Audience Member Nick Silvestri Offers Apology for #ChargerGate at HAND TO GOD, Hopes to Become 'A Great Theatergoer in the Future'

As BroadwayWorld reported last week, during a recent performance of Broadway's Hand to God, an audience member quietly made his way up on the stage of the hit comedy to plug his cell phone in to what he believed to be a working outlet.

Sources who were present at the performance told Broadwayadjacent.com that the front of house staff quickly responded to the intruder, retrieving the phone and only delaying the performance by five minutes.

The rogue phone-charging young man was caught on camera and has since received an onslaught of criticism (#ChargerGate) via social media and other outlets.

That audience member -- 19-year-old Nick Silvestri of Long Island, NY -- held a press conference outside the Booth Theatre earlier today in regards to the incident on Thursday, July 2. Read his explanation for his actions and his apology below!

"The past few days have been really crazy, and I wanted to have the opportunity to try to explain what happened and also offer an apology.

Ultimately, before coming to see Hand to God I downed a few drinks and I think that clearly impaired my judgement. Before the show started, I noticed that my phone's battery was low, and the only power outlet I saw was on stage. I think you all know what happened next, and I don't have a very good answer for the question that many of you are probably wondering: What was I thinking? I guess I wasn't really thinking. I don't go to plays very much, and I didn't realize that the stage is considered off limits. I've learned a lot about the theater in the past few days - theater people are really passionate and have been very willing to educate me. I can assure you that I won't be setting foot on a stage ever again, unless I decide to become an actor.

I would like to sincerely apologize to the Broadway community, all the other people in the audience that night, and most importantly the cast and crew of Hand to God. I am on my college lacrosse team, and I know just how bad it feels when you are out there working your ass off, and it feels like the crowd isn't on your side or isn't paying attention. I feel terrible if any of the amazing actors in this show felt at all disrespected by my actions.

Going to see a Broadway show is one of the most special things you can do in New York City, and if I want to give one message to folks out there it's that you should give your complete attention to the actors on stage. You can make phone calls and send text messages all day long, so when you're in the theater for a couple hours, just put the phones away and enjoy the show. Once again, I'm sorry for my actions, and I hope that I can become an example of a great theatergoer in the future. Thank you so much for listening."

- Nick Silvestri
Seaford, Long Island

Following the fiasco last week, HAND TO GOD turned to their official Facebook page in good humor to share not only BWW's feature story on how our readers reacted to the incident, but also a hilarious new promo offering audience members an extra perk if they attend the show. HAND TO GOD set designer Beowulf Boritt also took a moment to weigh in on "Cell Charging-Gate".

And just when we thought it was over, Patti LuPone was faced with another cell phone-wielding audience member at SHOWS FOR DAYS. True to form, HAND TO GOD followed up with another great response.

Now that we've all had a solid refresher in theatre etiquette (we hope), let's accept Silvestri's words of remorse and get on with the show!