone Recounts Cell Phone Incident: It Was 'A Cacophony of Noise'

In a new interview with The New York Times, Patti Lupone shares her version of what took place at the Wednesday evening performance of Douglas Carter Beane's new comedy SHOWS FOR DAYS. As BWW previously reported, the actress snatched a cell phone out of the hands of a theater attendee who was texting during the performance.

Recounts Ms. LuPone of the incident, "This woman - a very pretty young woman - was sitting with her boyfriend or husband. We could see her text. She was so uninterested. She showed her husband what she was texting. We talked about it at intermission. When we went out for the second act I was very close to her, and she was still texting. I watched her and thought, "What am I going to do?" At the very end of that scene, we all exit. What I normally do is shake the hand of the people in the front row. I just walked over to her, shook her hand and took her phone. I walked offstage and handed it to the stage manager, who gave it to the house manager." She adds, "She didn't know what was going on. I should be a sleight of hand artist."

The Tony winner goes on to wonder, "I don't know why they buy the ticket or come to the theater if they can't let go of the phone. It's controlling them. They can't turn it off and can't stop looking at it. They are truly inconsiderate, self-absorbed people who have no public manners whatsoever. I don't know what to do anymore. I was hired as an actor, not a policeman of the audience."

Yesterday, LuPone issued a statement to BWW about the performance disruption, alarming her fans with her comment, "I am so defeated by this issue that I seriously question whether I want to work onstage anymore." Asked if she truly meant those sentiments, she responds, "Absolutely. It's getting worse. I'm hired to tell a story, and it takes a lot of effort and work to do that convincingly. It's a handful of people who destroy that experience for everyone. It's heartbreaking. Theater is not a social event."

Read the interview in full here

LuPone came out on stage prior to last night's performance to address the incident. Watch the video here

Photo: Joan Marcus